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Exercise 1

Complete the poem. Try not to refer to the text.

The Living Photograph

My small grandmother is tall there,

straight-back, white broderieanglaise (1)___________________,

pleated (2)____________, flat shoes, grey bun,

a kind, old (3)_________ round her eyes.

Her big hand (4)____________mine,

white hand in black hand.

Her sharp blue eyes look her own (5) ______________ in the eye.

It was (6) __________ after all; that look.

My tall grandmother became small.

Her back round and (7) _____________.

Her (8) _____________ forgot to boil.

She went to the (9) ____________ place grandmothers go.

Somewhere unknown, (10) ___________.

But there she is still,

in the photo with me at (11)____________,

the crinkled smile is still (12) _____________ , breathing.

Exercise 2
Complete the bridge map with the antonyms to the words given.

1. Word: true Antonym: ______________

2. Word: sharp Antonym: ______________
3. Word: forgot Antonym: ______________
4. Word: awful Antonym: ______________

Exercise 3

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 persona’s 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.
(___________)
6. In the photograph, the grandmother will always be alive.
(___________)

Exercise 4

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.
__________________________________________________________________________

Exercise 5

Answer all the questions.

1. List down 3 themes of the poem?

 ___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

2. Give 4 moral values that are found in the poem.

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
3. How do you think of the persona feels towards her grandmother? Support
your answer with evidence from the poem.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
4. “A picture speaks a thousand words” is a common proverb. How would
you relate this to the poem “The Living Photograph”?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

Exercise 6

Read the questions carefully and answer all the questions.

1. Sometimes an elderly member of the family is sent to a nursing home. Do

you agree with this practice? Provide your reason.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
2. If you were to take care of your grandmother for a day, what would you
do to make her experience an unforgettable one?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

Answers

Exercise 1

1. Shirt 6. True
2. Skirt 7. Hunched
3. Smile 8. Soup
4. Holds 9. Awful
5. Death 10.Unthinkable
11.Three 12.Living

Exercise 2

1. false
2. dull
3. remembered
4. Beautiful

Exercise 3

1. True
2. False
3. True
4. False
5. False
6. True

Exercise 4

1. She was three years old

2. The line, “her soup forgot to boil”
3. The word “unthinkable”
4. In the first stanza, the grandmother is strong and healthy in the
photograph while in the second stanza the grandmother is older and ill.
5. The poem is about how a photograph immortalises a person. This is
illustrated in the poem where in real life, the grandmother is dead but with
the photograph, she will always be remembered by the persona.
6. The poem teaches us that we must spend time with our loved ones
because when they pass away, all that will be left are the memories of the
time spent together.

Exercise 5 & 6

-Accept all correct and acceptable answers-

The Living Photograph

Exercise

1. List two items ‘grandmother’ wears in the photo.

a) _____________________________________________________________
b) _____________________________________________________________

2. What do you think the writer is referring to in the phrase ‘the awful place
grandmothers go?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
 3. Why do you think the writer’s ‘small grandmother’ is ‘tall’ in the photo?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

4. In the first stanza, what does the word there refer to?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

5. Which line tells you that the writer and her grandmother come from
different ethnic background?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

6. How old was the writer when the photo was taken?
___________________________________________________________________________

7. Why do you think the writer says that her grandmother is tall in the photo
but later became ‘small’?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

8. Quote evidence from line 14 to line 16 that the photograph was taken a
long time ago.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

9. Explain the meaning of the word ‘crinkled’.

___________________________________________________________________________

10.How do these lines make you feel about photographs of people you love?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

Answers

1. a) pleated skirt
b) flat shoes/white broderieanglaise shirt

2. The writer is referring to death.

3. I think it is probably because the photo was taken when the writer’s
grandmother was younger. Her back was not rounded and hunched
then, so she looked tall.

4. It refers to the photograph.

5. ‘white hand in black hand’

6. She was three years old.

7. I think she says that because at the time the photo was taken her
grandmother was younger. Her back was straight therefore she
seemed taller. It could also be because the writer was very young at
the time (only 3 years old). As her grandmother grew older, her
back became ‘round and hunched’. So she appeared ‘small’. The
writer would also have grown bigger and taller too, therefore her
grandmother no longer appears tall to her.

8. The persona says that the photograph was taken when he/she was
three years old.

9. Wrinkled

10. (accept all logical answers)