Snapshot—Margaret Laurence
The man and woman are standing stiffly on the other side of the gate. It is a farm
gate, very wide, dark metal, and old—as is shown by its sagging. The man is not
touching the woman, but they stand close. She is young, clad in a cotton print
dress (the pattern cannot be discerned) which appears too large for her thin
frame. Looking more closely, one can observe that her slight and almost scrawny
body thickens at the belly. Her hair is short and fluffy, possibly blonde. The
man’s head is bent a little, and he is grinning with obvious embarrassment at the
image-recorder who stands unseen and unrecorded on the near side of the gate.
The man appears to be in his early thirties. He is tall and probably strong,
narrowly but muscularly built. His hair is dark and somewhat unruly, as though
he has combed it back with his fingers an instant before. In the far background, at
the end of the road, can be seen the dim outlines of a house, two-storey, a square
box of a house, its gracelessness atoned for, to some extent, by a veranda and
steps at the front. Spruce trees, high and black, stand beside the house. In the
further background there is a shadow-structure which could be the barn. Colon
Gunn and his wife, Louisa, stand here always, in the middle 1920’s, smiling their
tight smiles, holding their now-faded sepia selves straight, hopeful, their sepia
house and sepia farm firmly behind them, looking forward to what will happen,
not knowing the future weather of sky or spirit.
Morag Gunn is in this picture, concealed behind the ugliness of Louisa’s cheap
housedress, concealed in her mother’s flesh, invisible. Morag is still buried alive,
the first burial, still a little fish, connected unthinkingly with life, held to
existence by a single thread.
Snapshot
Look very carefully at the writing style and stylistic devices used in this snippet.

Write down and identify any and all devices Laurence uses. You can write directly on the
handout. It is yours to keep!

Laurence moves from an objective description of a photograph to a subjective description of
the feelings it evokes. Where does she make the transition? How does she do it?

Translate the last paragraph into a literal description. Many students have difficulty
identifying the metaphor. What exactly is happening?
Homework:
 Choose a photograph from your own family
album (should be one you’re somewhat
familiar with)
 Write your own “Snapshot” in the style of
Margaret Laurence—similar length, third
person (even if you are in the photo)
 Make each word count—use stylistic devices
 Highlight the devices you use, and put
footnotes at the end identifying them
If you missed the lessons on this—here are a few hints: * Laurence is writing
about looking at a photograph. She uses funneling here, going from the general to
the precise. * Notice how the Gunns aren’t mentioned by name until the end.
*She manages to write very effectively about an overall emotion without actually
mentioning emotions (except “embarrassment” earlier on). She uses descriptions
of the farm and the clothing to convey emotion. * The woman is pregnant, hinted
at by the swelling in her middle. The last paragraph is a metaphor about Morag
(she’s the protagonist of the novel this is taken from). She’s the one inside her
mother’s belly. As an adult, she feels metaphorically buried alive—she searches
her whole life for an identity of her own (Just a bit of background for you). The
“single thread” in the last sentence is the umbilical cord.
Your photograph should be something you’re familiar with—typically it’s a
family photograph. Make sure you have an emotional connection with it. Choose
one with a person or people in it. Former student have even chosen photos of
their grandparents as children. Clearly they themselves were not around then,
but still have some connection to the stories.
* Preferably typed, definitely double-spaced. You don’t need to provide me with
the photograph.
Homework:
Choose a photograph from your own family album (should be one you’re
somewhat familiar with). Your photograph should be something you’re familiar
with—typically it’s a family photograph. Make sure you have an emotional
connection with it. Choose one with a person or people in it. Former student
have even chosen photos of their grandparents as children. Clearly they
themselves were not around then, but still have some connection to the stories.



Write your own “Snapshot” in the style of Margaret Laurence—similar
length, third person (even if you are in the photo)
Make each word count—use AT LEAST SIX different stylistic devices
Highlight the devices you use, and put footnotes at the end identifying
them. Be clear—if you use a metaphor, call it a metaphor, not just
“figurative language.”
Due: THREE classes from now.