Rhetorical Devices In Mother To Son

She is living in sad and poor conditions just to give her son the things he needs for a successful childhood. The sons mother lived at places with no carpet, splinters everywhere and boards bordered up the walls. Even in such bad conditions she never gave up on her son. “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair” she repeats to her son throughout the poem which gives the impression that her son still does not fully understand what his mom went through to raise him. Langston is trying to explain what she has been through while still encouraging him to keep going.

The Poem “Mother to Son” uses Figurative Language and Characterization this develops the theme of there is no easy way in life. To begin, the author uses Figurative Language to develop the theme by showing us that the stairs represent the mother's life. It says “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.” This means her her life has not been easy that is what the stair stands for. The author uses figurative

     On the road of life, many trials arise that one must overcome to make his or her life feel complete. In Langston Hughes’s poem, “Mother to Son,” these trials are a subject of concern for one mother. Hughes’ “ability to project himself” is seen in his use of dialect, metaphors, and tone (Barksdale 3).

Many Americans did not know how and African American’s daily life went. Through Hughes’ writing he portrayed their lives to help show their desire and need for civil rights. In his poem, “Mother to Son”, a mother is talking to her son about how life is much harder for them, but that he must never give up, “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair...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”(Lines 1, 17-20). Hughes has assumed the role of speaking for the black community and the way that they live. Rita Dove and Marilyn Nelson write in their work, “Langston Hughes and Harlem”, how Hughes gives other Americans a glimpse of their lives, “His work offers white readers a glimpse into the social and the personal lives of Black America;”(1152). Hughes uses the simple conversation between a mother and son to show the American people how much different and harder their lives

And the poem “Mother to Son” is about how a mother is telling her son that she had to go through rough times like her son.She says she also keeps going no matter how difficult life gets.Both poems share the theme of overcoming obstacles in life. Both authors use figurative language for example,Tupac uses a Rose and Langston Hughes uses stairs to compare them to how hard life can be to develop the theme.

The poet begins the poem by motivating and inspiring her son to be fearless using an extended metaphor. He begins comparing the mother’s life and a crystal stair. The mother begins saying, “ Well, son, I’ll tell you: / Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair,” compares an easy and pleasant journey through life to her journey of life that has not been easy and pleasant. The use of extended metaphor comparing the mother’s life to a staircase continues throughout the poem, repeating the line, “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.” Furthermore, life has never been easy or free of problems and it has never been smooth sailing. The tacks, splinters, and

In the poem, “Mother to Son” harlem renaissance Langston Hughes writes of a mother’s heartbreaking journey through a never ending cycle of life through the use of figurative language and complex structure. The reader is able to fully receive the message the author has provided.

The survival of the Black American family is a revolutionary act. The system of slavery purposefully separated and destroyed black families. Yet, in the face of obstacles, the Black family as an institution survived. Langston Hughes and Robert Hayden show the power of connection, love, and learning between the Black parent and the Black child. Many Black poets write about the Black experience in America, but few capture the interactions between Black parent and Black child the way Langston Hughes and Robert Hayden do in their poems “Mother to Son” and “Those Winter Sundays”, respectively. Langston Hughes and Robert Hayden use metaphors and imagery to portray the lessons Black children learn from Black parents.

He explains, “I was only an American Negro—who had loved the surface of Africa—but I was not Africa. I was Chicago and Kansas City and Broadway and Harlem. I was not what she wanted me to be” (Hughes as quoted in Cobb 44). Hughes wants to make sure people are aware that the life and culture of African Americans differ drastically from the romantic view of the Negro in Africa. In his poem “Mother to Son,” Hughes provides the story of struggle, poverty overcame by hard work, and hope for a more dignified life for the entire African American people (Niemi 1). Hughes recognizes that despite being oppressed, the black community is strong enough to empower itself with determination to succeed. When discussing working-class life, Hughes consistently “asserts blacks as fully complex, fully human, and equals in the American democratic experiment” and does not play into the thought that blacks should be kept down (Sanders 107). Langston Hughes’ “concern for the lives and oppression of poor and working-class blacks” is apparent in most of his work (Sanders 107). Through his writing he makes the population aware of the deep-set oppression put upon the black community.

the mom says to her son that lifestyles has not been a “crystal stair” it has had tacks and splinters and torn boards on it, as good as areas without carpet. The stair is naked. however, she still climbs on, achieving landings, turning corners, and persevering in the darkish while there is no moderate. She commands him, “So boy, don’t you switch again.” She instructs him now not to go back down the stairs despite the fact that he thinks climbing is rough. He must are trying to not fall due to the fact that his mom is still going, nonetheless mountaineering, and her lifestyles “ain’t been no crystal stair.” Hughes wrote "mother to Son" When he was as soon as 21 years historical. He structures the poem as a dialog between a mom and her son. It 's free verse and written within the vernacular, that means that it mimics the patterns of speech and diction of conversation. The mummy starts with the aid of telling her son how tough her life has been it has no longer been a "crystal stair." Hughes Then develops the metaphor of a staircase additional, as the mother describes the challenges in her lifestyles using symbols like tacks, splinters, uncarpeted flooring, and dark, unlit corners. She exhorts her son not to flip again, due to the fact that she

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

The theme of the poem and short story is that parents only want the best for their children and they try their hardest to meet their children’s needs. In both readings, the parents always tried their hardest to care for their children no matter what situation they're in. In the poem, “Mother to Son”, the mother states that life for her hasn't been easy for her but she didn't give up and neither should her son. I see this in both the poem and short story. Both mothers don't think that their child should give up on their dreams so they would be successful in life and not have to go through what they went through. Langston Hughes describes how the mother's life has been using figurative language. He described that the mother’s life isn't

Langston Hughes' poem, "Mother to Son" uses diction, punctuation, and musical devices to express the theme. The author gives off beautiful diction to describe how her son thinks her life is a "crystal stair", however it's not. It's a torn up, broken staircase which her son would never realize. Her life isn't perfect, but she states "For I'se still goin', honey." This exemplifies that life isn't easy for everyone. There's always hardships that everyone has to face at some point, but you can't give up no matter how hard it gets.The punctuation that the author used isn't like your average English writing. Instead of the type of writing you would expect, the author uses words like "I'se" and "goin'" to make her voice come alive. When reading this

At the beginning of the poem, Langston imitates his mother by saying that life for her has not been “no crystal stair case”. As you can see Langston started off using a metaphor to depict the message of the hard life that his mother had.

The beginning of the story starts off with the speaker’s somber words of life’s difficulties, thus, setting the mood to a glum start. Addressing her son, the speaker says, “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair. It’s had tacks in it. And splinters…” Her blunt tone makes the story seem much more personal; there is not any sugar coating in her tone which is exactly what would be expected of a mother. By trying not to set false expectations on the easiness of life, Hughes uses a blunt tone from the speaker to let her son know how life really is. By setting off the mood of the story as drab, the later transition of tone will be more effective.