I just compile the notes and give it a personal touch

1. Day: Date: Prepared by Madam Wan Raihan Hj . Wan Shaaidi
THE LIVING PHOTOGRAPH by Jackie Kay
Read the following poem. List down any difficult words and their definitions (either in English or Malay).
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 unknown, unthinkable.
But there she is still,
in the photo with me at three,
the crinkled smile is still living, breathing.
Vocabulary:
Word Meaning
1. _________________________ _________________________________
_________________________________
2. _________________________ _________________________________
_________________________________
3. _________________________ _________________________________
_________________________________
4. _________________________ _________________________________
_________________________________
5. _________________________ _________________________________
_________________________________
6. _________________________ _________________________________
_________________________________

2. Day: Date: Prepared by Madam Wan Raihan Hj . Wan Shaaidi
Meaning
The persona’s grandmother looks tall in the photograph.
She is standing with good posture, wearing an embroidered lace blouse.
She wears the blouse with a pleated skirt, non-heeled shoes and her hair in a bun.
She is smiling kindly.
Her big hand is holding the persona’s hand.
The contrast of their skin colours (mixed race family) can clearly be seen in their
linked hands.
Her grandmother’s blue eyes suggests that her death is near.
Line
1 My small grandmother is tall there,
2 straight-back, white broderie anglaise shirt ,
3 pleated skirt, flat shoes, grey bun,
4 a kind, old smile round her eyes.
5 Her big hand holds mine,
6 white hand in black hand.
7 Her sharp blue eyes look her death in the eye.
STANZA 1
STANZA 2
Line
8 It was true after all; that look.
9 My tall grandmother became small.
10 Her back round and hunched.
11 Her soup forgot to boil.
12 She went to the awful place grandmothers go.
13 Somewhere unknown, unthinkable.
Meaning
The persona’s reference of death came true.
The grandmother became thinner and more
fragile.
Her back became hunched.
She became forgetful.
Soon, she passed away.
Upon her death, she went to a place that no one
knows.
STANZA 3
Line
14 But there she is still,
15 in the photo with me at three,
16 the crinkled smile is still living, breathing.
Meaning
However, in the photograph, her grandmother will
always be alive.
The persona was there years old in the photograph
with her grandmother.
Her grandmother’s smile is still so alive and real.

3. Day: Date: Prepared by Madam Wan Raihan Hj . Wan Shaaidi
Line
1 My small grandmother is tall there,
2 straight-back, white broderie anglaise shirt ,
3 pleated skirt, flat shoes, grey bun,
4 a kind, old smile round her eyes.
5 Her big hand holds mine,
6 white hand in black hand.
7 Her sharp blue eyes look her death in the eye.
STANZA 1
STANZA 2
Line
8 It was true after all; that look.
9 My tall grandmother became small.
10 Her back round and hunched.
11 Her soup forgot to boil.
12 She went to the awful place grandmothers go.
13 Somewhere unknown, unthinkable.
STANZA 3
Line
14 But there she is still,
15 in the photo with me at three,
16 the crinkled smile is still living, breathing.
Match the following stanza with appropriate meaning.

4. Day: Date: Prepared by Madam Wan Raihan Hj . Wan Shaaidi
Meaning
The persona’s grandmother looks tall in the photograph.
She is standing with good posture, wearing an embroidered lace blouse.
She wears the blouse with a pleated skirt, non-heeled shoes and her hair in a bun.
She is smiling kindly.
Her big hand is holding the persona’s hand.
The contrast of their skin colours (mixed race family) can clearly be seen in their
linked hands.
Her grandmother’s blue eyes suggests that her death is near.
Meaning
The persona’s reference of death came true.
The grandmother became thinner and more fragile.
Her back became hunched.
She became forgetful.
Soon, she passed away.
Upon her death, she went to a place that no one knows.
Meaning
However, in the photograph, her grandmother
will always be alive.
The persona was there years old in the
photograph with her grandmother.
Her grandmother’s smile is still so alive and real.

5. Day: Date: Prepared by Madam Wan Raihan Hj . Wan Shaaidi
ELEMENTS OF THE POEM
PLACE
Britain, possibly Scotland where the poet grew up.
The persona is most likely in his/her home as the
poem reveals the thoughts of a child who is
looking at a photograph of the grandparent.
In the photograph, the grandmother is
wearing a white broderie anglaise shirt which
is popular in Scotland.
TIME
THEMES
Match the following themes with appropriate elaborations.
20th century
The photograph is in colour and colour photography
was expensive and not very common up until the
1960s.
Stanza 1: Present (looking at the photograph)
Stanza 2: Past (Remembering what happened)
Stanza 3: Present (looking at the photograph again)
Remembering a loved one Family relationships Life and death

