8/18/2019 oral najaa 2.docx

1/2

SPM English Literature : Poem : The LivingPhotographAssalamualaikum WBT,

Poem 1 : The Living Photograph

The Living Photograph

My small grandmother is tall there,Straight bak, !hite, broderie anglaise shirt,

pleated skirt, "lat shoes, grey bun,a kind, old smile round her eyes#

$er big hand holds mine,!hite hand in the blak hand#

$er sharp blue eyes look her o!n death in the eye#

%t !as true, a"ter all, that look#My tall grandmother beame small#

$er bak round and hunhed#$er soup "orgot to boil#

She !ent to the a!"ul plae grandmothers go#Some!here unkno!n, unthinkable

But there she is still,%n the photo !ith me at three,

The rinkled smile is still living, breathing#

&akie 'ay

(o!, interpreting other)s poem, !e need to study the poet bakground "irst, then !e anrelate !ith !hat he or she !as trying to onvey#

Poet

As you an see there, the poet)s name is &akie 'ay !hih !as born (ovember * 1*+1 indinburgh, Sotland to a Sottish mother and a (igerian "ather# $er parents gave hera!ay "or adoption to !hite Sottish parents -&ohn and $elen 'ay. !ho brought her up in

/lasgo! !ith great a""etion# The grandmother in the poem above !as her adoptivegrandmother !ho also loved her as muh as her biologial parents# Thus, "rom an earlyage, &akie 'ay !as o"ten ba""led by her ethni identity as she looked 0oloured0ompared to her adoptive 0!hite0 grandmother and adoptive parents# This poem, likemany other by &akie 'ay, re"lets her generally happy, hildhood, as !ell as her onernsabout her true )biraial) ethni identity#

About the poem

8/18/2019 oral najaa 2.docx

2/2

The persona aptured t!o images o" her adoptive grandmother one seen in thephotograph !hen the persona !as three years old and another image o" her grandmotheras the lady beame older and "inally passed a!ay# The persona resonates !ith thememories o" many young people !ho have lost their beloved grandparents#

Theme

1# Appreiation and a""etion "or a grandparent2# Searh "or the persona)s identity3# The mystery o" ageing and death4# 5ilial piety - 6irtue respet "or one)s anestor .

Moral 6alue

1# 5ilial piety2# %nterraial harmony

Tone7Mood o" Poem

The poet used hildlike voie but !ith on"ident and optimisti despite her re"erene tothe grandmother)s death#

Persona or Speaker

The persona in the poem is a hild !ho gro!s "rom the age o" three in the photograph toa more mature age#

Point o" 6ie!

%t !as narrated by the persona in the "irst person

Language and Style

Persona and 8hild Talk8ontrasting %magery9esriptive 9etails#

(o!, that is all "or no!, % !ill inlude more in"ormation "rom time to time and this is notthe last entry you see "rom me# es# % have the 8harge o" the Light Brigade that % need to

tell you more on#

es,