39 pages • 1 hour read
Kirkpatrick HillThe Year of Miss Agnes
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2000A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Maps
One of the first objects Fred associates with Miss Agnes is her world map. Maps are a symbol of the knowledge the students gain from Miss Agnes. At the beginning of the book, Fred cannot find England on the map; she slowly adds to her knowledge, expanding her understanding of the world's possibilities. Similarly, other students become fascinated by different maps, including the map of Alaska, delighted that they can situate themselves within a larger context. For this reason, the students find it particularly upsetting when Miss Agnes starts to take down the world map at the end of the year, and it is a sign of Miss Agnes's generosity that she chooses to leave it in the schoolhouse for them. Maps also support the theme of learning from other cultures and aid Miss Agnes in framing the children’s stories and village in a larger context.
Fish
Fish play an important role in the life of the community, as children both help their families catch and prepare fish and then eat them as a staple of their diet. Because fish permeate many aspects of the culture, the previous teacher's disgust at the smell of fish particularly disturbs them. They use Miss Agnes's ability to disregard the smell of fish as a litmus test for how disturbing she finds them and their culture and are particularly relieved to find that a sinus problem means that the smell doesn't bother her at all. This foreshadows Miss Agnes's ability to understand the students and their background and serves as a stark point of contrast with previous teachers.
Schoolhouse Fire
On Miss Agnes's first day, she can light the schoolhouse fire by herself, while previous teachers were unable to and needed the children's help. This serves to symbolize the teachers' ability to "spark" their students' interest, creativity, and enthusiasm. While previous teachers fell flat in this regard, Miss Agnes has the capability to inspire her students. Furthermore, she can do it on her own, without relying on community members to ease her way.
Teapot
When Fred and Bertha first meet Miss Agnes, she enlists them to help with chores, then serves them tea. They have never seen tea taken with milk before, expanding their knowledge of others' customs. As they drink tea during their first meeting, Miss Agnes learns about Fred and Bertha, while they gain valuable knowledge both about Miss Agnes and the larger world (for example, Fred learns what and where England is during this session). Later, when Miss Agnes is leaving the village, she offers the teapot to Fred as something to remember her by. However, Fred refuses it: she values far more the knowledge Miss Agnes has shared with her.
Sam's Plane
Sam's plane appears at the start of the book, as the previous teacher leaves the village. It thus shows how remote the village is, and how difficult it is to leave. Once Miss Agnes comes, however, Sam uses his plane to bring in items such as books on sign language so that Bokko can learn. Sam's plane shows both how cut-off the village can be from the rest of the world, as well as serving as a symbol of modernity and the ability to connect to larger conversations and bodies of knowledge.
