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PERSONAThe persona is the poet herself. Of mixed parentage, she
had been adopted by a white Scottish couple, thus the reference to
black hand.
SETTINGThe setting is her grandmothers or parents house, where
the photograph is kept.
TONE AND MOODThe poem is reflective and thoughtful, sometimes
bitter, reminiscing about her childhood and her relationship with
her grandmother. She misses her and keeps her memory alive by
looking at the photo.
POINT The poem is written in the first person.
STRUCTUREThe poem has no organised rhyme scheme. It has 3
stanzas, all of varying length, each becoming shorter as if in line
with the shrinking size of the grandmother. It uses free verse.
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STANZA ONE- This is the longest with 7 lines, echoing her tall
stature
STANZA TWO- This becomes shorter, as she become shorter and
hunched.
STANZA THREE- Consists of 3 lines, echoing the poets age (three)
in the photo. In sharp contrasts with the length of the first two,
it emphasises the importance she places on her relationship with
her grandmother.
LANGUAGEThe language of the poem is simple and easy to
understand.
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MORAL VALUES -Appreciate family relationships-Love your adopted
children as your own without discriminating against colour and
creed.-Respect the old even when they are gone.
POETIC DEVICESThe power of the poem comes from the careful use
of imagery.IMAGERY Colour images predominate in stanza 1 grey bun,
white broderie anglaise shirt, white hand in black hand and blue
eyes to highlight colour differences between the poet and her
grandmother. -- Images of shape and form stress the stature of the
grandmother as she grows older and more hunched tall, small, round,
hunched and straight-back.METAPHOR My small grandmother is tall
there she is short but looks tall as she is not hunched. -- the
crinkled smile is still living, breathing the photo looks very
lifelike.
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THE LIVING PHOTOGRAPHJackie Kay
My small grandmother is tall there,straight-back, white broderie
anglaise shirt,pleated skirt, flat shoes, grey bun ,a kind, old
smile round her eyes.Her big hand holds mine,white hand in black
hand.Her sharp blue eyes look her own death in the eye.
It was true after all; that look.My tall grandmother became
small.Her back round and hunched .Her soup forgot to boil.She went
to the awful place grandmothers go.Somewhere uknown , unthinkable
.
But there she is still,in the photo with me at three,the
crinkled smile is still living, breathing.Vocabulary
BoosterDecoration with sewing on fine white clothHaving a narrow
fold in a piece of cloth togetherLong hair that has been brought
into a round shape and is worn at the back of the headTo sit or
stand with ones back and shoulders curved forwardsNot known or
identified or familiarImpossible to imageCovered with a lot of thin
lines and folds