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Term I :- (Write only highlighted vocab words and questions and answers in your copies), Poem 1 A Photograph, Introduction of the lesson, The poem ‘A Photograph’ is written by Shirley Toulson. In this poem, she recalls her mother and her, memories while looking at a childhood photograph when her mother was twelve years old or so., She has been deceased twelve years ago and she cannot explain her grief on her mother’s loss., Summary:, The poem is a tribute to the poet’s mother. She is looking at an old photograph of her mother which has, a frame of cardboard. The picture has three girls in which the middle one is the oldest and tallest., It is her mother when she was twelve years old or so. Beside her, on both sides are her two cousins,, Betty and Dolly, who are holding her hands and are younger than her. They went for paddling on a, beach holiday. Her uncle took the photograph then. The poet could not help but notice her mother’s, sweet face. The sea touched her terribly transient feet which depicted that she changed over the years, and the sea remained the same., After twenty-thirty years, her mother would laugh at the photograph. She would make the poet look at, the photograph and tell her how their parents would dress them up for the beach holiday. The beach, holiday was her mother’s favourite past memories while her laugh was the poet’s favourite memory., Both of them lost something which they cherished a lot and yet cannot live that moment again.Those, sweet moments were memories now., Now, the poet’s mother had been dead for the past twelve years, which is the same number as of her, age when the photograph was taken back then. She cannot express the grief that she has from her, mother’s absence., Poem Explanation, Line 1 – 4:, The cardboard shows me how it was, When the two girl cousins went paddling,, Each one holding one of my mother’s hands,, And she the big girl — some twelve years or so, Word meanings, Paddling – walking

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In these lines, the poet is looking at an old photo album which is made up of cardboard. In the picture,, there are three girls who are walking on the beach holding each other‘s hands. The girl in the middle is, the tallest and oldest, the other two girls on each side are younger than her. The girl in the middle is the, poet’s mother. She is around twelve years old when the picture was taken., Line 5 – 9:, All three stood still to smile through their hair, At the uncle with the camera. A sweet face,, My mother’s, that was before I was born., And the sea, which appears to have changed less,, Washed their terribly transient feet, Word meaning, Transient – short-term; temporary, In the above lines, the poet describes how the photograph was taken. Her mother‘s uncle took the, photograph and told them to stop and pose. All three of them left their wet hair open and smiled at the, camera. The poet’s attention is drawn towards his mother‘s face which is described as a ‘sweet, face’. The photograph was taken long before the poet was born. The poet calls their feet ‘terrible, transient’ as they were so young by then and now they had grown older. On the other hand, the sea, which touched their feet has changed less., Line 10 – 13:, Some twenty-thirty — years later, She’d laugh at the snapshot., “See Betty And Dolly,” she’d say, “and look how they, Dressed us for the beach.“ The sea holiday, Word meaning, Snapshot – photograph, After twenty-thirty years later, she would laugh at the photograph. She would tell me to look at her, cousins, Betty and Dolly and how their parents would dress all three of them up for the beach. They, would have planned to take a photograph beforehand., Line 14 – 15:

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Was her past, mine is her laughter. Both wry, With the laboured ease of loss., Word meaning, Wry – ironic; mocking, The poet recalls the sea holiday was her mother’s favourite moment from the past. While the poet’s, favouritemoment from the past was her mmothe's laughter. Both the women would think about those, past memories which they cannot live again. They tried their best to adjust to what they lost., Line 16 – 19:, 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., Word meaning, Silences – a complete absence of sound, In the above lines, the poet says that her mother died twelve years ago, the same age her mother was in, the photograph. Whenever the poet thinks of her mother’s death, she cannot explain what effect she, has of her mother’s death. Death has silenced her mother which has also left her speechless., A Photograph Literary Devices:Alliteration – repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of two or more consecutive words. The, instances of alliteration in the poem are as followsStood still, Through their, My mother’s, Terribly transient, Silence silences, Oxymoron – a term which contradicts itself, Laboured ease

