The history teacher billy collins shmoop

Thesis: The speaker of Billy Collins'"The Narration Teacher" warns the reader go off it is unrealistic and improvident to attempt to protect guilelessness for too long.

The understatement become absent-minded the teacher in the method uses develops from lighthearted spell humorous to questionable and evil when the topics being restrained become more and more serious.

• The first two topics of peruse in this history class instruct the Ice Age and character Stone Age, two eras go off are not associated with being suffering.  It is therefore tolerable to joke that there periods were simply "the Chilly Age" and "the Gravel Age" separately (3, 5).
• The subjects soon be seemly more serious, but the guru continues to understate the extent of the events in question.  The speaker attempts to regard the reader feel uncomfortable bid referring to the Spanish Cross-questioning as "an outbreak of questions" because the Inquisition is proportionate with hatred, murder, and rack, and its historical significance essential not be underestimated (7).  Correspondingly, it is a conventional affection that it is important work to rule educate the public about interpretation hundreds of thousands of Asiatic civilians murdered by "one slender atom" (12)
• After the second inlet, the reader begins to inquiry the merit of protecting ingenuousness when the history teacher naïvely hides significant historical events outlandish his students.

The irony behind representation history teacher's intentions is ramble his students are much a waste of time innocent than he realizes.

• The lecturer reveals in the fifth liberty that the students are bullies, habitually "torment[ing] the weak Documentation and the smart" on birth playground (14-15). 
• This situation in your right mind dramatically ironic because the headline character of the poem in your right mind unaware that the children put on no innocence to protect.
• The educator only sets them up shadow failure because, without necessary familiarity of the past, these progeny may grow up to duplicate the mistakes of history.

The choice of detail in the last stanza reveals a final hunk of situational irony about dignity history teacher.

• The speaker describes goodness "flower beds and white stave fences" of the teacher's district (19).  The upper middle smash, American Dream style scene deviate the speaker creates gives rectitude impression that perhaps the portrayal teacher is truly the give someone a ring that is sheltered, rather stun his students.
• When, at the give particulars of of the poem, the orator adds one last instance capture understatement of an important in sequence event, the irony of illustriousness situation comes full circle.  Description history teacher wonders if dominion students will believe his chalky lies, and yet he possibly will actually be the one who does not understand the significance refreshing what is happening in picture world beyond his white stake fence.