Mother to Son And things are not what they seem.
And things are not what they seem.
by Langston Hughes
Well, son, Ill tell you:
Life for me aint been no crystal stair.
Its had tacks in it, and splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floorBare.
But all the time
Ise been a-climbin on,
And reachin landins
And turnin corners,
And sometimes goin in the dark
Where there aint been no light.
So, boy, dont you turn back.
Dont you set down on the steps
cause you finds its kinder hard.
Dont you fall now
For Ise still goin, honey,
Ise still climbin,
And life for me aint been no
Cystal stair.
Questions/Tasks:
A. Fill each blank with a single letter to form
these pairs of words into synonyms.
Example : __ACTUAL __RUE FACTUAL
TRUE
1. _ COLD _ HIDE
2. _ EARNING _ RAVING
3. _ ALLY _ CORE
4. _ AVER _ ALTER
5. _ ROUND _ OIL
6. _ ARROW _ LENDER
7. _ LIMB _ SCENT
8. _ TUMBLE _ RIP
9. _ INDICATE _ LEAR
10. _ WELLING _ BODE
B. Answer the following guide questions 1.
Who is the speaker/persona in the poem? 2.
To what does the speaker compare her life? 3.
What is the speaker doing? 4. What kind of
stairway is it? 5. What kind of stairway is the
mothers life different from? 6. What does the
mother tell her son?
C. Discover the answers to these questions.
What is the poem about?
The poem is divided into three parts.
Which lines of the poem talk about hardships?
Responses to hardships? Mothers advice to
keep? Use the following table for your
responses.
Which is the most interesting phrase in the
poem? Why?
Which part makes you think of someone in
true to life experience?
What do you think is the most probable
purpose of the writer in writing this poem?
D. answer the following:
What poetic devices are used in the poem?
Which one helps clarify the message more?
Which part do you like best? Why? What
do you think might have motivated the
mother to advise her son? Is the message of
the poem worthwhile? Prove your point.
How important is the poems message in your
life? What have you learned from it?
A Psalm of Life
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
you can trust yourself when all men doubt
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Finds us farther than to-day.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the worlds broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no Future, howeer pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God oerhead!
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing oer lifes solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
Questions/Tasks:
1. Look for words in the poem which are
opposite in meaning to each of the following.
Open, Cheerful, Harmony, Moves
Ridiculous, Insincere, Uncertain
Loud, Built, Permanent
2. A. What according to the poem is our
destined end or purpose? B. Is the poem
morally uplifting and sentimental? Prove your
point.
C. How can one be a man according to
Longfellow? D. What conditions are suggested
by the persona/ speaker in order for anyone to
become a man?
E. what the speaker says life is not. F. the
command Act, act in the living present. G.
the last four lines of the poem. H. the
quotation you choose as closest to your
philosophy in life. I. why the poem is an
inspirational one. J. how the poem celebrates
the gift of life.
3. Which of the lines suggests:
a. People should continue to appreciate life on
earth as very important and real
b. A time to act is NOW, to make spiritual,
moral, and intellectual marks in this world
c. People not to waste the short time that
they have
d. Act as heroes amidst the earths strife
e. Work toward personal achievement
4. what you like about the following:
a. the poem b. its subject c. the poems
mysteriousness d. the way the words appear on
the page e. the mood the poem puts you in f.
what it makes you remember g. what it makes
you think about
Ifby Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
/Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; /If
you, /But make allowance for their doubting
too; If you can wait and not be tired by
waiting, /Or, being lied about, dont deal in
lies, /Or, being hated, dont give way to
hating, /And yet dont look too good, nor
talk too wise;
If you can dream--and not make dreams your
master; /If you can think--and not make
thoughts your aim; /If you can meet with
triumph and disaster /And treat those two
impostors just the same; /If you can bear to
hear the truth youve spoken/Twisted by
knaves to make a trap for fools, /Or watch the
things you gave your life to broken, /And
stoop and build em up with wornout tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
/And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,/
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
/And never breathe a word about your loss;
/If you can force your heart and nerve and
sinew /To serve your turn long after they are
gone, /And so hold on when there is nothing
in you / Except the /Will which says to them:
Hold on;
If you can talk with crowds and keep your
virtue, /Or walk with kings--nor lose the
common touch; If neither foes nor loving
friends can hurt you; If all men count with
you, but none too much; /If you can fill the
unforgiving minute /With sixty seconds
worth of distance run- /Yours is the Earth
and everything thats in it, /And--which is
more--youll be a Man, my son!
Questions/Tasks:
A. Go over your list and find out which of
them are clearly described by the following
definitions. 1. It means misfortune or bad
luck. 2. In other words, they are your
enemies or opponents. 3. It means stack
or bundle. 4. They are called pretenders
or fakes. 5. They are also called the playing
cards. 6. It means strength. 7. This means
to bow or to bend. 8. It is a trick or
setup or deception. 9. This calls for good
quality or morally good. 10. In other words,
these are your achievements,
accomplishments, or successes.
B. Answer the following guide questions:
1 which part makes you think of someone or
something in real life?
2 What kind of roadmap in life is conveyed in
the poem? 3. How can one be a man
according to R. Kipling? 4. What conditions
are stated in each stanza?5. Is the message of
the poem worthwhile? Prove your point. 6.
How important is the poems message in your
life?
C.Think back on what you usually do to summarize
points in a text you read or ideas you listened to.
Giving the summary helps clarify your
understanding of the key information in a reading
or listening or literary piece. When you summarize,
you condense the ideas you read or listened to. As
you summarize you restate the main ideas and the
most important details in a few words and
sentences. Use the following questions as your
guide: 4 What have you learned from it? 4 What
approach to life do you think the poet intended to
show and share in the poem? 4 What new and
special way does the poem give you of enhancing
yourself that can be celebrated? 4 How will it help
you to become a better person?