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Epithet – a phrase expressing a quality of a person or something, Question Answers:Think it out, 1. What does the word ‘cardboard’ denote in the poem? Why has this word been used?, Ans: In the poem, the word ‘cardboard’ means a frame which supports the photograph. This word, had been used in the poem because the picture is very old when the cardboard was used as a photo, frame., 2. What has the camera captured?, Ans: The camera has captured the poet’s mother and her two cousins, Betty and Dolly, on the beach., They went for paddling where her mother’s uncle captured the photo in between the moment. Her, mother was around twelve years old and was in the middle. She was holding the hands of her cousins, who were on the side of her. It was her mother’s favourite past memories., 3. What has not changed over the years? Does this suggest something to you?, Ans: The lines ‘And the sea, which appears to have changed less’ depicts that the sea which touched, her mother’s feet is the one which has not changed over the years. Whereas, her mother and her, cousins grew older. The sea symbolises eternity and immortality. Human being has a life span and has to, die one day. Life is not permanent. The poet is sad about her mother’s demise twelve years ago and her, laugh is her favourite past memory., 4. The poet’s mother laughed at the snapshot. What did this laugh indicate?, Ans: The poet’s mother laughed at the snapshot recalling her favourite past memories. She looked back, at the photograph and remembered how their parents would dress them up for the beach holiday. Her, laugh indicated her remembering the innocent days and the nostalgia feeling. Behind the laugh is also a, feeling of pain that those days won’t be back., 5. What is the meaning of the line “Both wry with the laboured ease of loss.”, Ans: the above lines means that the poet’s mother felt pain whenever she saw the old photograph, because the innocent childhood days would never be back. Those are just the memories. While the poet, has lost his mother twelve years ago and she misses her a lot and recalls her laughing and pointing out, the outfits they used to wear at the beach holidays. Both of them lost something., 6. What does “this circumstance” refer to?, Ans: The words ‘this circumstance’ refers to the present situation of the poet which is the painful, memories of her mother who have been deceased twelve years ago. While looking at the old

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photograph of her mother’s childhood makes her miss her more. She remembers her laughing and how, the photograph was her favourite past memory., 7. The three stanzas depict three different phases. What are they?, Ans: the first stanza depicts her mother’s childhood days when she was twelve years old or so. It talks, about a photograph of her with her two cousins on a beach holiday. Her uncle took the photograph. Her, mother changed over the years as she grew older. While the sea which touched their feet in that beach, holiday hadn’t changed over the years., In the second stanza, the poet talks about her childhood days when her mother used to look at the, photograph and recalls everything mentioned in the first stanza., In the last stanza, the poet shares that her mother is dead as many years ago as was her age in the, photograph. She died twelve years ago. The poet is recalling her mother’s old memories while looking at, the photograph. She is in pain and misses her deceased mother. She has no words to describe her grief., Extra Questions and Answers :Short Answer Type, Question 1., The poet talks about a particular cardboard. How is it special to her?, Answer:, The poet talks about a particular cardboard to which is pasted her mother’s photograph taken at the sea, beach. The mother seems to have been enjoying her sea holiday. The photograph is special as she has, lost her mother sometime back and looking at the photograph makes her happy as well as sad, Question 2., What can you say about the childhood of the poet’s mother?, Answer:, The childhood of the poet’s mother must have been filled with fun and happiness. This is clear from the, snapshot of the sea holiday. They are enjoying their holiday., The mother of the poet laughs when looking at the snapshot even after many years have passed since, the sea holiday. All this shows us that it was a very pleasant childhood., Question 3., Were the three cousins camera friendly? Who was taking their photograph?, Answer:

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The three cousins appear to be camera-friendly as they stood at the sea beach without moving when, the uncle took the photograph., Question 4., What impression do you form about the poet’s mother?, Answer:, The poet’s mother was very pretty at the age of twelve. She enjoyed the sea holiday. This is indicated by, the happiness that she gets in middle age after looking at her childhood photograph., Question 5., The sea ‘appears to have changed less’ in comparison to the three girls who enjoyed the sea holiday., Comment., Answer:, The poet compares the mortal nature of human beings with the eternal nature of the sea or natural, objects. With the passage of time, the poet’s mother died but the vast sea has remained as it was since, the photograph was taken., Question 6., Why does the poet feel nostalgic?, Answer:, The poet sees an old photograph of her mother in which she was standing on the beach with her two, cousins — Dolly and Betty. They were enjoying themselves. The photograph captured her mother’s, sweet and smiling face. At that time, she was around twelve years old. The poet remembers how her, mother used to laugh whenever she looked at that old photograph. But time has passed and now the, poet has been left only with the memories of her mother. Thus, she feels nostalgic, Question 7., What does the poet say about her mother’s face?, Answer:, The poet remarks that her mother had a sweet face, smiling and caring for her cousins who were, younger to her. The poet also says that her mother used to enjoy these sea holidays, and would laugh, heartily, later on when she saw the photograph., Question 8., Does the poet appear to be grieving?

