Different risks are taken everyday for all different kinds of outcomes. The risk could be anything from trying a different outfit, to skydiving. In "Cocoon" by Mahvash Sabet, "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes, and "Learning to Read" by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, they all take risks. And even though all of the texts have different risks and different outcomes, they all learn something from the experience. In "Cocoon", the author writes about her experience with religious persecution. In Iran, Sabet was arrested for her differences in beliefs because they were not a part of the legal practices in her country. Her poem states,"When my soul broke free, a part of me thrilled at the lift of its arc, but another shrank back in cowering fear from …show more content…
Written by Langston Hughes, the poem "Mother to Son" is about a mother telling her life experiences to her son. She tells him of all of the hardships he will most likely face, but he shouldn't give up. Hughes states," But all the time I'se been a-climbin' on, And reachin' landin's, And turnin' corners, And sometimes goin' in the dark where there ain't been no light." This suggests that the mother has risked failure, and risked falling back down those stairs, but she kept going so she could make something of herself, and so all of her work would mean something. By Francis Ellen Watkins Harper, "Learning to Read" was written about the struggles enslaved individuals faced because they were not allowed to be educated. Their masters believed if they could read they could be smart enough to rebel, so it was outlawed and if you were caught trying to learn it was a punishable offence. The author wrote," I remember Uncle Caldwell, Who took the pot liquor fat and greased the pages of his book, And hid it in his hat." This shows the efforts they put forth to try and get an education, even though if they get caught it could result in harsh punishment or
She was merely teaching her son a lesson, or maybe she was scolding him, and using that as a life lesson. Either way, she was the inspiration for the poem. I was unable to locate online the reason that the poem was initially written - however, I can only assume that he is remembering a time when his mother was right, and he’s wishing he had listened. Maybe he is now older, wiser, and faced with a decision where he wants two things equally, and needs to make a decision.
Everyone remembers when they learned to read and write some more than others. Even well known people like Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X. They wrote narratives, “Learning to Read And Write” by Frederick Douglass and “Learning to Read” by Malcolm X, to show us when, where, and how they learned to read and write. Both authors go through struggles that we would never think could or would happen. Even though they go through struggles they still became eager to learn more to better themselves. It gave them power they never thought they could achieve. They have many similar and different trials that they went through so they could learn how to read and write.
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.
“Learning to Read and Write” by Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X’s “Learning to Read” address their abilities of being self taught to read and write. A deficiency of education makes it difficult to traverse life in any case your race. Being an African American while in a dark period of mistreatment and making progress toward an advanced education demonstrates extraordinary devotion. Malcolm X seized “special pains” in searching to inform himself on “black history” (Malcolm X 3). African Americans have been persecuted all through history, yet two men endeavor to demonstrate that regardless of your past, an education can be acquired by anybody. Douglass and Malcolm X share some similarities on how they learned how to read and write as well
In Francis Ellen Watkins Harper's poem "The Slave Mother, A Tale of Ohio," she uses a shifting tone as well as other specific literary techniques to convey the heartbreaking story of a slave woman being separated from her child. This story specifically draws light to the horrific reality that many slaves faced: families were torn apart. Because this poem tells the story of a mother and her son, it also draws light to the love that mothers have for their children and the despair that they would go through if anything were to ever happen to them. Harper's poem addresses both race and gender, and it effectively conveys the heartbreak of the mother to the audience.
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.
staying the course. In the poem “Mother to Son” a mother tells of her persistence through life’s obstacles, encouraging her son not to give up.
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:
Learning to read was no easy task for a slave in early 19th century America. The education of slaves was not only frowned upon in the community of slave-owners—it was unlawful. Once the possibility of reading was introduced to Frederick Douglass as a child, he was determined to make his ability to read a reality. It was by no means easy for Douglass to learn the skill of reading, but in the end, he accomplished his goal, and he used his ability to read and write as a helpful instrument to gain freedom.
on: April 10th 1864. He was born in 1809 and died at the age of 83 in
In “Mother to Son,” Hughes uses a worn staircase as an extended metaphor to parallel its flaws to the struggles of African Americans. The poem begins with a mother speaking to her son about the pressures of reality and telling him not to succumb. She tells her son, “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair,” (Mother to Son “MS” line 2) to portray that her life is far from perfect like the stair of a white person. She describes her life as having “tacks and splinters….with boards torn up” (Hughes lines 3-5). These defects symbolize the problems in her life whether they were caused by her race or gender.
While knowledge can open many doors for success, it can also put a lock on various ones for people who don’t have an opportunity to practice it. This is portrayed in an essay by Frederick Douglass named Learning to Read and Write. It portrays the hardships he faced and the toll it took on him. Frederick Douglass was a slave who was born in Talbot County Maryland and then became a server for a family in Baltimore. He also became an active participant in the abolitionist movement in 1838. Michael Scot’s response toward Frederick Douglass was that gaining knowledge was more of a dissatisfaction rather than a worthy accomplishment for the reason that education made him realize he had no other option to his condition. For Frederick Douglass, learning
In the essay “Learning to Read and Write,” Frederick Douglass illustrates how he successfully overcome the tremendous difficulties to become literate. He also explains the injustice between slavers and slaveholders. Douglass believes that education is the key to freedom for slavers. Similarly, many of us regard education as the path to achieve a career from a job.
1. Duties- Svara (2015) suggests that a touchstone of administrative ethics is based on duties that promote public service, benefits to society, virtue, and principles. Duty defines the “action required by one’s business, occupations, or function”, but also the action or behavior due by moral or legal obligations.
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.