Imagine you were the rose trying to grow in concrete; would you have made it out or die trying or maybe you just gave up. So think about it, what would you have really done? The poem “The Rose that Grew from Concrete” is about a rose that grew in concrete a metaphor that shows that you have to get past your problems to succeed. And the poem “Mother to Son” is about a mother explaining how hard life is a metaphor. Both poems share the theme of You have to rise above the obstacles, but the way the authors developed the theme was similar and different. First, the poem “The Rose that Grew from concrete” uses Symbols and conflict to develop the theme of You have to rise above the obstacles. First, the author uses Symbols to develop the theme …show more content…
First, the author uses Figurative language to develop the theme by the mother uses a metaphor to describe her life and how difficult it was. It says, “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair. It’s had tacks in it, And splinters. And boards were torn up, And places with no carpet on the floor—Bare.“This shows the author use Figurative language to develop the theme of You have to rise above the obstacles because life is going to throw obstacles at you and you have to try to avoid them. This shows the theme because instead of going back down the staircase where there are no problems you have to push through to get over the problem. Second, the author uses Symbol to develop the theme by using the staircase that represents life and life is hard and there will be a ton of thing that try to push us down and just try to stop us It says, “ I’ve been a-climbing’ on, And reachin’ landings, And turnin’ corners, And sometimes goin’ in the dark Where there ain’t been no light. “This shows the author used Symbol to develop the theme of You have to rise above the obstacles because the mother kept going non-stop. This is important to notice because there will be a ton of thing that try to push us down and just try to stop us. To, sum up, the author of “Mother to Son” revealed the theme through Figurative language and
In many parts of the poem, Guest uses metaphors to show the strength that one should always keep while facing their troubles. He tells his readers to "Lift your chin and square your shoulders, plant your feet and take a brace" to prepare for whatever could be ahead (lines 2-3). Even through the metaphor "Black may be the clouds above you" which gives a clear perception of difficult and hopeless moments that might be surrounding an individual, it is still better than running since it "will not save you" (lines 8-11). It is throughout the poem that Guest has used many metaphors to remind his readers about the facing the problems that will lie ahead. It is even pointed at points, such as, "You may fail, but fall fighting" to remind the reader that not all problems can be confronted. However, the author suggests that with a person's body language, like standing tall, could become a resolve. With these metaphorical commands, it gives the reader the feeling of a solider or fighter that is preparing to face an enemy. This is also further emphasized from his use of repetition. Guest repeats the figurative phrase, "See it through" to show the reader to overcome the toughest or most hopeless of problems. It is also from this statement that he suggests to go keep going no matter what since in the end it is possible that one can succeed. Becoming the clearest and most encouraging phrase and title of the poem, Guest has made the distinction of his theme to overcome everything that one can in order to achieve the best for one's
He focuses on that in both poems. Strength is an important aspect in anyone’s life, because without strength one cannot succeed in life. Since the dawn of time African-Americans have been blazing through pain to survive. Strength is extremely noticeable in Mother to Son. The whole poem is based on her strength and courage to endure all her trials and tribulations with grace.
One theme is two-way relationships that both pull parents and children together whilst pulling them apart. This is illustrated when the mother describes an “old rope, Tightening about my life”. This represents a submerged rope (representing the invisible forces of attraction between the mother and daughter) attached to a boat in a harbour (representing the mother and daughter). It may seem like the boat and harbour are free, but when they try to go their own ways, the rope tightens and pulls them back together. This is not the only theme that reveals the complexities of the parent-child relationship. Another theme is how parents can be torn when their children grow up. The mother seems to be happy that her child is growing up and becoming independent but also seems to resist it. This can be seen from the description of traffic lights. The cars “taking turn” could represent the mother and daughter going on their own paths. The traffic lights alternate between letting and not letting cars through. The lights mirror the sporadic emotions of the mother. It is like they can’t decide to let the girl go on her own independent way in
At the beginning of the poem, the audience is able to witness an event of a young boy asking his father for story. While the father was deemed a “sad” man, it is later shown that his sadness can be contributed to his fear of his son leaving him. The structure then correlated to the point of going into the future. The future was able to depict what would happen to the loving duo. The father's dreams would become a reality and the son's love and admiration would cease to exist as he is seen screaming at his father. Wanting nothing to do with him. The young, pure child can be seen trying to back lash at his father for acting like a “god” that he can “never disappoint.” The point of this structure was not really a means of clarification from the beginning point of view, but more as an intro to the end. The real relationship can be seen in line 20, where it is mentioned that the relationship between the father and son is “an emotional rather than logical equation.” The love between this father and son, and all its complexity has no real solution. But rather a means of love; the feelings a parent has for wanting to protect their child and the child itself wanting to be set free from their parents grasp. The structure alone is quite complex. Seeing the present time frame of the father and son
Another fitting quote from the text is something the mother says at the end of the poem, ¨So boy, don’t you turn back. [...] Don’t you fall now For I’se still goin’, honey, I’se still climbin’, And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair¨ (Hughes lines 14-20) This shows the Mother's purpose in telling this story. The mother says to the son, using her stair metaphor, to keep persevering through life, as she had.