6. Day: Date: Prepared by Madam Wan Raihan Hj . Wan Shaaidi
In this poem, the persona describes how the
grandmother looks in detail when she was three years
old.
She describes the clothes
—> she wears,
—> the way she ties her hair up in a bun and
—> her kind smiling eyes.
Then the persona recalls the changes in the
grandmother's appearance and behaviour as she grew
older—
—> how her back became bent and
—> how she became forgetful.
From the photograph, the persona goes to his/her
memory of the grandparent. The grandmother is dead
now but she still looks alive in the photograph.
Remembering a loved one
Family relationships
The poem focuses on the relationship between a
grandchild and his/her grandparent.
The photograph of the two reveals the bond between
them.
Grandmother is holding the child's hand in hers. Even
though the grandparent and the child seem to be of
different ethnicity/race as their skin 'colour' is different,
they love each other.
Even though grandmother changed into a bent-over
forgetful old woman, the child still remembers the
grandmother as she looks in the photograph.
Life and death
The poem is also about life and death from the point of view of the aged
and the very young.
The grandmother knew that she would die soon but she was unafraid—'Her
sharp blue eyes look her own death in the eye' (line 7). It also gives us the
impression that grandmother would fight to stay alive tor as long as possible.
To the young persona, death is a fearful thing. He/She understands that
death is a place old people like grandmothers go. Death is unavoidable. Death
is described as an 'awful place", 'somewhere unknown, unthinkable' (lines
12-13).
That is why the persona is happy that he/she has a photograph of the
beloved grandmother where the grandmother lives on. The photograph
defeats death. That is the significance of the title of this poem'The Living
Photograph'.
Match the following themes
with appropriate
elaborations. [Answer
Scheme]

7. Day: Date: Prepared by Madam Wan Raihan Hj . Wan Shaaidi
In this poem, the persona describes how the grandmother
looks in detail when she was three years old.
She describes the clothes
—> she wears,
—> the way she ties her hair up in a bun and
—> her kind smiling eyes.
Then the persona recalls the changes in the grandmother's
appearance and behaviour as she grew older—
—> how her back became bent and
—> how she became forgetful.
From the photograph, the persona goes to his/her memory
of the grandparent. The grandmother is dead now but she
still looks alive in the photograph.
The poem focuses on the relationship between a
grandchild and his/her grandparent.
The photograph of the two reveals the bond between
them.
Grandmother is holding the child's hand in hers. Even
though the grandparent and the child seem to be of
different ethnicity/race as their skin 'colour' is different,
they love each other.
Even though grandmother changed into a bent-over
forgetful old woman, the child still remembers the
grandmother as she looks in the photograph.
The poem is also about life and death from the point of view of the aged and
the very young.
The grandmother knew that she would die soon but she was unafraid—'Her
sharp blue eyes look her own death in the eye' (line 7). It also gives us the
impression that grandmother would fight to stay alive tor as long as possible.
To the young persona, death is a fearful thing. He/She understands that death
is a place old people like grandmothers go. Death is unavoidable. Death is
described as an 'awful place", 'somewhere unknown, unthinkable' (lines 12-13).
That is why the persona is happy that he/she has a photograph of the beloved
grandmother where the grandmother lives on. The photograph defeats death.
That is the significance of the title of this poem'The Living Photograph'.

8. Day: Date: Prepared by Madam Wan Raihan Hj . Wan Shaaidi
We must try our best to have a good and strong relationship with our
grandparents.
MORAL VALUES
1
2
3
4
5

9. Day: Date: Prepared by Madam Wan Raihan Hj . Wan Shaaidi
MORAL VALUES
We must try our best to have a good and strong
relationship with our grandparents.
We should love and appreciate our elders especially in our
family
We should spend as much time as we can with our loved
ones before they die
We should take photographs with our loved ones and keep
them
We must not forget those who have died
We must learn to move on and accept life and death as
part of life cycle
Put this in teaching slides

10. Day: Date: Prepared by Madam Wan Raihan Hj . Wan Shaaidi
Practice 1: Stanza 1
1. Give three descriptions of the persona’s grandmother’s appearance.
a) ______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
b) ______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
c) ______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
2. Based on stanza 1, describe the grandmother’s personality.
a) ______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
b) ______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
3. What does line 7, tell you about the grandmother?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Stanza 2
1. Describe the grandmother when she was old and sick.
a) ______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
b) ______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
2. Why does she forget to boil her soup?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

11. Day: Date: Prepared by Madam Wan Raihan Hj . Wan Shaaidi
3. What happened to the grandmother in the end?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Stanza 3
1. How old was the persona when then photograph was taken?
_________________________________________________________________
2. Describe the persona’s feelings when she looks at the photograph.
_________________________________________________________________
3. Quote the phrase that describes the grandmother as being old.
_________________________________________________________________
Practice 2:
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.
a) ____________________________________________________ [1 mark]
b) ____________________________________________________ [1 mark]
5. Do you consider the grandmother as courageous? Give your evidence from the poem.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________ [2 marks]

12. Day: Date: Prepared by Madam Wan Raihan Hj . Wan Shaaidi
Practice 3: Vocabulary
1. Pleated ______________________________
______________________________
Word Meaning
2. Hunched ______________________________
______________________________
3. Awful ______________________________
______________________________
4. Unknown ______________________________
______________________________
5. Unthinkable ______________________________
______________________________
6. Crinkled ______________________________
______________________________