INTRODUCTION TO

LITERATURE

Poetry
Short story
Drama / Play

Y
R
T

ELEMENTS
OF POETRY

E
PO BACKGROUND

EXPLANATION
Poets background
Subject matter
Whom the poem is for

SETTING

Time
place

PERSONA

Character (does not necessarily mean the

poet)

THEME(S)

Main idea(s)

MORAL VALUES

What can we learn from the poem

TONE AND MODE

The personas voice or attitude

The overall feeling of the poem
Humorous, joyful, sad, angry etc

STRUCTURE AND STYLE

How the lines are arranged

Choice of words

LITERARY DEVICES

Techniques used to produce a specific effect

in the poem.

THE LIVING
PHOTOGRAPH
(BY JACKIE KAY)
My small grandmother is tall there,
straight-back, white broderie anglaise shirt,
pleated skirt, flat shoes, grey bun,
a kind, old smile round her eyes.
Her big hand holds mine,
white hand in black hand.
Her sharp blue eyes look her own death in
the eye.
It was true after all; that look.
My tall grandmother became small.
Her back round and hunched.
Her soup forgot to boil.
She went to the awful place grandmothers
go.
Somewhere unknown, unthinkable.

But there she is still,

in the photo with me at three,
the crinkled smile is still
living, breathing.

1
A
LINE
Z
N
STA
1) My small grandmother is
tall there,
2) Straight-back, white
broderie anglaise shirt,
3) Pleated skirt, flat shoes,
grey bun,
4) A kind, old smile round her
eyes.
5) Her big hands holds mine,
6) White hand in black hand.

MEANING
The personas grand mother
looks tall in the photograph.
She is standing with good
posture, wearing an
embroidered lace blouse.
She wears the blouse with a
pleated skirt, non-heeled
shoes and her hair in a bun.
She is smiling kindly.
Her big hands is holding the
personas hand.
The contrast of their skin
colours can clearly be seen in
their link hands.

grey
bun

flat shoes

white broderie
anglaise shirt

Pleated
skirt

2
A
Z
N
A
ST

LINE
It was true after all;
that look.
My tall
grandmother
became small.
Her back round and
hunched.
Her soup forgot to
boil.
She went to the
awful place
grandmothers go.

MEANING
The personas reference
of death came true.
The grandmother
became thinner and
more fragile.
Her back became
hunched.
She became forgetful.
Soon, she passed away.

3
A
Z
N
A
ST

LINE
But there she is still,

in the photo with me at

three,
the crinkled smile is still
living, breathing.

MEANING
However, in the
photograph, her
grandmother will always
be alive.
She is in the photograph
with the persona at three
years old.
Her grandmothers smile
is still so alive and real.

EXERCISE:
Read the following statements and state whether they are
True or False.
1) The persona recollects the memories of her grandmother
as she looks at the photograph. (___________)
2) The personas grandmother is still living with her.
(___________)
3) The grandmother seems to be a friendly and kind woman.
(___________)
4) The persona is three years old when her grandmother dies.
(___________)
5) The grandmother remains strong and healthy until her
death. (___________)

Answer the following questions based on your understanding of the poem.

1. How old was the persona when the photograph was taken?
__________________________________________________________________________
2. Which line in the poem tells us the grandmother has become forgetful?
__________________________________________________________________________
3. The grandmother seems to be a friendly and kind woman.
__________________________________________________________________________
4. The persona is three years old when her grandmother dies.
__________________________________________________________________________
5. The grandmother remains strong and healthy until her death.
__________________________________________________________________________
6. Give one moral value one can learn from the poem.
__________________________________________________________________________

ANALYSING
THE
Setting:POEM:
no specific time frame, although it can be assumed that the
persona is in the present and is having recollections of her
childhood.