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Nancy
Teacher works at the residential school where Annie, Janey, Tim and the other children live. She is vicious and cruel and likes to publicly shame and punish the children. She also dives wedges between them by bribing them with candy to tattle on each other about various types of rule breaking. Of all the people Annie encounters, Teacher’s racism and prejudice are most obvious. She punishes the children for speaking in their native languages, which she describes as unintelligible jabber. She’s always afraid that the children are laughing at her behind her back. And when Janey steals Teacher’s glasses, Teacher acts as though the glass are contaminated by Janey’s touch, and she refuses to wear them again.
Teacher Quotes in Sister Heart
The Sister Heart quotes below are all either spoken by Teacher or refer to Teacher. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2 Quotes
Teacher gives a sharp smile
Very good, Annie!
There is one more thing
we only speak English here
English is the language of kings
She bends closer
We never speak native gibberish
Her glasses slide down her nose
Not ever!
She pushes her glasses back
Janey will tell you what happens
if you speak the native tongue
Won’t you, Janey?
Janey speaks so loud
everyone hears
You get whacked, Annie!
Laugher spills out from the other kids
Silence!
Teacher snaps
Her angry look sweeps the room
No laughter now
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Explanation and Analysis:
Hmph
says Teacher
Annie looks too wild to be in school
Help her comb her hair
flatten it down
This is not the bush!
I don’t want flat hair like Teacher!
And Janey
make sure Annie
does her after-school jobs properly
If she doesn’t get them right
she must do them again
The sooner she gets used to the routine here
the better
Yes, Teacher
Outside
Janey says
You like school?
Teacher hates my language
Teacher hates my hair
I can’t read
I can’t write
I shake my head
Janey sighs
Me neither
I like writin’ stories and singin’ songs
Sums make me brain hurt
Everythin’ else makes me tire
Come on, we got jobs!
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Janey laughs
then winces in pain
I got them glasses
real sweaty and foggy
When Teacher yelled
at me to give ’em back
I dropped the stinky things
right into her hands
Shoulda seen her face
thought she might spew
You reckon she wear
them mucky things now?
Nancy laughs
You a smart little sou’wester!
Janey is smart
Tough too
But Janey is hurting
I pick up my blanket
I lay it softly over her
Janey groans
What Teacher gunna do without glasses?
Told ya I’d make her pay, Annie!
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Chapter 3 Quotes
Stand straight
with your arms down
Now, repeat after me
Mary had a little lamb
its fleece was white as snow
everywhere that Mary went
the lamb was sure to go
So many english words
to say
all at once
I stutter and stumble
through the words
and when I get
to the last line
I get it wrong and say
the ham was sure to glow
The other kids bust out laughing
Teacher whacks me
but the edge misses
Tomorrow
we will do this again
We will do it every day
until you can say it perfectly
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Teacher Character Timeline in Sister Heart
The timeline below shows where the character Teacher appears in Sister Heart. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...of breakfast. Janey whispers that she must eat something; if her stomach growls in class, Teacher will think she farted. Teacher hates farting, snorting, and laughing. Laughing most of all, especially...
(full context)
In the schoolroom, the children sit by age. Janey points out Teacher, the stiff and pinched-looking woman who runs the school and rarely smiles. The nicer teachers...
(full context)
Teacher approaches Annie and taps on her desk with her pointing stick. She appreciates Annie’s quietness,...
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Teacher spells out a big word: obedience. It’s important, she tells her students, because if they’re...
(full context)
After lessons, Teacher keeps Annie and Janey in the classroom. She doesn’t like the wild look of Annie’s...
(full context)
...Annie. Tim asks if school made Annie cry. The old instructors were kind, but not Teacher, who uses her ruler to viciously punish the children. Janey stole her old ruler and...
(full context)
...Dot help. Nancy doesn’t—she has a weak stomach—but she does braid Annie’s hair before school. Teacher doesn’t like braids, but in the night, Annie’s hair has gone all bushy again, and...
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Teacher stares but doesn’t say anything about Annie’s hair, and when a boy laughs at Annie’s...
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...head down and tries to shrink from view every day when it comes time for Teacher to pick someone to read aloud. But one day, Teacher slaps Annie’s desk with her...
(full context)
...punishment, the school authorities don’t let Annie have dinner. She’s in trouble for lying to Teacher about knowing English, for laughing behind Teacher’s back (which she didn’t do), for shoving Teacher,...
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...home across the water. As they leave the dorms for breakfast, Janey promises to pay Teacher back for hurting Annie.
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Annie’s legs slowly heal, but now Janey’s are hurting. She got “the strap” for stealing Teacher’s glasses—her revenge on Teacher for shaming and beating Annie. She stole the glasses openly, without...
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Chapter 3
One day in class, Teacher draws an X on the floor at the front of the room with chalk. She...
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...cook the gilgies. They are, Annie thinks, a breakfast fit for queens. Janey says that Teacher eats jam and cream.
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Nurse comes into the classroom to speak with Teacher, then she takes Tim to see Janey. Tim asks if Annie can go too, but...
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