The Living Photograph

By Jackie Kay

71
 Stanza One
Line no. Line Interpretation
My small grandmother is tall there, The persona is describing her
1 grandmother in the photograph
(tall : healthy and well)
2 straight-back, white broderie anglaise shirt, Her physical appearance (straight-
pleated skirt, flat shoes, grey bun, back) & what she wears (very neat &
proper)
3
Note: broderie anglaise is French for
English embroidery
a kind, old smile round her eyes. Her smile shows that she is kind &
4
gentle
5 Her big hand holds mine, Her grandmother is loving & caring
6 white hand in black hand. The white hand belongs to her
grandmother & the black hand is the
personas (togetherness)
Her sharp blue eyes look her own death in the eye. Her grandmothers vision is still
7
good but she is actually dying
Stanza Two
Line no. Line Interpretation
1 It was true after all; that look. that look refers to the look of
someone dying
2 My tall grandmother became small. Her grandmothers condition got
3 Her back round and hunched. worse when she was sick and dying
4 Her soup forgot to boil. She was too ill to take care of
herself
5 She went to the awful place grandmothers go. She died
6 Somewhere unknown, unthinkable. The place her grandmother was sent
to(afterlife) - was a mystery to the
persona
Stanza Three
Line no. Line Interpretation
1 But there she is still, The persona is looking at the
2 in the photo with me at three, photograph of her grandmother and
her when she was three years old
3 the crinkled smile is still living, breathing. To her, the memory of her old
grandmother is still new and fresh

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 PRACTICE 1 ( VOCABULARY)

No. Word Meaning No. Word Meaning

1 pleated 4 unknown
2 hunched 5 unthinkable
3 awful 6 crinkled

PRACTICE 2 ( STANZA BY STANZA)

STANZA 1
1. Give three descriptions of the personas grandmothers appearance.
(i)
(ii)
(ii)

2. Based on Stanza 1, describe the grandmothers personality.

(i)
(ii)
3. What does line 7 tell you about the grandmother?

STANZA 2
1. Describe the grandmother when she was old and sick.
(i)
(ii)
2. Why did she forget to boil her soup?

3. What happened to the grandmother in the end?

STANZA 3
1. How old was the persona when the photograph was taken?

2. Describe the personas feelings when she looks at the photograph.

3. Quote the phrase that describes the grandmother as being old.

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 PRACTICE 3 ( EXAM BASED QUESTIONS)

1. In stanza 1, why does the grandmother look tall in the photograph?

[2 marks]

2. Based on stanza 1, describe how the persona feels about her grandmother.

[2 marks]

3. Why do you think the persona describes the afterlife as awful, unknown and
unthinkable?

[2 marks]

4. Is it good to keep photographs of your loved ones? Give two reasons.

(i) [1 mark]

(ii) [1 mark]

5. Do you consider the grandmother as courageous? Give your evidence from the poem.

[2 marks]

6. In your own words, describe the relationship between the persona and her
grandmother.

[2 marks]

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 The Charge Of The Light Brigade
By Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Half a league, half a league,

Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!' he said.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

'Forward, the Light Brigade!'

Was there a man dismayed?
Not though the soldier knew
Some one had blundered.
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do & die.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,

Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volleyed& thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

