U3 Mother to Son - Tone

Define

The tone of a text expresses the attitude of an author toward a subject, a character or person, or an audience. An author’s tone
might convey a variety of attitudes, such as sympathy, rage, irony, sadness, bitterness, humor, or seriousness.

You’re probably already accustomed to listening for tone in your everyday conversations. When a speaker stresses certain
words or phrases, we commonly refer to it as a speaker’s “tone of voice.”

In poetry, fiction, and informational texts, authors convey tone through elements such as word choice, sentence structure, and
figures of speech. In an informational text, for example, authors often use an objective tone to prove they are unbiased, credible
sources of facts and information.

Authors may also express tone through connotation, or the emotion associated with certain words. The sentence “Jan cowered
in a corner” suggests fear better than “Jan hid in the corner” because “cowered” is more closely associated with fear than “hid.”
Punctuation is another tool through which authors can express tone. This is evident when, to stress a point, a writer uses one
or more exclamation marks to grab readers’ attention.

Identification and Application:

●Individual words and sentence structure can communicate tone. In a poem, punctuation, not lines, will show the sentence structure.
Remember that sentences can run for more than one line of a poem, and also may begin and end in the middle of a line. At least
once, read the poem from one sentence to the next instead of line by line. This will help you determine the poem’s tone as well as
its meaning.

●To determine the tone of a poem:

○Identify details that provide clues about the tone, or the author’s attitude toward the characters and/or situations that
appear in the poem. Consider the following:

■specific details that are clearly stated or strongly implied about the characters and/or situations.

■the author’s choice of words, including words that might hold an emotional connotation or charge.

■the poem’s speaker as well as any other characters who might appear in a poem, as well as what the characters say
and how they say it.

■specific word choices, which may include dialect or other uses of language to create a sense of a specific time, place,
or experience.

■the images that the author creates in the reader’s mind, both through vivid literal language and through figurative
language

○Analyze the details to determine the impact of the author’s word choices. Ask yourself how the author wants the reader
to feel about the poem’s subject and ideas.

○Analyze the details to determine the poem’s theme or message. Ask yourself how the poem’s meaning is tied to its tone.

Model

The word choices a poet makes help create a poem’s tone. In the poem “Mother to Son,” author Langston Hughes sets the tone of the poem through the voice of the
speaker, the “Mother” of the poem’s title. What she says and the way in which she says it give the reader a strong sense of the life she has lived and what she wants
her son to understand about her life. In the first two lines, the mother states:

Well, son, I’ll tell you:

Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

The poem seems to start in the middle of a conversation. The opening phrase, “Well, son,” suggests that the speaker may be a bit tired, and this talk will be casual
rather than formal. Perhaps the mother is answering a question. The announcement, “I’ll tell you:” lets the reader know that the speaker has something personal and
important to say. In addition, phrases such as “ain’t been no” indicate a speaker who expresses herself in a dialect common to her region or the area in which she lives.
She compares her life to a “crystal stair,” and this metaphor, or direct comparison, extends throughout the poem. Hughes’s use of figurative language in the mother’s
expressions shows that she is intelligent and imaginative at expressing her ideas. What does she mean by “Life for me ain’t been no a crystal stair”? First, she sees
life as a staircase, or something that must be climbed. This is hard work, but on a staircase of crystal, she implies, the work of living would be smooth, shiny, and
beautiful. However, her life has not been like that. She goes on to describe her life as a staircase that is very different from a crystal one.

It’s had tacks in it,

And splinters,

And boards torn up,

And places with no carpet on the floor —

Bare.

Model

If life is a staircase, the “tacks,” “splinters,” “boards torn up,” and spots with “no carpet on the floor” create figurative images that represent difficulties the mother has faced. Hughes
could have listed the mother’s literal hardships, such as hunger, loss of a job, or a place to live. Instead, the figurative language—specifically, the metaphor of the staircase and its
details—suggests that she has found a way not only to overcome her hardships, but also to express them thoughtfully. The listing of each detail, as with the single word, “Bare,” on a
line by itself, shows that the mother recognizes and also accepts these hardships as a natural part of her story. The tone of the poem to this point, developed through the voice of the
mother, is one of acceptance of life’s harsh realities.

Hughes further reveals his attitude toward the mother by showing her character traits of pride and perseverance. About walking up this staircase, the mother tells the son:

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.

The list of verbs—“a-climbin’,” “reachin’,” “turnin’,” and “goin’”—emphasizes the mother’s perseverance. She sounds proud that she has kept “a-climbin’ on” even “in the dark,” or when
she could not see the future or things seemed very bleak. The language used to describe her humble life shows that the author’s attitude toward his subject, or his tone, is one of
respect and admiration.

Your Turn

Read these lines from “Mother to Son” to determine tone and answer the follow-up questions.

14 So, boy, don’t you turn back.

15 Don’t you set down on the steps

16 ’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.

17 Don’t you fall now—

18 For I’se still goin’, honey,

19 I’se still climbin’,

20 And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

Multiple Choice

Part A

Which of the following accurately describes the mother’s tone in these lines?

• Lines 14–17 show a sympathetic tone toward the son, while lines 18–20 express a tone of pride in herself.

• Lines 14–20 all have an angry tone toward the son.

• Lines 14–17 have a tone of encouragement for the son, while lines 18–20 express a tone of pride in herself.

• Lines 14–20 all have a tone of sadness and frustration.

Multiple Choice

Part B

Which lines from the poem best support your answer in Part A?

• “So, boy, don’t you turn back.” and “Don’t you fall now—”

• “Don’t you set down on the steps” and “Don’t you fall now—”

• ’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.” and “And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.”’, honey,…”

• “So, boy, don’t you turn back.” and “For I’se still goin