Favorite Poems
Storyboard Text
- "Life for me ain't been no crystal stair. It's had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards ton up, And places with no carpet on the floor- Bare. (Lines 2-7)"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." (Lines 2-7)nd places with no carpet on the floor- Bare." (Lines 2-7)#160;
- "But all the time, I'se been a-climbin' on, And reachin landin's" (Lines 8-10)
- "And turnin' corners, And sometimes goin' in the dark. Where there ain't been no light" (Lines 11-13)
- In the popular poem titled "Mother to Son", the first few lines help the reader to recognize that the speaker has gone through multiple struggles during her time. The "crystal stair" phrase is the speaker trying to indicate that she has not had an easy life, and it has been much harder for her than others who have more wealth and privilege. These lines use imagery to create an understanding of the stressful situations that the narrator has experienced in her life.
- "So boy, don't you turn back. Don't you set down on the steps 'Cause you find it's kinder hard. Don't you fall now-" (Lines 14-17)
- Lines 8-10 help the reader understand that although the speakers life has been incredibly challenging, she continues to work hard and overcome the obstacles that she has encountered. We can find hyperbole's in this line, revealing that the woman hasn't literally "climbed on" or "reached landings", but she has continued to fight and push through her struggles. We can determine that the speaker has never given up, no matter how tough her life has gotten.
- "For I'se still goin' honey, I'se still climbin', And life for me ain't been no crystal stair." (Lines 18-20)
- Continuing on, the next lines explain that the narrator continues to push through the lowest parts of her life. However, the lines also reveal that her perseverance hasn't payed off yet. The darkness depicted in these lines could represent a point of no return, or hopelessness. The woman's life continues to get more stressful and problematic- and even through her persistence, she is unable to escape the darkness.
- Lines 14-17 show the reader that the narrator is actually speaking to her son in this poem. The son begins to go through the same hardships that his mother has experienced once before. Since these are such abrupt problems in his life, the boy struggles to overcome these obstacles, and begins to break down. These lines depict the mother trying to convince her son to not give up, but to keep on fighting.
- These last lines in the poem show the mother trying to remind her son of her own persistence and perseverance in order to motivate him to overcome his struggles as he grows. She tells him that to this day, she is still working hard to push through her grueling challenges of everyday life. The final line shows repetition from the very first line in this poem, which circles back to the importance of the "crystal stair".
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