Throughout the entirety of the poem the mother compares her life to stairs that are broken down, dark, missing steps, and steps with tacks in them but she states she has never stopped climbing “But all the time I’se been a-climbin’ on,” and she used repetition by repeating a line to drive home the fact that her life hasn’t been easy. “And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.” Using these two methods the mother clearly states that even though life isn’t easy but you must keep climbing and…
He is trying to express what position he feels like Hazel and he are in; they are traveling through the journey of life, which is naturally full of problems and hurdles although they have found a major hurdle that they are not able to jump over or…
The theme of, "Mother to Son," by Langston Hughes, is to keep moving on even when the worst of times is trying to hold you back. "Life for me ain't been no crystal stair/It's had tacks in it/And splinters,"(line 2-4). With this in mind, I believe the narrator is trying to metaphorically explain that the tacks and splinters in the mother's life are the parts in her life where she experience the most pain, like becoming broke or losing a family member. These tacks are what slows the mother down in her long climb, but, as she keeps saying, “She's been climbin’ on.” Also, line seventeen through eighteen describes, “Don't you set down on the steps/'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.” This furthers the point of the difficulty of life, if you stop…
When he tells his father, his father responds, “There is no one to see.” The father than states that, “they must go now”. The boy gets very upset and the father questions, “Do you want to die? Is that what you want?” When the boy responds, “I don’t care,” the father gets upset and expresses to the boy that he, “musn’t say that” (McCarthy 85). This is a primary example of the father reassuring the boy still has hope. The father not only makes sure the boy has hope, he also tries to give the boy hope. He gives the boy hope by telling them they are not going to die soon. This is proven in the novel when the boy asks, “Are we going to die” and the man says, “Sometime. Not…
It brings in to play that every decision that you or I is making, right now, could be affecting the way that we live out the rest of our lives. In the same way that a small decision can negatively impact a person… the opposite can be true as well. The author Wes Moore lived in a neighborhood with just as much of a drug influence as the other… yet somehow he managed to disconnect himself from it and thrive in his situation. Both the author and the other had mothers who wanted the best for their sons… with absent father figures. The idea that a single parent could put everything they had into their kid is really inspirational. The other Wes Moore’s mother, Mary, worked hard to keep her kids in comfort, but her efforts ended up fruitless. The author Wes Moore’s mother Joy, worked multiple jobs in order to send him to a private school… and that ended up making all the difference in his life. He was forced to work harder and become interested in school, and he put his energy into more productive things such as basketball, or hanging out with friends, but he never let it get to the point where he was roped into the drug game. “The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his.” I agree with this statement, and I think that the story “The…
Everyone in there lives have made bad decisions that they regret, lead them to the wrong path, and wished they’ve made different decisions. However, I kind of would’ve wanted to have a childhood like any of them because they all went through hard times but at the end Jeannette and The author Wes became victorious. Furthermore, I would’ve somewhat liked to have a childhood like Jeannette's because her father would teach her things at times. For example, Jeannette states, “Dad kept telling me that he loved me, that he never would have let me drown, but you can’t cling to the side your whole, that one lesson every parent needs to teach a child is “ ‘If you didn’t want to sink, you better figure out how to swim’” (Walls, 66). If Jeannette's father never taught her that lesson then she wouldn’t have been…
In the short story "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes, the main character "mother" explains to her son difficulties in life and how they changed her outlook. The mother compares all of her life experiences to a staircase. She mentions that ,"life ain't been no crystal stair". This shows that her life has not been easy. She also compares life to a rundown staircase having "splinters" and "torn up in places".…
The poem written from a mothers perspective giving loving advice to her son about the challenges life will throw, yet the importance of never giving up, subverts the usual stereotype that African Americans live a bad life, abusing drugs and being criminals. The audience feels the warmth and care from her southern dialect, “Don’t you fall now – for I’se still goin’ honey, I’se still climbin’’ and “life for me aint been no crystal stair”. The informal language also portrays a truthful motherly figure. The poem includes an extended metaphor, the person compares her life to a stair case, “life aint 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.” This is a metaphor for the lack of comfort and poverty she lives in. Symbols like ‘tacks’ also symbolise the discomfort of life’s obstacles. By the smart use of informal language, symbolism, extended metaphor and repetition supports the idea that African Americans can make the right choices and are not necessarily limited to the life people see them as living all the time. Just because of the harsh circumstances they are going through. As the persona puts it. ‘Don’t you fall now, for I’se still going,…
