CBSE Class 11 · English · Hornbill / Snapshots
A Photograph
Chapter summary, hard words and model exam answers for Class 11 English.
Free online summary and notes (Class 11 English). Read it here, no PDF download needed.
About the author
Shirley Toulson (poem). The speaker looks at a cardboard photograph of her mother as a girl at the beach with cousins, then at her mother's laughter years later, and finally at her own silence after her mother's death - time silences all.
Summary
It shows the poet's mother as a twelve-year-old with two cousins holding her hands on a beach holiday.
It shows the poet's mother as a twelve-year-old with two cousins holding her hands on a beach holiday.
The mother laughed at the snapshot years later, recalling how they were dressed for the beach.
The mother laughed at the snapshot years later, recalling how they were dressed for the beach.
All three girls faced the camera; the sea touched their feet - a moment never lived again.
All three girls faced the camera; the sea touched their feet - a moment never lived again.
The mother has been dead twelve years; the poet has no words to say about it.
The mother has been dead twelve years; the poet has no words to say about it.
The poet's silence contrasts with the mother's living laughter in the poem.
The poet's silence contrasts with the mother's living laughter in the poem.
Hard words & meanings
| wry | dryly amused |
| transient | short-lived |
| paddling | walking in shallow water |
| terribly | very (ironically) |
| silence | absence of speech |
Model exam answers, grammar & audio
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