Analyzing Poetry

Over the next 4 days, you will be analyzing four poems. Some are short and some are longer, either way, when we look closely at them, you will find that they have a lot to say!

Day 1:Analyzing Poetry Student Pages.pdf

1st Read- Read through the poem and find a metaphor

2nd Read- Read through the pome a 2nd time and develop an understanding of key lines

3rd Read- Read through the poem a 3rd time and determine the theme of the poem. Find key evidence to support your theme and analyze what the message of the poem is and how Langston Hughes conveys that message.

Mother to Son

by: Langston Hughes

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 time
I’se been a’climbin’ on,
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;
Don’t you sit 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.