1. * forgive : blame :: releases : _______ (Not arrests.)
2. * friendly : mean :: dependable : ____________
3. * Tom Sawyer : irresponsible :: Humpty Dumpty : __________
4. * try : attempt :: project : _________
5. * rowdy : unruly :: unripe : ________
6. * police : arrest :: pen pal : ________
7. My favorite album right now is Youth and Young Manhood by Kings of Leon, and the best song on that record is called Happy Alone.

1. * read : illiterate :: think : irrational
2. * read : illiterate :: think : illogical
3. * to read : illiterate :: to be read : illegible
4. Fresno : California :: Winston-Salem : North Carolina
5. punk : rock :: bop : jazz
6. * Dally : irresponsible :: infinity : immeasurable
7. "Being me, it will not be white." b) His life experiences make him what he is, and that will come out in his writing.
8. He makes a big deal about how he gets home to do this paper because... a) he's making the point that he lives in a world very different than that of the teacher.

Go over Vocabulary Homework.  |  Vocabulary Pretest. You will use words more than once.
montage, renaissance, defer, furrow, lapse, wherewithal, allusion, paradox

1. Langston Hughes was a part of the Harlem __________ in the 20's through the 50's. Many other black artists and writers flourished during that time.
2. (2) The musical was a sort of __________ of scenes, all related to one theme. It was full of ____________(s) to everything from rock and roll to Bach.
3. (2) Even though Huck had the ____________ to live like everyone else, he didn't like it, and ___________(ed) into his old ways.
4. When he was drafted, he got a _________(ment), and was allowed to finish out his last few months of college before going into the Army.
5. (2) He __________(ed) his brow as he thought deeply about the question, and __________(ed) into silence.
6. "The more you know, the more you realize you know nothing." is an example of a ________.
7. One of Langston Hughes' most famous poems asks the question, "What happens to a dream *_________(ed)? ...does it dry up...or does it explode?"

"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 set 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.
 

1. * kinder? I'se?
2. * The poem compares life to a _____. This kind of comparison is called a ______.
3. Why might this woman have chosen this image to represent her life?
4. Why might the poet have put the word Bare on a line by itself?
5. * (Quote) What is her advice for her son?
6. * Which of the following best fits the tone (attitude) of the poem? a) Exhausted and hopeless. b) Weary, yet determined. c) Lively and humorous. d) Sorrowful and gloomy. e) Regretful about life. f) Angry at the world.