I was four in this photograph fishing
with my grandparents at a lake in Michigan.
My brother squats in poison ivy.
His Davy Crockett cap
sits squared on his head so the raccoon tail
flounces down the back of his sailor suit.
My grandfather sits to the far right
in a folding chair,
and I know his left hand is on
the tobacco in his pants pocket
because I used to wrap it for him
every Christmas. Grandmother's hips
bulge from the brush, she's leaning
into the ice chest, sun through the trees
printing her dress with soft
luminous paws.
I am staring jealously at my brother;
the day before he rode his first horse, alone.
I was strapped in a basket
behind my grandfather.
He smelled of lemons. He's died--
but I remember his hands.
Dove’s poem, Fifth Grade Autobiography, talks about the nostalgic childhood of the most important people in her life. Throughout the poem, she begins to recollect the personalities and memories of her grandparents and her brother by just looking at the picture. She looks at a photograph and recollects how wonderful and how important her family is by her language and her imagery.
In the poem, the speaker looks back on the picture using their imagery. The speaker describes her family at a lake in Michigan. In the first stanza, she looks at her brother “squat(ing) in poison ivy”. Based on the way she uses squat, the speaker is making fun of her brother, for poison ivy leaves people with bruises after touching it. She also describes the Davy Crockett cap, sitting on his head, “flounc(ing) down the back of his sailor suit”. Based on the way she describes her brother as a rambunctious boy, with his cap and his outfit, letting the audience know how she perceives her brother. In the next stanza, the speaker describes her grandparents. Her grandfather “sits to the far right”, smoking a cigarette, but yet she describes the action as a good thing because she “used to wrap it for him every Christmas”. Her grandmother is leaning in the cooler, or ice chest in this matter, and while she does this, the sun prints “her dress with soft luminous paws”, as if the sun was a cat, cuddling her grandmother. The way she describes the sun cuddling her grandmother makes it seem like her grandmother is a peaceful woman and her grandfather is a more lenient man than others.
On the last stanza, the speaker fast forward in time to the time she followed her grandfather. She was jealous to the fact that her brother was going to ride a horse alone, but her grandfather soothed her with his smell of lemons. Even though he’s dead, she stills “remember his hands”
While the author recollects the memories of the photograph, she uses imagery and diction to show her how appreciative she is for her family. Every little thing she remembers about that photograph made her believe it was the most important detail for her life altogether.
with my grandparents at a lake in Michigan.
My brother squats in poison ivy.
His Davy Crockett cap
sits squared on his head so the raccoon tail
flounces down the back of his sailor suit.
My grandfather sits to the far right
in a folding chair,
and I know his left hand is on
the tobacco in his pants pocket
because I used to wrap it for him
every Christmas. Grandmother's hips
bulge from the brush, she's leaning
into the ice chest, sun through the trees
printing her dress with soft
luminous paws.
I am staring jealously at my brother;
the day before he rode his first horse, alone.
I was strapped in a basket
behind my grandfather.
He smelled of lemons. He's died--
but I remember his hands.
Dove’s poem, Fifth Grade Autobiography, talks about the nostalgic childhood of the most important people in her life. Throughout the poem, she begins to recollect the personalities and memories of her grandparents and her brother by just looking at the picture. She looks at a photograph and recollects how wonderful and how important her family is by her language and her imagery.
In the poem, the speaker looks back on the picture using their imagery. The speaker describes her family at a lake in Michigan. In the first stanza, she looks at her brother “squat(ing) in poison ivy”. Based on the way she uses squat, the speaker is making fun of her brother, for poison ivy leaves people with bruises after touching it. She also describes the Davy Crockett cap, sitting on his head, “flounc(ing) down the back of his sailor suit”. Based on the way she describes her brother as a rambunctious boy, with his cap and his outfit, letting the audience know how she perceives her brother. In the next stanza, the speaker describes her grandparents. Her grandfather “sits to the far right”, smoking a cigarette, but yet she describes the action as a good thing because she “used to wrap it for him every Christmas”. Her grandmother is leaning in the cooler, or ice chest in this matter, and while she does this, the sun prints “her dress with soft luminous paws”, as if the sun was a cat, cuddling her grandmother. The way she describes the sun cuddling her grandmother makes it seem like her grandmother is a peaceful woman and her grandfather is a more lenient man than others.
On the last stanza, the speaker fast forward in time to the time she followed her grandfather. She was jealous to the fact that her brother was going to ride a horse alone, but her grandfather soothed her with his smell of lemons. Even though he’s dead, she stills “remember his hands”
While the author recollects the memories of the photograph, she uses imagery and diction to show her how appreciative she is for her family. Every little thing she remembers about that photograph made her believe it was the most important detail for her life altogether.