Snapshotland-10 steps to analyse a poem

In Snapshotland everyone is happy all the time.

It is the promised land where people sit with flasks of tea
on smooth sand by a flat sea and smile and smile and smile.

The sun shines all day long and every day in Kodachrome
or sepia on sandboys and sandgirls who never
stop smiling from the time they first appear, with buckets,
in crisp, gingham pinafores and bonnets on the sea-shore.

Lovers stay in love forever; married couples never
grow tired of each other; everything is always just right.
The dolphins know exactly when to leap into the air
and stay there for the permanent delight of passengers
aboard the pleasure-boat which never passes out of sight.

Nobody in Snapshotland grows old unless they want to,
judging by the way they go on smiling so, in deck-chairs,
on the beach, or in old-fashioned gardens with lavender
and grandchildren here and there – and no one dies, ever.

Even if they don’t appear later, the people are still
always there, smiling through the lavender and dolphins
and the buckets full of pebbles on the same sea-shore.

By

Sylvia Kantaris

1) Forget what the poem may or may not mean, or what it may be about.


2) Look at just the title and WRITE DOWN about half a dozen things that it suggests to you. Give literal meanings as well as other associations.

- Camera
- Photoalbum
- Fairytale/Fantasy
- Good memories
- Photographs

3) Read the poem once quickly, and then several times more slowly. Try to hear the poem aloud in your head. DO NOT recite the poem aloud in class; if you must hear it aloud, read it quietly to yourself.



4) WRITE DOWN a list of all those things in the poem that force their attention on you or which catch your interest for any particular reason. This includes unusual/odd/striking words, rhymes, or repetitions/patterns/contrasts, etc.

-smile and smile and smile (repetition)
- 'every day in Kodachrome or sepia on sandboys and sandgirls' (play with words,figurative language)
- 'and no one dies, ever' (emphasis on 'ever')
- 'gingham pinafores and bonnets' (clear description)
- 'everyone is happy all the time' (shoes people only take pictures smiling)
- 'everything is always just right' (makes it sound like a fairytale)
5) WRITE DOWN any features of figurative language in the poem: metaphors, similes, personification, alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia, symbolism, etc.

- 'It is the promised land' (metaphor)
- 'on the same sea-shore' (alliteration)

6) WRITE DOWN groups of words that may be thematically similar (for example, that all similes make reference to animals/death/plants, etc., or all the first words of lines are conjunction words, etc.). Don't worry about whether your groups of words seem silly or improbable; look at what you have observed and ask yourself: what is its significance?

'smile and smile and smile',
'never stop smiling',
'everyone is happy all the time',
'permanent delight of passengers',
'smiling through the lavender and dolphins'
'the way they go on smiling so'
7) Look at your lists, notes, and groups. Do you see any pattern taking shape? If so, WRITE DOWN this pattern.

--They are all about happy moments
8) Read the poem again and WRITE DOWN your intelligent guesses of what the poem may mean.

--The poem might mean that all the beautiful moments of life are captured in pictures, beautiful moments that will not fade.

9) Answer the following questions:

Who is "speaking" in the poem? Is it the POET or a PERSONA?

--The poet is speaking about pictures.

Who is the poem "spoken" to? In other words, who is the audience for this poem? Is it to a particular person, to the poet himself (reflective) or to the public in general?

--It is to the public.
What is the speaker's attitude to this audience? Is it angry, sincere, joking, teasing, etc.?

--He is describing the beautiful memories photographs have in a happy mood.
What is the POET's attitude to this audience? (This may be different from the speaker.)

--(See Above)
Why is the poem organized in the way that it is?

--The first para is an intro to snapshotland. The rest are descriptions of different scenarios of photographs.
What is the EFFECT of all the things you have written down in Steps 2-8?

--Analyse the purpose of the poem

10) WRITE DOWN your guess at the poet's intent: what do you think the poet hoped to accomplish in writing this poem?

--He wishes to convey to us the value of poems.

My Limerick - The Lich from Mars

There was a lich from Mars,
Who had nothing but cars;
I thought that lich
must be very rich
But no, my witch
As there was no one left on Mars

My Poem- Life is ...

Fe Fi Fo Flope,
Life is like a rocky slope,
Up and down it goes
Where it never slows

Life is like a fertile field,
Fun and abundance it will yield
Fruits of joy and seeds of givings,
Sprouting into smalls seedlings