Summary

In the fifth grade, the speaker looks at a photograph that was taken when they were four years old. They were spending the day with their grandparents and older brother. In the photo, the speaker and their grandparents are fishing while their brother sits in a patch of poison ivy. He wears a raccoon-fur hat. The speaker remembers their grandparents in the garden; their grandfather is sitting on a lawn chair and has tobacco in his pocket, while their grandmother looks through the ice chest.

In the photo, the speaker is envious of their brother because the next day they’ll get to ride a horse alone for the first time. The speaker, still a small child, will sit behind their grandfather in a basket. They remember the scent of their grandfather, and his hands.

Analysis

“Fifth Grade Autobiography” is framed as a storytelling...