PHILIPPINE NORMAL UNIVERSITY

The National Center for Teacher Education

MINDANAO
Multicultural Education Hub
Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur

Rogena L. Cabolao BEE-AG-II-I

Professor Jeanette T. Gongora Contemporary & Popular Literature Enthusiasts

1.Research and write the characteristics of a contemporary poem (Write your answer in a
paragraph form; do not forget to cite your sources);

Five characteristics of Contemporary Poetry:

1. Contemporary poetry is often written in free verse (unrhymed and with no specific
metrical rhythm).

2. Readers know and can associate with the language.

3. It is brief.

4. The poet laces the poem with images using all the reader’s senses.

5. It invites the reader to interpret the poem without yelling from the rooftops the true
meaning of the poem.

Generally speaking, however, we don’t necessarily differentiate poets in such a way. We can use
words like contemporary-style and modernist poets but it doesn’t always have the meaning we
want. The context of the subject matter is more important than the actual definition the term
itself may have.
Nonetheless, context does distinguish poetry eras with good reason. An era does not make a man
but men make an era. Eras take on such personality because of an overwhelming majority of
established poets writing in a specific style. Nonetheless, not all poets during that time frame will
write in that particular style.
A poetic era is a very general term. If someone writes in the era, they don’t always follow the
eras form or style.

https://brightdreamsjournal.com/characteristics-of-contemporary-poetry/

2. Write the poem and give a short background of the poet.

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’ve 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’ve still goin’, honey,
I’ve still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

The poet is Langston Hughes, in full James Mercer Langston Hughes, (born February 1,
1902?, Joplin, Missouri, U.S.—died May 22, 1967, New York, New York), American writer who
was an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance and made the African American experience the
subject of his writings, which ranged from poetry and plays to novels and newspaper columns.

3. Analyze the poem by its element:

i. 
a. Who is the speaker/poet/writer?
The speaker is a mother who advised her son about life.

b. Who is the auditor/addressee of the poem? 

The poem is addressed to the children how life is hard.

c. What is the general thought of the selected poem?

The poem contains a warning from a mother to her son about the stairwells that one must
climb throughout one's life. Broken boards, splinters, and tacks must all be avoided. These items
are placed in his path to confuse him. She also states that, even though he is tired or desperate, he
must never turn around or sit down. She's already trudging up the stairs, and he'll get there
eventually.
ii.
d. Describe the structure of the poem. 
Mother to Son’ by Langston Hughes is a twenty-line poem that is contained within
one stanza of text. Hughes composed the text in free verse. This means that there is no pattern
of rhyme or rhythm. That does not mean that the word choices are unimportant. In fact, they
are lyrical in nature. This can be seen through Hughes’ thoughtful selection of words that reflect
a specific dialect and examples of half-rhyme throughout the text.
 
e. Identify and analyze the poetic styles in presenting the poem. 
I observed the Hughes’s dialectic choices. He uses shortened versions of words such as
“reachin’” rather than “reaching” and “landin’s ” rather than “landings.” This has the effect of
making the verses more song-like. It also speaks to the narrator’s own background and might
lead one to assume this person is uneducated. She is a working-class woman who is speaking
frankly and on her own terms.

f. Write your own reflection on the message of the poem.

Life is not easy as 123 there are trials that you have to passed and it’s not easy to pass it.
You need to work hard if you need to achieve what you want. Keep going even though there's so
many challenges you have in life, life isn't a crystal stair. Our parents already know how the
struggles in life that is why they are here for us, to guide us in the path that is good for us. Our
life has ups and downs, dark and bright, this life is we cannot avoid nor ignore just not to
experience it. Our parents want the best life for that’s why they really trying their best just to
give us the life that they want for us whereas we are happy, however, life is not like, life is not a
trials free, struggles or trials are everywhere that we have to pass just like how the mother want
to her son to know her struggle for him to be ready to face this.