75
 Stanza One
Line no. Line
1 Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
2
All in the valley of Death
3
Rode the six hundred.
4
Forward, the Light Brigade!
5
6 Charge for the guns! he said.
Into the valley of Death
7 brigade was ordered into the valley, even
Rode the six hundred.
8
Stanza Two
Line no. Line
Forward, the Light Brigade!
1
Was there a man dismayed?
2
Not though the soldier knew
3 not feel discouraged at all. They were ready
Some one had blundered.
4 good idea, that someone had made a
Theirs not to make reply,
5
Interpretation
A league is an old way to measure distance,
and it was equal to about 3 miles. So half a
league is roughly a mile and a half the
brigade/battalion was
charging forward in the battlefield
The place where many soldiers would die in
the battle (very scary & uncertain)
The exact number of soldiers was 600, riding
horses
The captain commanded the soldiers to
move forward bravely
Note: they are called "Light" to separate
them from the "Heavy Brigade," another kind
of cavalry unit at the time.Tennyson's poem
is based on real events. In 1854, there was a
Charge of the Light Brigade during the
Crimean War.
The soldiers were ordered to attack
The soldiers moved to the battlefield,
prepared to fight and to die fighting.The
though they knew that they were going to
die.
Emphasis on the small number of soldiers
few but brave soldiers riding on horseback
Interpretation
Again, the captain commanded the soldiers
to move forward
Was there any soldier who would lose his
courage, be terrified or sad?
Of course the Light Brigade was too tough
and loyal to feel dismayed. These men did
to do their job, even though the order might
be crazy (to meet their death).
The soldiers knew that this charge was not a
mistake.
The soldiers were loyal and obedient they
did not talk back to their commander

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 6 Theirs not to reason why, Or to figure out the point of the attack
Theirs but to do and die. All they could do was to ride and fight and
7
possibly die
Into the valley of Death Repetition of stanza 1 to emphasize
8
courage/bravery, loyalty, commitment, duty
9 Rode the six hundred.
Stanza Three
Line no. Line Interpretation
Cannon to right of them, The soldiers were surrounded by enemy
cannon on their left, right and front. Bad
1
news for the Light Brigade they were
actually surrounded by enemies.
2 Cannon to left of them,
3 Cannon in front of them
Volleyed and thundered; So the huge walls of cannon all around them
4
were firing and making a sound like thunder
Stormed at with shot and shell, The soldiers in the Light Brigade were being
shot at with bullets and big explosives fired
5
from the cannon - a violent, noisy,
destructive force that sounded like a storm.
Boldly they rode and well, These soldiers were not scared of the
gunfire. They rode bravely, confidently and
6
with determination. It shows us how heroic
these men were.
7 Into the jaws of Death, They were ready/willing to die of honour
Into the mouth of Hell Hell suffering and torture but the soldiers
8
were brave
Rode the six hundred. 600 brave/courageous soldiers men of
9
honour

PRACTICE 1 ( VOCABULARY)

No. Word Meaning No. Word Meaning

1 league 5 volleyed
2 valley 6 charge
3 dismayed 7 boldly
4 blundered 8 jaws

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 PRACTICE 2 ( STANZA BY STANZA)

STANZA 1

1. What does the Light Brigade refer to?

2. Who said Forward, the Light Brigade!?

3. What was the order?

4. Into the valley of Death

What would happen to the men?

STANZA 2

1. Based on this stanza, describe the personality of the soldiers.

(i)
(ii)
(ii)

2. The word Theirs refers to

3. What is the meaning of blundered?

STANZA 3

1. Describe the scene of the battlefield.

2. What Volleyed and thundered?

3. What do you think happened at the end of the poem?

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 PRACTICE 3 ( EXAM BASED QUESTIONS)

1. In your own words, describe how the soldiers felt when they went into the battlefield.

[2 marks]

2. In your opinion, was it the right thing to do for the soldiers to follow the captains
command? Give a reason.

[2 marks]

3. What do you think of the captains command?

[2 marks]

4. Give two suggestions on how we should show our appreciations to those who defend
our country.
(i) [1 mark]

(ii) [1 mark]

79
 A Poison Tree
By William Blake

I was angry with my friend;

I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow

And I watered it in fears,

Night and morning with my tears:
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night.

Till it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine.

