Test: A Photograph- 1

Solution: The poem 'A Photograph' is written by Shirley Toulson. In this poem, she recalls her mother and her memories while looking at a childhood photograph when her mother was twelve years old or so.

Solution: The poet looks at the photograph of her mother which was taken when her mother was 12 years old. She had gone for a sea holiday with her cousins Betty and Dolly. While they were paddling on the beach, her uncle clicked a photograph.

Solution: The three girls, poet's mother with her two cousins Betty and Dolly were enjoying . And they seem to be very happy. All the three girls were smiling. They were laughing when the photo was taken and seem to have no worries.

Solution: It is her mother when she was twelve years old or so. Beside her, on both sides are her two cousins, Betty and Dolly, who are holding her hands and are younger than her.

Solution: The scene that has been captured in the photograph is from mother's childhood when she went for paddling with her two cousins. Mother's uncle had taken the photograph.

Solution:

After about twenty-three years the poet's mother would look at the photograph laughing nostalgically and remembering the past. She would appreciate the dress worn by her cousins Betty and Dolly.

Solution: After twenty-thirty years, her mother would laugh at the photograph. She would make the poet look at the photograph and tell her how their parents would dress them up for the beach holiday. The beach holiday was her mother's favourite past memories while her laugh was the poet's favourite memory.

Solution: Wry commonly means humorous in a way that's very “dry,” irreverent, ironic, sarcastic, or sardonic. The sense of word is especially used in the terms wry humor and wry wit. This sense of wry is a figurative extension of its literal sense, which means crooked, lopsided, contorted, or distorted.

Solution: Epithet, adjective or phrase that is used to express a characteristic of a person or thing, such as Ivan the Terrible. In literature, the term is considered an element of poetic diction, something that distinguishes the language of poetry from ordinary language.

Solution: In the last stanza, the poet's adult life is described in which her mother is not with her anymore. She has been dead for almost twelve years. The stanza depicts the poet's looking at the same photograph and recollecting her mother's laughter. The loss of her mother puts her in utter grief.