Comparing and Contrasting Hughes's Mother to Son and Wilbur's The Writer

Not only do these poems share differences through the speakers childhood, but also through the tones of the works.

Looking at the different structures and forms used in both poems, they contrast the difference between one speaker being confused, and not knowing what’s happening, to a very loosely structured ballad.

Both of these poems talks about selling and money and young men’s lives, but they are both unquestionably different.

Both of the poems have similar themes throughout their poems as well. Although they are expressed differently they both share a theme dealing with time moving by quickly and to live a life with no regrets.

The relationship between a parent and a child can be a complicated, difficult to understand concept. Factors such as complications that occur in the lives of either of the figures, separation from the other, and the protection the parent is willing to give to the child all contribute to the idea of this messy relationship. However, all these factors seem to fall away in comparison to the immeasurable amount of love the parent and child carry for each other, and the strong relationships that last a whole lifetime. In many poems, authors such as Theodore Roethke, Li-Young Lee, and Rita Dove use literary devices such as imagery, tone, symbolism, metaphor, and simile to show the unbreakable bond between parents and children.

On order to effectively analyze “The Writer,” one might look to the Advanced Placement format, for instance, to best understand the meaning of Wilbur’s poem.

There are similarities as well as differences in the theme of both poems. . Whereas Olds focuses on the relationship between husband and wife, parents and children, Eady looks at the relationship between a mother and her son. Eady is concerned with the relationship of the speaker and his mother. On the other hand, Cornelius brings out a poor association between a mother and a son, whose relationship is limited with meaningless and idle discussion, and without attachment to each other. Both Olds and Eady employ various styles such as imagery, and repetition in order to support the themes.

In the poem, Mother to Son, by Langston Hughes, the author highlights counsels a mother to her son, to be persistent, not to let discouraged by obstacles that arise in life, posing herself example, “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair…But all the time I’se been a-climin’ on.”, the image of a mother lovingly, wisely talking to her son about life.The language used by the mother shows that she was not an educated person and words such as “Tacks”, “splinters”, “boards torn up” suggests that life was not so easy for this woman. Obstacles of life are often very sharp, the challenges are difficult and painful, like a ladder with all kinds of defects, which is very difficult to be ascent. The way this mother describes her journey through this life, make the reader to understand that she is a black woman who had faced a lot of obstacles in her quest to move forward in life from the whites, “And sometimes goin’ in the dark, Where there ain’t been no light. So, boy, don’t you turn back.”

Have you ever come across an obstacle you thought you would never overcome? Every mother prays that her child does not struggle growing up. Langston Hughes’ poem, “Mother to Son” depicts that life is full of hardships in a message from a mother, who has had her fair share of hard times, to her son. The poem also states that you have to overcome life’s obstacles to be successful in the future, even when you see nothing but darkness. Hughes portrays the hardships of life through the use of metaphors, voice, imagery and repetition to compare the mother’s life to a crystalized, yet jagged staircase.

W. Clement Stone, a well known businessman and book author once said, “Like success, failure is many things to many people. With positive mental attitude, failure is a learning experience, a rung on the ladder, and a plateau at which to get your thoughts in order to prepare to try again”. This quote epitomizes the central idea behind Mother to Son by Langston Hughes. Taking slow and careful steps as you walk up the stairs filled with obstacles and distractions, is a perfect correlation of succeeding and failing through every step you take in life. This illustration of succeeding and failing with every step taken is a perfect way to gain experience.

The poem, “Mother to Son” written by Langton Hughes held a great deal of significance for not only the lives of African-Americans but for anyone that losing sight of faith. Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. Hughes wrote “Mother to Son” when he was 21 years old. The poem was written in “black English” as a conversation between a mother and her son. This text matters because it represents so many different meanings of life and inspirational messages as it relates to the struggle of African-American women.

In both poems that are presented to us, there are many uses of the poem's meaning in general, their literary terms and even the use of the language to speak to the audience. These two poems present a meaning that becomes more like one another as you keep reading it, so you can get a feel for how the poems are alike. However, the language and the composition of both poems very drastically differ from each other. Even though both poems have been written in two completely different time eras, they still depict the sadness and grief of war in their own opposing perspectives.

The poem Mother to Son by Langston Hughes is a free verse conversation between a mother and her son. The mother talks about the stairs using it as a metaphor for life. She outlines life not being easy by telling her son that the stairs she ascended on was not perfect. When Langston wrote this essay, life was difficult particular for people of color. The mother tells the son that he will have numerous obstacles in life by saying the stairs had various challenges to get pass.

A third similarity between the two poems is the use of a first-person narrator. In poem 1, the writer uses the word “I” when directly speaking about the narrator’s feelings. In poem 2, the writer also uses the word “I”, but instead uses it in an indirect, roundabout way that has the same intended meaning as its use in poem 1. There is, however, a definitive difference between narrator one and narrator 2. This definitive difference, as alluded to earlier, is the gender of the 2 narrators. The narrator of poem 1, for example, is a female writing to her husband. However, in today’s realistic society it could just as very well be a guy writing to his husband if some of the minor word details were changed. In poem 2, the narrator is semi-obviously a man talking about a girl. As stated before, this could also be taken into the context of a girl talking about another girl in today’s realistic society.

The speaker of the poem "Mother to son," by Langston Hughes is a mother giving advice to her son about the pearls of life. The Author points out the love and concern of a mother to her son. As readers, we know this because the mother compares her life to staircase which shares has had "tacks and splinters in it"(line 3-4). She accuses herself of the obligation to confer shrewdness on her child by alluding to her own victories and disappointments in life. Langston fuses lingual authority, mood and allegorical dialect in his lyrical work. In this guide of graphical depictions, the authors say that life is a struggle and is comprised of stumbling blocks. In any case these need to overwhelmed by keeping focus without taking stops of taking a seat, turning, getting a break or notwithstanding landing.