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Mother to Son Analysis and Summary by Langston Hughes
Theme, imagery, and symbolism in langston hughes poems
Langston hughes poetic devices
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In the poem “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes The main extended metaphor is “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair”. The metaphor creates an analogy between life and a crystal stair. The crystal part of the stair represents a person living a lavish life with absolutely no worries, hard work and conflict. The mother is saying her life wasn’t this and it will never be this. The following lines to this poem are: “It’s had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up,”. The imperfections in the staircase show how her life was a struggle that was never perfect. These next few lines elaborate on the original metaphor by describing the severity of how far away from a perfect crystal stair her life was. The mother rambles on to develop and
“So boy, don't you turn back./Don't you set down on the steps/'Cause you finds it's kinder hard./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” (Line 14-20 Norton, 2028), is the loudest part of the poem. It speaks volumes on how she truly viewed her struggles. . The mother states “ I’se been a-climbin’ on” (Hughes & Rampersad Line 9, 60), which illustrates her dedication to becoming better. She lets it be known that her struggle is yet to be over, but she does not care how hard it will be, she is going to make it. She details the pain she endured: “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair/
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.
Other People’s Words: The Cycle of Low Literacy by Victoria Purcell-Gates recounts the author’s two-year journey with an illiterate Appalachian family. Purcell-Gates works with Jenny, the mother, and her son, first grader Donny, to analyze the literacy within the household. Throughout the journey, we learn the definition and types of literacy, the influences of society and the environment, and the impacts of literacy on education from the teacher’s perspective. In order to evaluate literacy in the household, one must study multiple types, including functional, informational, and critical literacy. As the name implies, functional literacy incorporates reading and writing as tools for everyday survival. Informational literacy is used through text to communicate information to others. The highest level of literacy, critical literacy, requires critical interpretations and imaginative reflections of text. In her study, Purcell-Gates strives to teach Jenny and Donny functional literacy.
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
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.” She starts here by telling her son how hard life has been for her with the mention of the metaphor ‘crystal stair’, which is a reference to wealth and reaching the top. “It had tacks in it. And splinters. And boards torn up.
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
These sets of lines express the frustrations of a mother who worked through a hard time, and is telling her son her story. She is telling her son this is the adversity she when through to become who she is today in spirit. ...
... a staircase that goes on indefinitely. In Mother’s speech, she never speaks of an end. However, she continues to explain that through her climbing, she has seen torn boards and barren floors. This parallels the idea in “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” that Blacks will reach snags in their progress, but they must work past the snags in order to survive as well as flourish.
The author uses imagery to show the reader life has not been easy and it been like it splinters and torn up boards. Langston writes, “(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)”(2-4). The effects of these lines of poetry is to allow the reader to create an image of a torn up board and splinters. The image of a torn up board is used as how she keeps trying to do something good but it hurts her. Another device Langston Hughes is diction to have words that have almost the same meanings. The Langston Hughes expresses, “I’se been a-climbin on and reachin landin’s and turnin corners”(9-11). These lines with dictions makes the story use more stronger words on how her life
In his poems, Masters used free verse patterns to make his subjects seem more natural. There are really no historical or literary allusions in this poem. Although she barely includes any similes or metaphors in her poem, there are a few. Lucinda says at the end of the poem ?Life is too strong for you?It takes life to love Life?. Lucinda has a very satisfied tone, which means that she was very happy with her life. By saying that, she is relating that she was very satisfied and happy with her life.
PER REPORTER: Shana said she received a report from Sylvia Martin who claims to be Baylee’s half-brother’s mother. Shana said according to Sylvia, Baylee keeps getting scabies, her mother does pills she does have a prescription for around her, her mother got a nipple and nose piercing while Baylee watched, and her mother drinks excessively around her. Sylvia said Baylee’s mother also smokes weed and there no telling what else around her. Sylvia said the home the family lives in has dogs and feces inside of it. Sylvia said Baylee told her son she hates her mother and wants to live with her grandparents. Sylvia said she would like for Baylee’s mother to not be informed ahead of time because if she is she will hide everything. Shana said she is
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.
The metaphor in this poem conjoins life, and a staircase, "Well, son, I'll tell you:/ life for me ain't been no crystal stair. " The mother says to her son, that life is not an easy journey that can be stroll through.. Instead, in this passage of the poem, she tells her son that life is hard, full of stumbling blocks, but one must keep climbing, one cannot turn back or sit down, because one will catch a break, a turn, a landing, and keep going. She uses the "crystal stair," to describe a life that is opposite to hers. Crystal is thought of as something delicate, precious, and valuable; every step of life on a crystal stair would be full of priceless opportunities.
Rather than attempting to ‘make friends’ with the white man in hopes of gaining sympathy, the struggles of overcoming slavery and battling blatant oppression are not allowed to go unnoticed within Hughes’ poetry, as is illustrated in “Mother to Son.” In this poem, Hughes employs a metaphor to depict a mother as she explains to her son that he...
Everyone has a mom and a dad, however some people only live with one of the parent. Some parents are single parent or some have remarried to a different person, thus giving the child a step parent. If the step parent is up for the challenge and parents correctly they can easily just become a motherly or fatherly figure instead of the step mom or step dad. Regardless, there are many differences between a mom and dad. They typically have different ideas on parenting styles, different attitudes towards certain experiences or ideas, etc. They are almost never completely on the same page, but if they are it is very well known it took quite some time to get there together.