Essay on Structure and Style of To Sir, with Love

Dramatic Structure To Sir, with Love embodies a conventional three-act structure. However, the protagonist, Mark Thackeray, is faced with multiple active antagonists. The first act introduces Mark Thackeray (Sidney Poitier) as a Communications engineer who, after many unsuccessful attempts to find employment in his field, takes a teaching position at the North Quay Secondary School. Once he has arrived, Thackeray is informed of the rebellious nature of his assigned students, who mostly come from underprivileged backgrounds. The students created such conflict that the previous teacher couldn’t manage. Led by Bert Denham (Christian Roberts) and Pamela Dare (Judy Geeson), they are the antagonists of Poitier’s character. This creates a static†¦show more content†¦Thackeray’s confidence in his students and the positive results of his teaching style eventually win over both the students and faculty. However, this bond is shattered when the gym teacher orders an overweight studen t named Bentley to jump over a beam in gym class. Bentley falls and breaks the beam, causing uproar among the students, who had protested the gym teacher’s draconian treatment of them. One of the students, Potter, even tries to fight with the gym teacher until Thackeray is called in to mediate. Thackeray defuses the situation, telling Potter to be the bigger man and apologize to the teacher, even if he knew he was justified in his anger. This does not sit well with Potter or the other students. They do not invite Thackeray to the school dance and refuse a donation he offered to purchase flowers for the funeral of a student’s mother. At this low point in his teaching career, Thackeray receives a tempting job offer from an engineering company. The headmaster of the school, losing faith in Thackeray’s unique teaching approach, tells him that there will be no more outings with students and that he must now teach gym class. During gym class Bert sets up a boxing matc h between him and Thackeray. Although Bert tries to injure Thackeray, Thackeray defeats him. However, at the critical moment when Bert was beaten, Thackeray checked himself and refused to throw aShow MoreRelatedPersuasion by Jane Austen1472 Words   |  6 Pagesof characterization and use of ironic styles in social relationships between classes in a society. In Persuasion, Austen uses attractive plots, different types of conflicts, rich characterization, and unique style to portray the emotions and the actions of the characters. The engaging plot of the novel brings the reader to focus more on the story and picture the setting in their minds. 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