This is a Photograph of Me

Margaret Atwood
 Margaret Atwood

 Margaret Atwood was born on November 18, 1939 in Ottawa, but grew up in Quebec, Toronto and parts of northern Ontario
 She is 78 years old and still alive today
 Poet, novelist, story writer, and environmental activist
 She received her undergraduate degree from Victoria College at University of Toronto and her Masters from Radcliffe
College
 Her mother was a dietician/ nutritionist and her father was an entomologist
 Considered one of Canada's finest writers
 Her books are regularly bestsellers
 Atwood first came to public attention as a poet in the 1960s with her collections Double Persephone (1961), winner of the
E.J. Pratt Medal
 She also received numerous literary awards, including the Booker Prize (The Blind Assassin- 2000), the Arthur C. Clarke
Award (The Handmaid's Tale- 1987), and the Governor General’s Award, twice (The Circle Game- 1966 and The
Handmaid's Tale- 1985)
 This is a Photograph of Me

 This is a Photograph of Me" was written in 1964. This poem centers around the oppression of women.
 It consists of
 26 Lines
 7 Stanzas
 Free Verse (No rhyme scheme)
 This poem talks about the perception of women in the 1960s. Atwood is trying to portray that women do
not always have a clear role in society, and describes the oppression of women in her poem.
  The poem can be split into two halves. The first half sets the scene and consists mostly of sensory
imagery. The second half is enclosed by parenthesis to not take away from the photograph she describes.
This is the section where she reveals herself as the subject of the photograph.
Summary

 A women describes an old photograph with a tree, a house, hills, and a lake.
 She goes on to say that the photograph was taken the day after she drowned.
 She mentions that she is in the lake, but it is hard to see her
 At the end of the poem she says if you look long enough you will be able to see her.
Stanza 1

It was taken some time ago

At first it seems to be
a smeared
print: blurred lines and grey flecks
blended with the paper;
 In the first stanza, Atwood uses words such as smeared, blurred, blended and grey flecks to introduce the
photograph and the poem
 Atwood is trying to explain that this photograph is initially hard to see, like a blur, its smeared so it's difficult
to perceive whats in the photo.
 The exact time the photo was taken is unknown.
Stanza 2

then, as you scan

it, you can see something in the left-hand corner
a thing that is like a branch: part of a tree
(balsam or spruce) emerging
and, to the right, halfway up
what ought to be a gentle
slope, a small frame house.
 This stanza describes what you would see if you looked at the picture. Atwood uses imagery so that the
audience can visualize the photo in their head. There is a tree, a house, and a lake. The tree is given a
specific description, yet the house is small and bland. The setting is emphasized.
Stanza 3

In the background there is a lake,

and beyond that, some low hills.

 The third stanza adds more details to the scene.

 Notice again how almost everything in the photo (excluding the tree) is just looked over, not really noticed,
until you investigate further
Stanza 4

(The photograph was taken

the day after I drowned.

 This stanza is the turning point of the poem

 The speaker talks as if he or she is alive but in reality she drowned in a lake. Her death is a metaphor
throughout the poem.
Stanza 5

I am in the lake, in the center

of the picture, just under the surface.

 Atwood begins with a serene setting but suddenly there is a change halfway through the poem. The speaker
is "just under the surface" where no one can see her.
 Regards to isolationism
 The person who "drowned" is underrepresented and cannot be seen. He or she feels insignificant to society.
Stanza 6

It is difficult to say where

precisely, or to say
how large or how small I am:
the effect of water
on light is a distortion.
 The picture transforms once again from a surreal picture to a metaphor relating to appearance vs. reality.
 When water comes into contact with light, it tends to distort anything under the surface (in terms of size and
location). This explains why you cannot see the speaker in the photo.
 "the effect of water on light..." - inverted syntax for emphasis
 "large or small" represents contrast
 Atwood is then saying that her view to others is distorted, due to the effect of the water.
Stanza 7

but if you look long enough

eventually
you will see me.)

The narrator restates that if you take the time to look, you'll eventually be able to notice her existence under
everything
Devices

Parenthesis:

 Atwood strategically places parentheses in the text to separate the poem into two halves.
 The existence of parentheses often indicates that the contents inside of them are not as important as the
regular text. In the description of the woman’s spirit, Atwood is demonstrating how women are often
neglected. The speaker's existence is not relevant to others, so it is parenthesized.
Metaphor

 “the effect of water on light is a distortion"

The light is female creativity and innovation. The water represents society/ male patriarchy which is
distorting the ability for females' true light to shine through.

  "The photograph was taken the day after I drowned."

Death metaphor throughout the second half of the poem. This sentence is ambiguous because the literal
meaning is the speaker drowned and died, but the figurative meaning is female importance is often
overlooked and diminished.
Tone

 First three stanzas are mysterious, obscure, puzzling and peaceful.

 Last four stanzas are tranquil yet somber and a bit troubling.
Theme

 Several aspects of nature described in the photograph resembles the dominance of men over women in an
oppressive society
 Water is a prime example of distorting the image people see
 References to death
 Distortion of women
Conclusion:

 Through the underlying themes, this poem focuses mostly on the lack of emphasis on women. They often
feel overlooked and under appreciated.
 Atwood stresses that one must look beyond the surface to find the deeper meaning