Pamela J. Greene
The goal of this lesson plan is twofold. The first is to introduce students to one of the greatest black American poets, Langston Hughes, and to find out about how he got his start. The second is to learn about Langston Hughes through the reading of two of his poems, “Motto” and “Mother To Son.” The emphasis is on learning how an author can give you autobiographical information through a short poem that is sometimes directly about himself but often about something or someone else.
Day 1 Give students the following information and read it together. Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri in 1902. After high school he traveled, worked at odd jobs, and polished his writing in his spare time. His first book,
The Weary Blues
, came out in 1926. Soon after graduating from Lincoln University in 1929, he settled down in the Harlem section of New York City. In addition to poetry, Hughes wrote stories, novels, plays, articles for magazines and newspapers, and two autobiographies.
Read “Motto” aloud. Ask the students what the poem tells them about Langston Hughes. What do the last two lines mean? How could that meaning be related to Hughes’ life and career?
Then read “Mother To Son.” Have students think about and then write about what advice the mother is telling the son in this poem. How does it apply to Langston Hughes’ life? Who is the mother? Who is the son?
Day 2 Autobiographical writing assignment: After rereading “Mother To Son” have each student choose one person in his life who has given him advice. It could be a parent, teacher, relative or friend. Have the students write about the advice they were given and how that advice reflected the personality, background and past experiences of the giver. For example, people who grew up during the Great Depression often give advice about saving money and living a very risk free life. What does this advice tell us about the people who give it? We can learn a lot about a person and his past by the advice they give us. The last stage is to ask the students to visualize the person they have chosen. Ask them to imagine that they are sitting or walking with that person telling them? Start writing lines of this conversation. Speak in the person’s voice who is giving the advice and try to use their individual speaking style. The result will be a poem that tells about this person through the conversation and advice.
Although this exercise is also biographical in nature, I think that the choice of confidant and the tone of the conversation tell much about the author.