This Is a Photograph of Me Poem Analysis

Often, a photograph is not the most accurate representation of a person. Especially if it does not have any emotion, there will be a disconnect between what you see and what you really think. This is the case in Atwood’s poem, “This is a photograph of me,” which raises questions about the representation of a person in a photograph.

Enjambment

enjambment is the practice of breaking a syntactic unit, or a line, between its final word and the beginning word of the next line. The word enjambment comes from the French word, which means “to step over or straddle something”.

Enjambment is the opposite of end-stopped lines, which end on a period. End-stopped lines interrupt the flow of the sentence and can be clunky or dull. Using an enjambment to continue the thought after a line break allows the line to move more freely and can add energy to the poem.

Enjambment can be used to add ambiguity or mystery to a poem. It can also speed up the pace of the poem. This method of lineation is often confused with the technique of caesura, which is when the thought ends mid-line. Both techniques are used to break up a syntactic unit, but enjambment is more effective at allowing lines to build on each other.

Atwood’s speaker converses directly with the readers

Whether the speaker is a character or a reflection of the author, Atwood’s ability to write about power politics and religion, mythology and climate change, gender issues and fantasy is more powerful than ever. Her lecture-style essays combine memoir with excursus. She explores objects that ground us, the mind in transition and bodies in transition. Her sharp eye is more prescient than ever.

Unlike her other books, which are written in fiction or poetry, Atwood’s lectures are not focused on specific texts. They are often reprinted in earlier collections. In this collection, she combines memoir and excursus to describe the discovery of SF and fantasy by a young Atwood. She shares her thoughts on the works of writers such as H. Rider Haggard, George Orwell, Marge Piercy, Bill McGibbon, and Ursula Le Guin. She discusses how the genre has changed over the years. The most substantial essays focus on The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Handmaid’s Tale, and The Testaments.