Objectives

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Objectives

• Analyze the poem
• Understand and appreciate the poem
• Understand what the speaker of the poem is

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Langston Hughes

• Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967)

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Mother to Son by Langston Hughes

• Well, son, I'll tell youLife 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
  timeI'se been a-climbin' on,

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Mother to Son by Langston Hughes

• And reachin' landin's,And turnin' corners,And
  sometimes goin' in the darkWhere 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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Open Constructed Response 1

• In the poem, who is the mother speaking to and
  what is the message?

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Answer to Question 1

• The mother is speaking to her son. Her message is
  that her life has not been easy, but she has not
  allowed herself to stop trying.

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Open Constructed Response 2

• What is the metaphor that the speaker uses in the
  poem?
• A metaphor states that one thing is something
  else. It is a comparison, but it does NOT use
  like or as to make the comparison.

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Response to Question 2

• The speaker uses the stairway to represent her
  life.

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Open Constructed Response 3

• What does the mother want the son to do?

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Response to Question 3

• The mother wants the son not to give up. She
  advises her son, So boy, dont you turn back.
  Dont you set down on the steps. She has been
  through darkness on her climb up the steps, but
  she warns him that just because things can be
  hard, he must let the challenges dishearten him
  to the point of ceasing the struggle.

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Student Friendly Rubric Level 4

• I demonstrate understanding by explaining the key
  ideas from the text, both stated and unstated. I
  use information from the text to interpret or
  connect the text to other situations or texts
  through analysis, evaluation, inference and
  comparison.

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Level 0

• I write nothing. I write nothing related to the
  text. I write about something other than the
  assignment.