Read Langston Hughes’s “Mother to Son” carefully, attending to its occasion, its audience, and its language. Then analyze the argument it makes. Do you think the speaker—a mother talking to her son—makes a different argument from that of the poet, Langston Hughes? Explain why or why not.
Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
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And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
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And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So boy, don’t you turn back.
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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’,
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And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
(1922)