Mother to Son Flashcards
1
Q
Subject Matter
A
A mother’s letter to her son about the difficulties of life
2
Q
Purpose
A
- To impart wisdom and encourage resilience in the face of adversity
- A mother teaching her son that life will be hard, but to not give up
3
Q
Emotion
A
- Pain, encouragement, resillience
4
Q
Structure
A
- Free verse
- Single stanza, conversational flow
5
Q
Language
A
- colloquial expressions and AAVE (African-American Vernacular English) - personal and authentic
6
Q
Imagery
A
- Extended metaphore: Stair is a metaphore for life
- “crystal stair” = easy life
- Personification - human characteristics given to abstact concept of “life”
7
Q
Movement
A
- Anaphora, enjambment
- colon: lists
- em dash - dramatic pause to “bare” and continues thought
8
Q
Sound
A
n/a
