About the Poem
Who is speaking in the poem?
Who is the Mother
The mother tells her son life has never been this.
What is a “crystal stair”?
This device is used when life is compared to a staircase.
What is a metaphor?
This theme is reflected in the way the mother shares her life experience to help her son keep moving forward.
What is wisdom passed from one generation to the next?
Langston Hughes was a major figure in this cultural movement.
What is the Harlem Renaissance?
The poem is written in this form, using lines without rhyme.
What is free verse?
Despite difficulties, the mother has kept doing this.
What is climbing or moving forward?
Giving human-like qualities to the staircase, the speaker tells her son not to “set down on the steps.”
What is personification?
The poem reflects this kind of emotional bond between the speaker and her son.
What is maternal love?
Hughes often wrote about this experience of African Americans.
What is everyday life and struggle?
The poem is told from this point of view.
What is first person?
The mother encourages her son to do this even when life is hard.
What is to keep going and not give up?
The poem’s repetition of the mother’s advice adds this to the poem.
What is emphasis or rhythm?
The mother’s ability to endure pain and keep going reveals this personal quality.
What is resilience?
This state is where Langston Hughes was born.
What is Missouri?
The mother compares life to this in the poem.
What is a staircase?
The speaker's message centers on responding to hardship with this quality.
What is perseverance?
The poem’s conversational style is an example of this.
What is dialect or colloquial language?
The poem encourages this kind of strength, especially during hard times.
What is inner strength?
Hughes’s poetry often gave voice to the experiences, struggles, and dreams of this community.
Who are African Americans?
The poem’s tone can best be described as this.
What is hopeful and determined?
The mother’s advice shows this kind of strength.
What is resilience?
The “tacks” and “splinters” symbolize these.
What are obstacles or hardships?
The mother’s message shows that life’s challenges are part of this ongoing process.
What is growth through adversity?
Hughes often used everyday language and the rhythms of this musical genre to make his poetry more relatable and expressive.
What is jazz rhythms or colloquial language?