As Edgar Allan Poe once stated, “I would define, in brief the poetry of words as the rhythmical creation of beauty.” The two poems, “Birthday,” and “The Secret Life of Books” use different diction, theme, and perspective to give them a unique identity. Each author uses different literary devices to portray a different meaning.
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.
The story written by John Steinbeck called “The Chrysanthemums” could be named “The Story of an Afternoon” because of the time range it took the tragedy to occur is around the time of a few hours. John Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums” is similar to Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” in the sense of tragic, irony, happening to women in a small amount of time. In both stories women are bamboozled by men, they become misguided and gain a desire. Aiming to achieve the desire causes them to see a false reality and in ruination.
In the short story “The Possibility of Evil”, by Shirley Jackson, a woman named Ms. Strangeworth came off as a very sweet, self-minded woman who cared deeply about her roses. The author used several symbols to represent Ms. Strangeworth’s character. A symbol is something that represents another person or thing. One symbol that was used in this short story was roses. Ms. Strangeworth took pride in her home and the neighborhood it stood in. The most important thing about her home was the roses in her front yard making them a big symbol that uprises in this story. These roses were very special to Ms. Strangeworth and they were greatly admired by her and all the others who pass by them. In addition to the first, the reason these roses are a big
The daughter alludes to an idea that her mother was also judged harshly and made to feel ashamed. By the daughters ability to see through her mothers flaws and recognize that she was as wounded as the child was, there is sense of freedom for both when the daughter find her true self. Line such as “your nightmare of weakness,” and I learned from you to define myself through your denials,” present the idea that the mother was never able to defeat those that held her captive or she denied her chance to break free. The daughter moments of personal epiphany is a victory with the mother because it breaks a chain of self-loathing or hatred. There is pride and love for the women they truly were and is to be celebrated for mother and daughter.
All the poems you have read are preoccupied with violence and/or death. Compare the ways in which the poets explore this preoccupation. What motivations or emotions do the poets suggest lie behind the preoccupation?
In his preface of the Kokinshū poet Ki no Tsurayaki wrote that poetry conveyed the “true heart” of people. And because poetry declares the true heart of people, poetry in the minds of the poets of the past believed that it also moved the hearts of the gods. It can be seen that in the ancient past that poetry had a great importance to the people of the time or at least to the poets of the past. In this paper I will describe two of some of the most important works in Japanese poetry the anthologies of the Man’yōshū and the Kokinshū. Both equally important as said by some scholars of Japanese literature, and both works contributing greatly to the culture of those who live in the land of the rising sun.
In the poem “The Rose That Grew From Concrete”, the author, Tupac, uses oodles of different devices like personification and symbolism. The theme that was chosen relates to the poem ideally, and goes along with what the story is trying to say. This poem is highly inspirational for the readers to focus and realize their dreams to make them come true. The poem is about reaching our goals in life despite hardships and conflicts that we face on the way.
Form and meaning are what readers need to analyze to understand the poem that they are evaluating. In “Mother to Son”, his form of writing that is used frequently, is free verse. There is no set “form”, but he gets his point across in a very dramatic way. The poem is told by a mother who is trying to let her son know that in her life, she too has gone through many frustrations just like what her son is going through. The tone of this poem is very dramatic and tense because she illustrates the hardships that she had to go through in order to get where she is today. She explains that the hardships that she has gone through in her life have helped her become the person that she has come to be. Instead of Hughes being ironic, like he does in some of his poems, he is giving the reader true background on the mother’s life. By introducing the background, this helps get his point across to the reader in a very effective way. In this poem there are many key words which help portray the struggles that the mother is trying to express to her son. The poem is conveyed in a very “down to earth” manner. An example of this is, “Life for me ain’t been a crystal stair (462).” This quote shows the reader that the mom is trying to teach the son a lesson with out sugar coating it. She wants her son to know that throughout her life has had many obstacles to overcome, and that he too is going to have to get through his own obstacles no matter how frustrating it is. Her tone throughout the poem is stern telling the boy, “So boy, don’t turn your back (462).” The poems tone almost makes the reader believe that the mother is talking to them, almost as if I am being taught a valuable lesson.
Mother to Son states “Well, son, I'll tell you: Life for me ain't been no crystal stair. It's had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up, And places with no carpet on the floor—Bare. But all the time I'se been a-climbin' on, And reachin' landin's, And turnin' corners,” This is how you can tell about the theme because she is explain that all her life that she's went through a lot and not everything we just right they're were sum hits in her life. The text “If” also has the same set them the text shows “ Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,” This is also having a same theme because it’s saying your on the Earth and things that are going to happen is your and you need to deal with that. Text C also has the same theme the text states “if you look at these obstacles as a containing fence, they become your excuse for failure.” This is saying any mistakes that happen is why you have an cleanup for saying that you ever had