What literary elements does Langston Hughes use to convey the message

1.	What literary elements does Langston Hughes use to convey the message in the poem ‘Mother to Son’?Consider the following:1. What is the relevance of the metaphor ‘crystal stair’?2. Why does the poet use the Afro-American dialect in the poem? A dialect is a form of language that is spoken in one area with grammar, words and pronunciation that may be different from other forms of the same language. Does the dialect give you any clue regarding the social status of the speaker in the Poen? Pick out the examples of the dialect from the poem.3. How does the poem effectively make use of familiar things as word pictures or images such as tacks, splinters, etc.?
Answer» To convey his message, Langston Hughes has used different literary elements. He has used the extended metaphor of the noncrystal stairs to show how hard it had been for her to go ahead in life with all the tacks and splinters on the stairs. He has used the American dialect, especially used by Black Americans. Examples are a-climbin’, reachin’, goin’ ain’t, cimbin’ etc. He has also used double negatives like “ain’t been no light”, “ain’t been no crystal stair” etc. Set down to mean sit down, and Tse been’ to mean I have been, ‘it’s kinder’ to mean it is kind of etc. are typical Black American English. The poet has also used familiar words like tacks, splinters, torn up and bare to enhance the quality of the poem and to drive the message home. The speaker is a Black American lady and she is talking to her teenage son to go forward in life with courage and determination in spite of all the hardships he may face. She had done it and he too can do.

What literary elements does Langston Hughes use to convey the message in the poem ‘Mother to Son’?Consider the following:1. What is the relevance of the metaphor ‘crystal stair’?2. Why does the poet use the Afro-American dialect in the poem? A dialect is a form of language that is spoken in one area with grammar, words and pronunciation that may be different from other forms of the same language. Does the dialect give you any clue regarding the social status of the speaker in the Poen? Pick out the examples of the dialect from the poem.3. How does the poem effectively make use of familiar things as word pictures or images such as tacks, splinters, etc.?

Answer»

To convey his message, Langston Hughes has used different literary elements. He has used the extended metaphor of the noncrystal stairs to show how hard it had been for her to go ahead in life with all the tacks and splinters on the stairs. He has used the American dialect, especially used by Black Americans. Examples are a-climbin’, reachin’, goin’ ain’t, cimbin’ etc. He has also used double negatives like “ain’t been no light”, “ain’t been no crystal stair” etc.

Set down to mean sit down, and Tse been’ to mean I have been, ‘it’s kinder’ to mean it is kind of etc. are typical Black American English. The poet has also used familiar words like tacks, splinters, torn up and bare to enhance the quality of the poem and to drive the message home. The speaker is a Black American lady and she is talking to her teenage son to go forward in life with courage and determination in spite of all the hardships he may face. She had done it and he too can do.

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