A Photograph Class 11: Complete Summary & Important Questions
Welcome to the complete study guide for Class 11 English Hornbill chapter, “A Photograph”. Written by Shirley Toulson, this touching poem explores the themes of human mortality, loss, and the timeless nature of memories captured in a photograph.
The Poem: “A Photograph” by Shirley Toulson
The cardboard shows me how it was
When the two girl cousins went paddling,
Each one holding one of my mother’s hands,
And she the big girl — some twelve years or so.
All three stood still to smile through their hair
At the uncle with the camera. A sweet face,
My mother’s, that was before I was born.
And the sea, which appears to have changed less,
Washed their terribly transient feet.
Some twenty — thirty — years later
She’d laugh at the snapshot. “See Betty
And Dolly,” she’d say, “and look how they
Dressed us for the beach.” The sea holiday
Was her past, mine is her laughter. Both wry
With the laboured ease of loss.
Now she’s been dead nearly as many years
As that girl lived. And of this circumstance
There is nothing to say at all.
Its silence silences.
Complete Summary of A Photograph
The poem is divided into three distinct phases of life:
Phase 1: The Childhood Memory
The poet looks at an old photograph pasted on cardboard. It shows her mother at the age of twelve, enjoying a beach holiday with her two girl cousins, Betty and Dolly. The uncle clicks their picture as they smile through their wind-blown hair. The poet contrasts the eternal nature of the sea with the short-lived (“transient”) nature of human life.
Phase 2: The Middle Age
This phase occurs 20-30 years after the photo was taken. The poet’s mother looks at the same photograph and laughs at how they were dressed for the beach holiday. For the mother, the sea holiday was a happy memory of the past. For the poet, her mother’s laughter is now a cherished memory of the past.
Phase 3: The Present (Silence)
In the final stanza, the poet reveals that her mother passed away roughly twelve years ago (the same age the mother was in the photograph). The pain of this loss is so profound that it leaves the poet completely speechless. The absolute silence of the situation silences the poet’s own thoughts and emotions.
Important Word Meanings
| Word/Phrase |
Meaning in English |
| Cardboard |
A thick, stiff paper (referring to the old photo frame). |
| Paddling |
Walking in shallow water barefoot. |
| Transient |
Temporary; lasting only for a short time. |
| Wry |
Disappointed or showing a mocking humor. |
| Laboured ease |
Achieving a sense of comfort with great difficulty. |
Important Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)
Test your knowledge with these exam-focused MCQs, especially covering poetic devices used in ‘A Photograph’.
1. Who is the poet of the poem ‘A Photograph’?
- A) Ruskin Bond
- B) Shirley Toulson
- C) William Wordsworth
- D) John Keats
Answer: B) Shirley Toulson
2. What does the word ‘cardboard’ refer to in the poem?
- A) A piece of paper
- B) A cardboard box
- C) The photograph of the poet’s mother
- D) A painting
Answer: C) The photograph of the poet’s mother
3. Which poetic device has been used in the phrase “terribly transient feet”?
- A) Simile
- B) Transferred Epithet
- C) Metaphor
- D) Personification
Answer: B) Transferred Epithet
4. What is the poetic device used in “laboured ease of loss”?
- A) Oxymoron
- B) Alliteration
- C) Hyperbole
- D) Repetition
Answer: A) Oxymoron
5. How many girls were there in the photograph?
- A) Two
- B) Three
- C) Four
- D) Five
Answer: B) Three (The mother and two cousins)
6. What does the ‘sea’ symbolize in this poem?
- A) The deep sorrow of the poet
- B) The beauty of nature
- C) Immortality and the unchanging nature of time
- D) The fun of a beach holiday
Answer: C) Immortality and the unchanging nature of time
7. Which poetic device is prominently used in “Its silence silences”?
- A) Simile
- B) Personification
- C) Metaphor
- D) Oxymoron
Answer: B) Personification (also Alliteration)
8. Who took the photograph at the beach?
- A) The poet
- B) The mother’s father
- C) The uncle
- D) A stranger
Answer: C) The uncle
9. What were the names of the two girl cousins?
- A) Betty and Dolly
- B) Mary and Jane
- C) Sarah and Betty
- D) Dolly and Mary
Answer: A) Betty and Dolly
10. In the phrase “Both wry with the laboured ease of loss”, who does ‘Both’ refer to?
- A) Betty and Dolly
- B) The mother and the uncle
- C) The poet and her mother
- D) The two photographs
Answer: C) The poet and her mother
Top Exam Questions and Answers (FAQs)
Q1: What does the word “cardboard” denote in the poem?
Answer: The word “cardboard” refers to the old-fashioned photograph of the poet’s mother. It highlights how memories are preserved over time. The use of the word also suggests the lack of permanence in human life compared to the physical object.
Q2: Explain the phrase “terribly transient feet”.
Answer: This is the most important phrase in the poem. It is an example of a Transferred Epithet. The “feet” represent human life, which is “transient” (temporary and mortal). The poet contrasts the short, mortal life of humans with the vast, eternal, and unchanging sea.
Q3: What are the two different losses mentioned in the phrase “Both wry with the laboured ease of loss”?
Answer: The two losses are: (1) For the mother, the loss of her carefree childhood and the joy of the sea holiday. (2) For the poet, the loss of her mother and her beautiful laughter. Both of them try to accept their respective losses, but it brings them a sense of pain (“laboured ease”).