When reading the two poems 'The rose that grew from concrete' written by Tupac Shakur and 'Mother to Son' by Langston Hughes, you will notice that they both have several distinct similarities and contrasts. The First poem written by Tupac Shakur talks about a rose that grows from a crack in the concrete all on its own with determination, and the central idea is that the hardships we face as children/teenagers don't have to shape our future in a negative way. The second poem by Langston Hughes is about a mother telling her son not to give up because she didn't when her life got hard, and the central idea is not to give up because all problems can be overcome with perseverance and determination. The biographical events that took place in both…
Sometimes life doesn’t always go the way you want or expect it to happen. At times, when things aren’t going your way you just have to suck it up and keep going, A common theme so far in the texts in College Prep English had been for the characters to overcome a mindset or obstacles in order to better themselves or situation. Therefore, these texts can be grouped into the label “Life Almost Straight” because the mindset or obstacle in all veers the main character off the straight path. Even if there might be a roadblock in the plan it is important to stay close to the path in order to achieve goals being set. Obstacles in life connect to the human condition of growing, learning, and conquering these barriers.…
Harold and the Purple Crayon, to this day, is figurative example of how I look at obstacles in life. I truly live by the fact that nothing is impossible. Harold does too. We all have our own purple crayon, but in Harold’s case, it is literally a crayon. He drew what he wanted, lived how he wanted and did all these things whenever he wanted. On a surface level observation, the goal that this book is trying to accomplish is to express that children should be able to do what they want. They should be able to be themselves without severe limitations. To others, including myself, it has a deeper meaning that anyone can achieve what they want. A very simple way to portray this deeper meaning is with the quote, ‘if you set your mind to it you can achieve it.’ This statement only holds to be true in certain situations though, because you have to be ready to think the unthinkable to accomplish what isn’t ‘possible.’ You have to drive off people saying you can’t. In my life, people have done nothing but say I can’t. They tell me that I need to find more realistic goals to try and obtain. I found that I can do anything I desire to accomplish is possible, even when the whole world tells me it’s impossible. For other people, I have learned that you have to truly desire to accomplish what you want to accomplish, or you won’t get anywhere close, and it will forever stay in your mind as impossible. Although it was extremely easy for Harold to pick up a crayon and simply get what he wants, this translates into how any one of us can achieve what we want. It may not be easy, but Harold demonstrated that it can be done. That the ‘unthinkable’ can be obtained. That the ‘impossible’ is possible. All you have to do is believe; that’s what Harold did.…
The narrator laments that the thought of escaping to her present situation no longer consoled her because she “did not even have this to look forward to” (line 22). This forces the narrator to reflect on the underlying motivations driving her to act. Up to this point, it had been a desire to escape her life and find a better one elsewhere. Yet, she now feels unsure after she has accomplished that goal. She even describes her future as “a large gray patch surrounded by black, blacker, and blackest” (lines 58-59). This key line puts a stop to the thing that pushed her forward all this time—the hope for a better future. By destroying this fundamental part of her character, the narrator inevitably must find a new motivation to move forward and continue progression on the stairway of life. However, before she reaches that point, she reflects on whether looking towards the future truly is always better than living in the past. She does this by painting her past as “familiar and predictable” (line 40) solid ground, while her future is an “overcast seascape” (line 42) with seemingly no hope for progress. This metaphor pushes the narrator to find out what motivates her—hope for the future or longing for the…
The poems, "If" and "Mother to Son" are both poems that addresses that the central idea is a life lesson. Both writings are similar because, they both have a similar central idea. Both authors convey this idea there are similarities and differences. Although, the poems have the same idea, there are similarities and differences. The poems come across life edvice.…
The poem describes life like a rollercoaster. Life is full of ups and downs, an emotional roller coaster ride that you can't quite imagine. The image that came up in my mind as i was reading the poem are two rollercoasters. One has ups, downs and loops, but the other is leveled and stable. The loops, ups and downs add thrill and color to the ride. It may be breath-taking but riders were obviously satisfied and happy overcoming and experiencing such ride. On the other hand, the other which was leveled and stable, was not that risky and extreme but, what is the point of riding a rollercoaster that has no “ups and downs”? Same as with life, the true meaning and essence of “living” is about failing, trying again, and succeeding. Being weak, and getting strong. Regret, and hope; life is not about despair and sorrow always. Life is not about success and happiness all the time either. But to live our lives to the fullest, we must have the courage and leap of faith to undergo all the “ups and downs” life would bring. The poem describes life like a…
The mother is nervous to see her daughter go down a “curved path of the park”. This “curved path” represents life with all its twists and turns. It is a symbol of life as unpredictable. It does not go in one straight line. The mother is afraid of the dangers that her daughter will encounter on her adventures in the world.…