Mother to Son TWIST
You can find this storyboard in the following articles and resources:
Mother to Son by Langston Hughes
Lesson Plans by Bridget Baudinet
Published in 1922, ”Mother to Son” was one of Langston Hughes’s earliest poems. Its simple language and powerful message make it both accessible and meaningful for middle grade students.
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![Mother to Son by Langston Hughes - Figurative Language in "Mother to Son"](http://cdn.storyboardthat.com/storyboard-cells/3036063/cell-col-0-row-0-w400.png "Mother to Son by Langston Hughes - Figurative Language in "Mother to Son"")
![Mother to Son by Langston Hughes - "Mother to Son" Ideas Web](http://cdn.storyboardthat.com/storyboard-cells/2960363/cell-row-0-col-0-w400.png "Mother to Son by Langston Hughes - "Mother to Son" Ideas Web")
Storyboard Description
Mother to Son TWIST analysis
Storyboard Text
- Slide: 1
- Grim yet determined: The speaker has struggled much in life, yet still pushes forward
- Slide: 2
- Hughes includes many words and phrases with negative connotations: tacks, splinters, boards torn up, no carpet, bare, dark, no light, kinder hard
- Slide: 3
- “Life for me ain't been no crystal stair. It's had tacks in it and splinters, and boards torn up...” The staircase the speaker describes is an old, rickety, dangerous staircase, representing the difficulties of her life.
- Slide: 4
- ups
- and
- downs
- 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—Bare.But all the timeI’se been a-climbin’ on,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.
- The simple dialect of the speaker suggests a life with limited educational access. The varied line lengths mirror the ups and downs of the staircase and the path of life.
- Slide: 5
- I’se still goin’, honey,I’se still climbin’
- Despite the difficulties of her life, the speaker keeps going. The central theme that this creates is the importance of persevering in the face of hardship.
Image Attributions
- stairs - RichardBowen - (License Attribution )
- Stairs - Alex Graves - (License Attribution )
- Stairs - Pug50 - (License Attribution )
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