Read the poem given below and answer the following question.
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.
How does the poet perceive her brother when she says "My brother squats in poison ivy" ?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is option 3: makes fun of him
This is a poem "Fifth Grade Autobiography" by Rita Dove.
In this poem she 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” (Poison ivy is a type of allergenic plant in the genus Toxicodendron native to Asia and North America). 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.