Certain factors in a person’s childhood can influence the decision that a person makes. These factors are likely very significant and can change the perspectives of different people. Langston Hughes, the writer of Thank You M’am, and Barbara Neely, the writer of Spilled Salt, both use various literary techniques to convey to the theme of childhood having an influence on a person’s behavior and decisions. These techniques allow the authors to present this theme more successfully through the use of sympathy, humor, and character. One method of presenting a theme is through the use of sympathy. Sympathy can be defined as sharing the feeling of sorrow or a relation of affinity or harmony between people. In both stories, sympathy is used to create pathos in the reader. In the story Thank You, M’am, sympathy is shown towards Rogers from the large, dominant woman, also known as Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones. After Roger’s attempted robbery, Mrs. Jones takes a glance at him before saying, "I got a great mind to wash your face for you. Ain't you got nobody home to tell you to wash you face?” Roger’s response to her question is “No’m”, indicating that he is living without a family and in likely poverty. This allows the audience to recognize the situation the 14 year old was likely placed in and contributes to the idea that childhood influences a person’s decisions. In comparison, in Spilled Salt, the sympathy is more directed to Myrna. This is accomplished when the author indicates that “She couldn't even think it, let alone say it. Assault, attack, molest, anything but rape. Anyone but her son, her bright and funny boy, her high school graduate". Clearly, because Myrna cannot believe the horrible act her son has committed, the aut... ... middle of paper ... ...not want to speak to her son much because she’s scared to hear the answers he will give. “I can’t go through this again; she mouthed soundlessly to the breeze”. This shows that Myrna is not as confident as Mrs. Luella. Because one character is more confident than the other, the message is more effectively brought out. In conclusion, in both “Thank you, Ma’m” by Langston Hughes and “Spilled Salt” by Barbara Neely, there are certain factors in a person’s childhood that can influence the decision that people make. These factors are likely very significant and can change the perspectives of different people. Through the use of different literary techniques, the authors can successfully present their theme through the use of sympathy, humor and character. Overall Mr. Hughes has done a better job in conveying the theme due to his effective use literary techniques.
By showing sympathy for someone who did not deserve it, Mrs. Jones may have led Roger to be a better person in the future and to stop doing bad things to other people. Through almost unexplainable acts of kindness to a young boy in need of a second chance, Mrs. Jones proves herself to be the hero in Langston Hughes’ short story, “Thank You Ma’am.”
Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes is a novel about an African-American boy’s coming of age during the early 20th century. The narrative takes us through the childhood and adolescent years of the quiet and intelligent Sandy Rogers. Just as any other child, Sandy is greatly influenced by the people he meets, the places he goes to, and his experiences in different situations as a black child who is looked down upon in a dominantly white hegemony. Though all the people we meet in life affect us in some way, it is a common fact that those who are closest to us, our constant companions, are the driving forces that shape how we turn out to be as adults. In this narrative, two characters who influence Sandy in a great way are Aunt Hager and Aunt Tempy. Aunt Hager is his maternal grandmother who is the center of Sandy’s life for a majority of the time in the story. She provides for him and becomes his guardian when his lovelorn mother leaves him to be reunited with her husband, Jimboy Rogers. Aunt Tempy is a maternal aunts who is merely a distant and foreboding presence in Sandy’s life until the death of Aunt Hager, where she fills in the vacuum of his guardianship. Therefore, in Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes, the two characters Aunt Hager and Aunt Tempy contribute to the protagonist’s coming of age by influencing his morals and his education, and thus, his character.
One of the most important of the influential people in Langston Hughes’ life was his grandmother. The ability to persevere through hardships and trials were her teachings. Lessons also learned were those of strength and determination. The proof of this is evident in a few of his literary works where a mother figure encourages and teaches her child, or student, life lessons on
On the road of life, many obstacles come about that one must overcome to make themself feel complete. The poem “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes was written in 1922. Langston Hughes was a black writer, whose work started to be published in the 1920s. “Mother to Son,” which shows a black mother telling her son to stay hopeful despite all the hardships one may encounter in life. Here the author is passing a message to the public through this woman of wisdom.The mother tells her son that life has not always been easy for her, yet she is still carrying on. This poem “Mother to Son” has many poetry elements within the poem. The poem shows the message of staying hopeful through the obstacles one may encounter throughout life. Hughes uses metaphors,
Everyone has them, people that raised them from when they were born, in most cases a mother and father. The memoir ‘’Salvation’’ by Langston Hughes and the essay ‘’Mothers’’ by Anna Quindlen awakened me to explore my relationship with my own parents. ‘’Salvation’’ gave me this over powering feeling that I knew exactly how young Langston felt sitting in that pew. I felt that I could also, to an extent, connect with the narrator in ‘’Mothers.’’ ‘’Salvation’’ and ‘’Mothers’’ both created emotional reactions from me; while ‘’Salvation’’ aroused feelings of vulnerability, ‘’Mothers’’ exposed questions about my parents.
