How Does Langston Hughes Use Figurative Language In Mother To Son

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The author of “Mother to Son”, Langston Hughes, displays the attitude of hopefulness in the poem to show that life will not be easy for the son, but he should never give up because the mother did not. The author uses literary devices like figurative language, imagery, and diction. By using these literary devices, Hughes creates a sympathetic mood in the poem in order to emotionally draw in the reader. Hughes uses figurative language like a metaphor in order to compare the two stairs. The author compares the two sets of stairs to the two types of lives people live: the easy and the difficult life. Hughes describes the easy life as a “crystal stair”, because the reader can imagine this stair being shiny, smooth, and clear. By the stairs being translucent, the author wants to show that the easy life has been planned and their life has a direction towards a great future. Hughes describes the difficult life as one with “tacks in it”, “splinters”, and “bare” because the reader knows that walking on these stairs would be unpleasant …show more content…

With using diction, the reader will feel like they are an observer of the conversation, with the talking happening right in front of them. The choice of words that the author uses illustrates how the mother doesn’t think that she has not accomplished climbing on the “crystal stair”. The author uses words like “kinder” and “I’se” in the poem to make the speaker sound uneducated to the reader. Hughes does this, because he wants the reader to get a sense of her background. If she didn’t get the education she needed, then that contributes to why the woman has had a rough life. The author writes in this uneducated sounding English because he wants the reader to know that you don’t have to be completely educated in order to have strength and hope. The speaker may not be as educated as other people, but she knows how to set a strong base of life lessons for her

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