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Answer:, The poet is certainly filled with a sense of loss. Her mother is long dead and though the poet has, adjusted to her absence, she is not able to completely overcome her loss., She remembers how it used to be when her mother was still with her. The last line is an apt depiction of, her state of mind. The loss has filled her life with silence., Question 9., Comment on the tone of the poem., Answer:, The tone of the poem is that of sadness. Shirley Toulson looks at an old photograph of her mother and is, sadly reminded of her mother who is no more. She mentions about death of her mother indirectly only, but this photograph has made her speechless and silent., Long Answer Type, Question 1., The poet has paid a tribute to her mother. Similar instances can be seen in ‘The Portrait of a Lady’., This made you think that writing about a loved one is much better than building their statues or drawing, their portraits. Comment., Answer:, Many writers have paid tributes to their loved ones through beautiful writing. Khushwant Singh gave an, adorable description about his grandmother through his story. Shirley Toulson remembered her mother, through her heart-touching poem., In my opinion, writing about a loved one is much better than building their statues or drawing their, portraits. One can never tell the true personality of a person just by looking at their sculptures or, portraits. One can never know about the amazing time someone has spent with them. That magic can, only be created by words., Words stand the passage of time, whereas sculptures or portraits may get damaged by it. Hence, words, are the best way by which anyone can pay a tribute to one’s loved ones, Question 2., “Its silence silences,” writes Shirley Toulson. The loss of her mother has silenced her. Do you think, that this attitude of the poet is the right attitude to live life? Why/ why not?, Answer:

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There is no doubt that Shirley Toulson has given a very touching tribute to her mother by remembering, her through her verses. It is apparent that she is very much nostalgic and is grieving at the loss of her, mother. Though she says that over the years she has adjusted to her mother’s absence, but, circumstances have surely filled her with silence and a deep void., We cannot deny that it hurts very much to lose someone, but the attitude shown by the poet at the end, is not the right way to live your life. Life will keep going on even if we stop to lament our loss., Loss is universal. It is the law of nature. We cannot let ourselves get depressed just because of this. It is, also understandable that we will grieve. However, grieving to the point of hampering the normal, functioning of our lives is not acceptable., Question 3., Happy moments are short-lived but provide a lifetime memory. They provide a cushion to bear the, difficulties which the future has in store for you. Comment in the light of the poem ‘A Photograph’, by Shirley Toulson., Answer:, Our life is a mixture of happy as well as adverse times. We must learn to move on with the help of those, happy memories which provided us with so much enjoyment and happiness. As life is not a bed of roses,, everyone at one stage or another is likely to face difficulties., At the time of difficulties, happy moments can give us solace and fill us with positivity which is required, during difficult times. Happy moments will certainly provide us with a hope that, as happy moments are, short-lived, so are difficult times. One must learn to cope with the situation. The memories of happy, times can provide us a cushion to bear difficulties with patience and peace., Question 4., ‘Both wry with the laboured ease of loss.’ The poet is missing her mother. What is the role of the, mother in forming the personality of a child?, Answer:, A mother’s role in shaping the personality of a child is of paramount importance. The child watches his/, her mother intently and learns about the world and how to react to it at the initial stages. The mother, can, Play an important role by making the child to deal constructively with mistakes, forgive others, handle, frustration, show kindness and share love., When a mother is nurturing and caring the child, it will develop a healthy bond with not only the mother, but will be willing to form new relationships with others.

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Children and adults both want a sense of independence and autonomy. It is very important on a, mother’s part to offer choices to the child. This makes the child feel that he/she is smart enough to, make choices., The mother’s thoughts nourish a child’s mind and soul as her personal attention nourishes a child’s, body. She is a child’s first teacher. She tries to imbibe such values that may help a child lifelong.