Multimedia lesson Submitted By : Monika Aggarwal Yashika Sahni

Instructional objectives PUPILS WILL BE ABLE TO : understand the poetic devices used enhance their vocabulary appreciate the emotions involved recite the poem in a rhythmic way

CONCEPTS IN MODULE Have you ever posed for a photograph? About the poet Paraphrasing Summary of the poem

Have you ever posed for a photograph?

Look at the photograph and think what does it symbolise.

Have a look at the photograph and think what does it symbolise.

Have a look at the photograph and think what does it symbolise. Go back

ABOUT THE POET Shirley Toulson is a British writer who lives in Somerset. She is known for her book ‘The Celtic Alternative’ (1987) and ‘The Celtic Year’ (1993). Go back

What is a Photograph? A Photograph is something to: Adorn a desk or wall Preserve as a reminisce of the past moments, unable to be reproduced

A PHOTOGRAPH 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. And 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. 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 Was her past, mine is her laughter. Both wry with the labored ease of loss. 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.

Paraphrasing

Original Text The cardboard shows me how it was When the two girl cousins went paddling, Each one holding one of my mother’s hands. Paddling: dabbing hands and feet in water, the act of playing in water Paraphrasing The poet looks at the old picture set within a cardboard frame . It shows her mother and her two cousins . They are holding the hands of the poet’s mother.

The mother must have been nearly 12 years old and the eldest in the group, going by her size. Standing at the beach , they seemed to be happy. Their hair flew over their smiling faces . The uncle captured their photograph with the revolving eye of the camera. And she the big girl- some twelve years or so. And 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 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. Terribly : greatly Transient : short in duration, transitory That was the time when the poet was not even born. Her mother looked young and attractive . The sea, captured in the photograph, has not changed, but the mother has undergone change with the passage of time. Standing there with her two cousins, the sea seems to be washing their mortal feet. Terribly Transient Feet YourTakes.mp4

Some twenty – thirty years later She’d laugh at the snapshot 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.” Twenty or thirty years have passed since that photograph was taken. Looking at the photograph, the mother would laugh spontaneously. Pointing at Dolly and Betty in the photograph, she would feel amused at the way they were dressed up for the holiday on the beach.

The sea holiday Was her past, mine is her laughter The sea holiday Was her past, mine is her laughter. Both wry with the laboured ease of loss. wry : disappointment The happy moments of the holiday had been a memory of the past for the mother. The sweet laughter of the mother shown in the photograph has become the poet’s own past. Both of them seem to have suffered from a sense of loss, but both of them also seem to have tried to conceal the pain laboriously.

Now she’s been dead nearly as many years As that girl lived. The poet says that her mother has been dead for as many years as she lived as that strapping young girl.

And of this circumstance There is nothing to say at all And of this circumstance There is nothing to say at all. Its silence silences. Nothing to say at all : with no major event to tell about The poet has nothing to say on how things came to such a pass. The silence of it is so deep that it makes all silences go silent. In other words, the current situation would always remain shrouded in mystery. Go back

SUMMARY OF THE POEM

The poet rejoices memories of the past through a photograph of her mother and her cousins. It shows her mother enjoying a holiday at the beach with her cousins, Betty and Dolly.

Her mother was the eldest of the cousins and was 12 years old at that time. The uncle captures their photograph through the roving eyes of the camera. With their hair blowing in their faces, the cousins smile and pose.

The poet remembers wistfully how her mother used to look at the photograph years later. Reminiscing , she would point out at her cousins and give description of how the girls were dressed for a beach holiday.

For the mother the photograph carried happy fleeting moments of time For the mother the photograph carried happy fleeting moments of time. The radiant smile no longer exists since her mother is no more.

The silence of sadness pervades the poet The silence of sadness pervades the poet. The memories of past cannot be re-lived and she has accepted her fate with resignation.

The photo album is a mirror that reflects joys of the past The photo album is a mirror that reflects joys of the past. The wistfulness of it sometimes makes one emotional. Go back

Alliteration Literary Devices The use of alliteration is quite noticeable in the poem as is clear from the following examples: All three stood still to smile through their hair. (repetition of ‘s’ and ‘th’ sounds) Their terribly transient feet (repetition of ‘t’ sound) Its silence silences (repetition of ‘s’ sound) Literary Devices Go back

RECAPITULATION The Photograph by Shirley Toulson.mp4