REVISION PRACTICES.. MOTHER TO SON

Theme: The journey of life,oppression perseverance, racism,discrimination,marginalization,struggles,a determined mother exhorts her young son not to get disillusioned.She has had a tough life, but she wasn’t willing to surrender and fought bravely each of her challenges.

A short summary. Langston Hughes ,the Afro- American phenomenal writer writes about a black mother who has faced adversities in her life at every turns and has become strong willed .She advises her son to be brave and not to succumb to the unexpected twists and turns of life. The poem is a dramatic monologue.Mother advises her son that life is a journey which is not always fair and easy.It’s not a crystal stair at least in her case.Her life wasn’t as beautiful as a crystal stair.Instead hers was a broken one with many splinters and tacks which made her walk all the more difficult. It was ugly looking .nothing romantic.It offered her pain everywhere.But she was perseverent enough to hold on and continuously fight with the difficulties life offered .Her life was full of insecurities .There was nothing to comfort her, no one to make her journey less painful.She walked on the bare realities alone,getting wounded .But all the time she was on a forward move.She had found places to rest and even reached at certain junctures where she thought she would have to quit because everything was dim and couldn’t find anything to hope for .She thought that it would be the end.But her efforts were on.She went on with her strong will.Therefore she is there today.She advises him not to get easily fed up by the tests and trials of life.He may find life tough but do not ever give up efforts.Because his mother is still on her journey to whom life had never showed any mercy.Still she managed everything and assures him that he too could prove to life that it can’t defeat him always.

Who is the speaker of the poem? What does the mother compare her life to? What does crystal stair stand for? Splinters and tacks refer to...... Bare means........................ Which images show you that the !other had a tough life? Give an example of extended metaphor from the poem. To whom does the mother speak to? Why does she tell her son to be brave? ‘Places with no carpet ‘ refers to.......... Where do you find places carpeted?What do you know about the mother and her life from the above lines?

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Crystal stairs refer to the lives of............ Ain’t been,I'se been,....turnin..What do these expressions tell about the mother? How do you know that there is a listener? Who is the listener? Reachin landings refer to......a What does the mother mean by ‘turnin corners’? Which line tells that the mother became completely hopeless? What advice does she give her son? There ain’t been no light..Light here means.... Do you think that the mother was always treading through darkness?Pick out a line to support your answer. Set down on the step means......... The son represents..........,..... What is the tone of the poem? Which images tell about the poverty of the mother? Is there any references to Biblical images? If so state one. What do the images dark and light symbolise? Pick an example for alliteration from the poem. What picture do you gather about the mother from the poem? Do you feel that the mother passes her angst of being oppressed to her son? What do you think might have silenced the mother all along her journey? Why wasn’t she allowed to walk on carpeted places? her freedom been in question?What might have forced the mother to motivate her son to be strong? Is there someone whom they are fighting with? If so state the reasons for their being oppressed.

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