And into my garden stole,

When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see;
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

80

Line no. Line
1 I was angry with my friend:
2 I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
3 I was angry with my foe:
4 I told it not, my wrath did grow.
Stanza Two
Line no. Line
1 And I watered it in fears,
2 Night and morning with my tears;
3 And I sunned it with smiles,
4 And with soft deceitful wiles.
Stanza Three
Line no. Line
1 And it grew both day and night,
2 Till it bore an apple bright.
3 And my foe beheld it shine.
4 And he knew that it was mine.
Stanza Four
Line no. Line
1 And into my garden stole
2 When the night had veiled the
pole;
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Stanza One
Interpretation
The persona was angry with his friend.
When he told his friend about it, his anger
disappeared.
He was once angry with his enemy
But the persona did not talk about his anger, so his
anger got bigger and bigger. (The feeling became
worse).
Interpretation
The persona treated his anger very much like a plant.
(A plant needs water and sun in order to grow). He
developed his anger more with his fears.
The anger got worse when he cried almost night and
day
The persona topped up his anger with fake smiles
(pretending to be happy in front of his enemy)
And he added deceit and tricks, maybe he was
planning something mischievous or bad.
So, the personas anger was growing bigger and
stronger (just like a growing tree).
Interpretation
Because of the persona's efforts, his tree of anger
eventually bore a bright and delicious apple.
His enemy saw the shiny apple (the fruit of the
personas anger)
And knew that the apple tree belonged to the
persona.
Interpretation
The enemy secretly sneaked into the personas
garden, like a thief.
He went into the garden at night when it was
extremely dark to steal/eat the apple
("the pole possibly refers to the pole star, also
known as the North star or Polaris. It is a very bright
star and it stays fixed in the sky, which is normally
used in navigating folks safely through danger.)
But this star was not visible.
 3 In the morning glad I see
4 My foe outstretched beneath the
tree.
In the morning, the persona sees (maybe with a happy
feeling)
His enemy is lying under the tree (dead/unconscious
after eating the poison apple the fruit that was
poisoned with the personas anger).

PRACTICE 1 ( VOCABULARY)

No. Word Meaning No. Word Meaning

1 wrath 4 foe
2 deceitful 5 Veiled
3 wiles 6 outstretched

PRACTICE 2 ( STANZA BY STANZA)

STANZA 1

1. What did the persona do when he was angry with his friend?

2. What happened when the persona was angry with his foe?

3. In your own words, describe my wrath did grow about the persona?

STANZA 2

1. Name four things the persona did to make his anger grow.
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)

2. What did the persona do to pretend that he was not angry?

3. Which phrase suggests that the persona had planned a devious strategy?

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STANZA 3

1. What does it refer to?

2. Which line suggests that the tree is growing very well?

3. Which line tells us that the personas enemy noticed the apple?

STANZA 4

1. What does And into my garden stole tell us about the enemy?

2. In your own words, describe the night.

3. What may have happened to the enemy in the end?

PRACTICE 3 ( EXAM BASED QUESTIONS)

1. In stanza 1, what may have caused the persona to be angry with his friend?
(i)
(ii)
[2 marks]
2. In stanza 1, why do you think the persona did not want to tell his enemy that he was
angry?
[2 marks]

3. Why did the persona do all the things described in stanza 2?

[2 marks]

4. Based on stanza 2, in your opinion, did the personas enemy realise his deception?
Why?
[2 marks]

5. Based on stanza 3, why do you think the persona let his tree of anger grow so well?
[2 marks]

6. How did the persona manage to attract his enemys attention?

[2 marks]

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7. Based on stanza 4, describe the personas feelings in the end. Why does he feel that
way?
[2 marks]

8. Based on the whole poem, explain what you understand by a poison tree.
[2 marks]

9. Honesty is the best policy. Do you agree? Support your answer with a reason.
[2 marks]

10. Anger management is very important. Give two reasons to support this statement.
(i)
(ii)
[2 marks]

IMPORTANT NOTES FOR THIS POEM

The personas anger is compared to a living plant. It needs water and sunshine to grow steadily.
Thats how the personas anger too grows and increases by watering in fears and sunned it with
smiles.
The apple symbolises wrath and hatred within the persona which at last kills his enemy.

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