Name: _________________________________

Analyze

“Mother to Son”
By Langston Hughes

1. This poem is an extended metaphor comparing

____________ to a _______________________.

2. The speaker probably makes this comparison

because _______________________________
__________________________________
_______________________________.

Analyze this extended

metaphor! This
6. metaphor
In an extended metaphor, the speaker means:
explains the comparison in
detail. Read each specific
metaphor; then write what This
each one means about life. metaphor
5. means:

This
metaphor
4. means:

This
metaphor
3. means:

This
metaphor
2. means:

This
metaphor
1. means:

Discuss: What other metaphors can you find in this poem? What do they mean?

© English Teacher Mommy

 Name: _________________________________

“Mother to Son”
Reading Questions

After reading “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes, answer the following in complete sentences.

1. Who is the speaker? Who is the audience? ______________________________

___________________________________________________________________
2. Summarize in one sentence the advice given in this poem: _________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
3. What event is probably motivating the speaker to give this advice? __________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
4. What kind of life has the speaker had? _________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
5. Why do you think this poem doesn’t rhyme? How does this affect the mood?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
6. The speaker begins by declaring that life is no crystal stair, but what if it were?
What metaphors would the speaker use to describe that staircase? ____________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
7. What character traits does the speaker of this poem want her son to have? ___
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

© English Teacher Mommy

 Name: _________________________________

From Character to Theme

in “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes
Use details in the poem to characterize the speaker and infer the poem’s theme.

1. The speaker says…

(Write several quotes from the poem)

2. The speaker is…

(Make inferences about her character)

3. The theme is…

(Draw conclusions
from facts given)

© English Teacher Mommy

 Name: _________________________________

The Life of 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…
Langston Hughes, the poet who wrote these lines, did not have an easy life. His parents
divorced when he was very young, he moved frequently as a child, and he grew up in a world of
widespread racial discrimination. His life led him to deeply value his identity as an African-
American, and it strongly influenced his writing as he became one of the most influential poets of
the 20th century.
James Mercer Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902, and soon afterward his
father left the family’s home in Joplin, Missouri for a business opportunity in Mexico. Hughes and
his mother began moving from city to city in search of work. In most places, young Hughes
experienced racism and segregation. When his mother tried to enroll him in a neighborhood school,
he was rejected because of his skin color and directed to an all-black school across town. Soon after
this experience, Hughes’s mother decided to send him back to Missouri to live with his
grandmother and attend school there. When his grandmother died, thirteen-year-old Langston
Hughes moved again, this time to be with his mother and her new husband in Illinois.
As a way of dealing with all this change, Hughes began writing poetry as a teenager. His
teachers encouraged his obvious talent for writing, and several of his poems were printed in his
school’s literary magazine. Poetry became a way for him to process his experiences and share the
truth of them with others.
After graduating from high school in 1920, Hughes spent a year with his father in Mexico,
and it was there he wrote “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” which in 1921 would become his first
published work. Next, he studied at Columbia University in New York City for a year, immersing
himself in the vibrant African American culture centered in the Harlem neighborhood. The Harlem
Renaissance – an exciting period of growth in African American music, art, and writing – was in full
bloom. Hughes held several jobs in the city, met an array of interesting people, and wrote many of
his poems and stories during this time. Unlike most African American writers of the period, he made
it his mission to write about black life in realistic detail, vividly portraying both beauty and hardship,
often with a dose of humor.
Hughes left the university after a year and took a job on a freight ship, traveling to faraway
Africa and Europe, but he soon ended up back in Harlem. In 1924, while working in a New York City
hotel, he slipped some of his poems under the dinner plate of well-known poet Vachel Lindsay.
Lindsay was impressed by his work, and this recognition helped propel Hughes into a career as a
writer. Hughes’s first book of poetry, The Weary Blues, was published in 1926. He earned
scholarships to finish his college education and began to publish more of his writing. In fact, he
would soon become the first African-American to earn a living solely as a writer.
During his prolific career, Hughes published numerous poems, plays, short stories, and
novels. He continued writing his entire life – even spending time as a newspaper columnist and a
war correspondent in Spain – but he is certainly best known today for his poetry. Hughes died in
New York City at the age of 65.
Today, Langston Hughes is remembered as the most prominent writer of the Harlem
Renaissance. His unique style and vivid characters paint a detailed picture of African American life
during the mid-20th century with distinctive honesty, humor, and pride.

© English Teacher Mommy

 Name: _________________________________

Read and Make Connections

After reading “The Life of Langston Hughes,” answer the following in complete sentences.

1. What are some challenges that Langston Hughes face as a child? ____________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
2. How did Hughes first experience success as a writer? _____________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
3. How did Hughes become involved in the Harlem Renaissance? ______________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
4. What made Hughes’s writing unique? __________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Now, make connections using both the poem and the informational text.
5. Based on facts about Hughes’s life, why do you think he wrote this poem from
the perspective of a mother?___________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
6. What is one lesson shared in the poem that Hughes could have learned from
his own life? ________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
7. Based on Hughes’s writing style, why do you think Hughes wrote this poem in a
natural-sounding dialect?______________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

© English Teacher Mommy