Structure

The short story “My Polish Teacher’s Tie” by Helen Dunmore is structured chronologically, following the narrator, Carla, from the moment she decides to write to Steve to when they finally meet. 

The beginning of the text introduces readers to the main character and provides information related to her job (p. 100, ll. 1-4) and a flashback that explains her Polish background (p. 100, l. 13-19). Carla mentions that her mother taught her Polish “full of rhymes” (p. 100, l. 15). This foreshadows her correspondence with Steve when she will ask for his poems in Polish. 

Another foreshadowing element is introduced when Carla decides to keep her job a secret and continue misleading Steve: “I didn’t write anything about my job. Let him think what he wanted to think. I wasn’t lying” (p. 102, ll. 14-15). As th...