A Photograph

(Shirley Toulson )
 Pre- Assessment

What emotions does an old photograph of

yours evoke in you?
 Learning Objectives

• To identify the poetic devices used in the

poem
• To explain the central theme of the poem
• To justify the title of the poem and create an
alternative title to the poem
 Vocabulary

Infer the meaning of the following words

from the context:
•Padding
•Transient

Paddling refers to the act of moving in

shallow water with bare feet.
Transient means something that is short
term or temporary.
 Identify the poetic devices used in the poem
1) Stood still – Alliteration
2) Through their – Alliteration
3)Laboured ease – Oxymoron.
4)Terribly transient – Alliteration
5)Terribly transient – Transferred Epithet.
 Explain the central theme of the poem

The theme of the poem Photograph is loss, memory and the

transience of life. It explores how people may die but in a strange
way they continue to live on in the form of memories. These
memories are not just restricted to one's head but can also attain
a tangible form such as photographs.
 Very Short Answer Questions

1. What does the word ‘cardboard’ denote in the poem? Why has this word been
used?
The word ‘cardboard’ in the poem refers to the photograph of the poet’s mother
enjoying a sea-holiday with her two cousins when she was twelve years old. The
word ‘cardboard’ has been used to depict that the photograph is many years
old. The use of cardboard as a photo frame was common in old times.

2.What has the camera captured?

The camera has captured some happy childhood moments of the poet’s mother
when she has gone for a sea holiday with her two cousins Dolly and Betty. The
girls were paddling in the water and enjoying the moment. The photograph
clicked by the mother’s uncle shows the girls’ innocent smiling faces while their
hair was flying over their faces.
3. Read the following extract and answer the questions
that follow:
Now she’s been dead nearly as many years
as that girl lived. And of this circumstance
There is nothing to say at all.
Its silence silences.

a) What does ‘this circumstance’ refer to?

‘This circumstance’ refers to the death of the poet’s mother. Whenever she saw the
photograph of her mother, she becomes sad as the photograph brings sad nostalgic
feelings. She gets lost in the old sweet memories of the past. But she can’t do
anything about it now. She has nothing to say at all about it. She maintains silence
and this silence leads to a deeper pall of silence.

b) Explain Its silence silences.

The mother’s voice has been silenced forever. The photo cannot laugh. The poetess
also feels depressed and speechless
 Short Answer Type Questions

4. The poet’s mother laughed at the snapshot. What did this laugh indicate?

The poet’s mother was a girl of twelve or so when the photograph was taken. The
photograph has captured the smiling face of the poet’s mother. She laughed in
nostalgia at the snapshot that was taken years ago and also at the way all of
them were dressed for the beach. She pointed it out to others. Perhaps they
looked funny. This laugh indicated that the poet’s mother enjoyed remembering
her childhood days, when she was young and free from the tensions and worries
of adult life.
5. What is the meaning of the line ‘Both wry with the laboured ease of loss.’

The given lines suggest mother’s recollection of her childhood days and the poet’s
recollection of her mother’s laughing face. The mother had fond memories of her
past but there was a sense of loss of the carefree childhood days. The poet’s loss
referred to here is the loss of her mother through death and her smile. The
memories in each case were beautiful, but painful to recall as time slipped away so
easily. Here we see that both expresses their disappointment in traversing through
the loss as their attempt to overcome the lost feeling is laborious.
 Long Answer Question

6. The three stanzas depict three different phases. What are they?

Shirley Toulson’s ‘A Photograph’ describes three phases in time.

In the first phase, the poet’s mother is described as a twelve-year-old girl
with a sweet and innocent smile. She is standing on the beach enjoying a
holiday with her two cousins — Dolly and Betty. This was the phase before
the poet’s birth.
In the second phase, the poet’s mother’s middle age is described, where she
is laughing at her own snapshot. Perhaps the girls were looking quite funny
in the beach clothes.
The third phase describes the poet’s feelings for her mother, who has died
many years ago. This is the current phase. The photograph revives nostalgic
feelings in her and it leads to a deeper silence.