The experiences, lessons, and conditions of one’s life provide a wellspring of inspiration for one’s creative expressions and ideas. Throughout life people encounter situations and circumstances that consequently help to mold them into individualized spirits. An individual’s personality is a reflection of his or her life. Langston Hughes, a world-renowned African American poet and self-professed defender of African American heritage, boldly defies the stereotypical and accepted form of poetry at his own discretion. Although Langston Hughes is a successful African American poet, he, like many other Harlemites, faces obstacles and opposition along his journey through life; however, Hughes embraces his hardships and infuses his life experiences into poetical works that his fellow African Americans can relate to on some level. In both his poems “Mother to Son” and “Lenox Avenue: Midnight” Hughes reveals the constant struggle of a typical African American living during the 1920’s. In “Mother to Son” Hughes expresses the desperation of a mother who is anxious for her son to succeed. In the poem the mother hopes to offer her son encouraging words and impart to him the wisdom and knowledge she gains through persevering. While in the latter poem, “Lenox Avenue: Midnight,” Hughes reveals the cultural aspects of a city during the Harlem Renaissance and conveys the emotions of a quintessential African American Harlemite based on his own his experiences as an African American poet living in Harlem, NY. Hughes exposes in both poems the true nature, as he perceives it, of life as an African American in 1920’s white America.
His poems established him as a well known poet in Harlem. In two of his poems one titled “Mother to Son” and the other “Harlem” both have some comparison and contrast between the two. The poem “Mother to Son” is more of a free lyric flowing poem. In this poem Langston Hughes gets the message across in a powerful attack. The poem is narrated from a mother’s viewpoint and the wisdom she gives her son as read in the following lines:
Peter Pan never wanted to grow up, for he always wanted to be a boy and have fun. On the other hand, the general argument made by author, Anne Sexton, in her poem, “The Fury of Overshoes,” is that childhood is most appreciated when a person must be independent. A university student finds that he can relate to the speaker. The high school student, still a child himself, will feel the same as the speaker in her youth. A college student and a high school student reading this poem would conclude this poem with different feelings.
On the other hand we have a story that is also humorous; however, his literary devices achieve a more childlike tone and his story concludes with a sympathetic effect on the reader . In “Salvation”, by Langston Hughes he takes us back to his inner thirteen year old self and his experience with being “saved” in a church. He explains the internal struggle he faces when he is pressured by a whole congregation to “see jesus” and the ironic effect it has on his perspective towards Jesus.
Growing up is a natural part of life. Everyone grows up. The loss of childish innocence and blind faith in what is said is one chief mark of growing up. Loss of innocence, however, presents itself in many forms, even to adults, and with it brings a greater understanding of the world at large. In literature, authors use the process to explore society and humanity. Through the characters’ loss of innocence, the authors of both To Kill A Mockingbird and Of Mice & Men discuss ideas of prejudice, family, and courage.
Throughout the story, the different roles and expectations placed on men and women are given the spotlight, and the coming-of-age of two children is depicted in a way that can be related to by many women looking back on their own childhood. The narrator leaves behind her title of “child” and begins to take on a new role as a young, adolescent woman.
A slum neighborhood located in “Yes, Ma’m” and a brilliant train carriage in “The Storyteller” create the setting for this compare and contrast essay. These short stories are similar in that their themes both focus on negative objects, but play them into a positive light. However, their suggested themes are different in that “Yes Ma’m” tells the reader to not believe in people by where they live, but “The Storyteller” communicates to not judge something based on its formality. Langston Hughes’s “Yes Ma’m” has an implied theme found anywhere, “nice people can be found even in the lowest places on the planet.” Another true theme belonging to Saki’s “The Storyteller,” reads, “Sometimes the most improper story is the best one.” Both main messages are true, and provide a very keen focal point for the reader to enjoy.
By stating how other people behave or interact, the author offers a great chance for readers to interpret fairly for themselves what the reason for any conflict may be, or the nature of any essential contrast between the narrator and other adults in the story. In the story, there are many self-righteous opinions from people, which seem to be ironic to the readers; For example, her mother’s aggressive attitude of showing off her daughter, her piano teacher’s self-praise claiming him as “Beethoven.” All of the narrations including conversation clearly depict a different characteristic between the narrator and other people. For instance, a conversation occurs between the narrator and her mother when the mother criticizing a girl who seems similar to the author on TV which reveals dissimilar understanding for both of them to each other’s behavior. At first, the daughter speaks out for the girl by questioning her mother by saying “why picking on her […] She’s pretty good. Maybe she’s not the best, but she’s trying hard.” The daughter actually is defending for herself and reflecting that she feels uncomfortable with her mother’s disregard of her hard work. She wants to get her mother’s compliments instead of her criticisms. However, her mother response of, “just like you,” and, “not the best. Because you not trying.” Here, her mother doesn’t really answer her question, instead wants her put more effort on trying, neglecting how much she has tried before. However, in her mother’s perspective, she has never tried hard enough. By narratively stating the conversations she has encountered, readers perceive a strong implication of the reason for a future conflict between her and her mother.
Instructor’s comment: This student’s essay performs the admirable trick of being both intensely personal and intelligently literary. While using children’s literature to reflect on what she lost in growing up, she shows in the grace of her language that she has gained something as well: an intelligent understanding of what in childhood is worth reclaiming. We all should make the effort to find our inner child
The comparison between two poems are best analyzed through the form and meaning of the pieces. “Mother to Son” and “Harlem (A Dream Deferred)” both written by the profound poet Langston Hughes, depicts many similarities and differences between the poems. Between these two poems the reader can identify his flow of writing through analyzing the form and meaning of each line.