Assignment 13

Answer the following questions with at least a paragraph for each question.

● What is the mother telling the son in “Mother to Son”? How is the staircase different for
white people than it is for her?

This poem is amazing. I could feel the emotion from the mother to her son, telling him that his
world will be hard but to never give up. The ‘stairs’ he has to climb are full of obstacles. On the
stair the obstacles where things like splinters or missing boards. For a white person in those
years they really had it easy. Just based on the color of their skin they were trusted and got to live
life easy. A person with colored skin had a very hard life. No one trusted a colored person to own
a house. This mother was telling her son to not give up, she was still fighting and so should he.

● What does Hughes mean when he says “Tomorrow, / I’ll be at the table” in “I, Too”? Why
do you think this poem was so controversial when it was published in 1925?

By stating that no one will tell him to sit in the kitchen was very bold for that time. He has every
right to eat where he wants. Slavery was abolised in the 1800s but white and black people were
not seen as equals. Lyching was still going on. I understand how it was controversial for its time
but it is also so strong. Such a short, simple poem but so much emotion is felt.

● What is Hughes saying in “Democracy”? Who do you think is telling him to wait? What is
the emotional tone of this poem?

Democracy means the government is run by the people and their votes and voice. In this society
there is a divide between people who trust the government and those who cover the cameras on
the camera so the FBI do not see them. I think the white people are telling him to wait and as he
should, he won't trust him. The tone I read from this is matter of fact. He says that he can not
survive on tomorrow’s bread, a line says out of the mouth that had to survive in the present.

● In “Theme for English B” Hughes writes about how he defines himself. What statement is
he trying to make through this poem?

I had a hard time understanding this poem. I could feel the emotion of being 23 and still finding
myself in this world, but the words he used were pure. He was saying how he is just a normal
guy. He wanted what every young adult wanted for christmas and his hobbies were normal. He
spoke about being the same but different. Saying they do no want to be a part of each other but
there is very little difference between a balck and white person.

Due Feb 26