Name:______________________________ Class:____________________

Portfolio Assignment.

Read the following poem and write a critique on the lines provided.
Guidelines: Briefly state what the poem is about, comment on the writers use of language
(literary devices, type of language used, themes, tone, mood) do you think that the advice
the mother is giving her child is a good one? Give quotes to support your answer.

Mother To Son By Langston Hughes

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,
And places with no carpet on the floor-
Bare.
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.
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.

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 Poetry Rubric- Critical Analysis

Total: /16

Final Mark: /10 marks

In Hughes poem Mother to Son, a mother advises her son that he will face many adversities in life, and yet he
must overcome them and keep going. The mother compares the journey through life to ascending a staircase. She
says that for her life has not been a staircase made of crystal. Rather it has been quite rough with protruding nails
and pieces of wood jutting out, boards torn up and places where the carpet was missing. However, she has kept
climbing, through landings, corners and darkness in spite of such discomforts. She then asks the boy to walk in her
footsteps and keep moving forward without turning back or giving up because he finds the journey arduous. She
wants him to take inspiration from the fact that she is still going steady despite lifes hardships.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The anonymous mother in the poem may be suggestive of the African American women of predepression America
encouraging their sons to strive for success. The poem is written in the form of a dramatic monolgue in black dialect.
The idiomatic style of the speech is invoked in the context of the courage, endurance and sense of duty of the
African American race. The language also imparts a charged colloquial element to the poem. The theme of the poem
is perseverence.

As the poem opens with Well, son, Ill tell you, it is possible that the son has asked or said something before to
which she is responding. In the next line, she says that her life aint been a crystal stair. The use of the word
aint indicates that the mother is not a learned person and crystal stair is symbolic of smoothness, beauty and
luster.

Tacks, splinters, boards torn up suggests hurdles of life. Tacks are nails and splinters are small fragments of
wood which make it hard for the person to step. Boards torn up may symbolise unsteady or rough grounds leading
to uncertainty in the persons mind. Bare suggests scant furnishings.

Ise been a-climbin on , reachin landins, turnin corners suggests movement and therefore signifies an ascent
that is inspiring. And sometimes goin in the dark / Where there aint been no light makes this poem a story of dark
times. The dilapidated staircase is also representative of the poor living conditions of the Black Americans under the
tyranny of the Whites.
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The poem is suggestive of the effect of racism and oppression on the lives and experiences of the black Americans.
However, this piece of advice from mother to son has an universal quality as it can be read as an advice from any
mother to any son, anywhere in the world, without keeping the historical background in mind.

In the next five lines the mother urges her son not to turn back or set down on the steps of fall when he
recognises life for the never-ending drudgery that it truly is. She does not want him to lose courage and start
descending, or get tired, sit down to rest and not resume climbing. She also does not want him to fall which may
mean literally tumbling down the steps unable to take the pressure, or it may be associated with the Biblical Fall,
which in this context may mean resorting to criminal activities and unfair means to accomplish his ends.

In the last three lines, she reveals her own strength and perseverence as she says Ise still goin, honey,/ Ise still
climbing/ And life for me aint been no crystal stair. She tries to pose as a role model for the boy and instil strength
and courage into his mind that will help him undertake lifes tedious journey in the best possible way.

POETIC DEVICES

The poem is written in free verse and has a lyrical quality due the idiomatic language used by the poet.

The poetic devices involved in the poem is the extended metaphor of life being a staircase. The central image of the
poem is the crystal stair. It echoes the Biblical story of Jacobs Ladder. The stairway may be seen as a path to
freedom and liberation which was the goal of the African Americans.

To represent the struggle of the mother Hughes uses images of tack, splinter, boards and carpet.

The mothers drive and persistence is expressed through the images a-climbin on, reachin landins, turnin
corners, and And sometimes goin in the dark / Where there aint been no light.

The mother teaches the that he should never collapse under the pressures that life puts him through. Hughes uses
repitition in dont you turn back./Dont you set down on the steps./Cause you finds its kinder hard./Dont you fall
now to emphasize the mothers anxious expectation of her son. She wants him to be tenacious like herself.
He uses repitition in Ise still goin, Ise still climbing, once again putting stress on the mothers struggles and
weariness.

The image of the crystal stair is repeated in the last line to accentuate again the perpetual toil to achieve goals and
fulfillment.