"Mother to Son"

In his poem, Langston Hughes uses the image of a staircase to symbolize a difficult life that's still worth climbing.

Here are all the word lists to support the reading of Grade 11 Unit 5's texts from SpringBoard's Common Core ELA series: The Harlem Renaissance, The New Negro, To Usward, Lift Every Voice and Sing, On 'From the Dark Tower' , How It Feels to Be Colored Me, Sweat, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Mother to Son, critical reviews
10 words 1244 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. crystal
    a solid having a highly regular atomic structure
    Well, son, I'll tell you:
    Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
  2. tack
    a short nail with a sharp point and a large head
    It's had tacks in it
  3. splinter
    a small thin sharp bit of wood, glass, or metal
    And splinters,
    And boards torn up
  4. bare
    not having a protective covering
    And places with no carpet on the floor--
    Bare.
  5. landing
    an intermediate platform in a staircase
    But all the time
    I'se been a-climbin' on,
    And reachin' landin's
  6. corner
    a predicament from which a graceful escape is impossible
    And turnin' corners
  7. light
    mental understanding as an illuminating experience
    And sometimes goin' in the dark
    Where there ain't been no light
  8. set
    put into a certain place or abstract location
    Don't you set down on the steps
  9. hard
    characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion
    'Cause you finds it's kinder hard
  10. climb
    go upward with gradual or continuous progress
    For I'se still goin', honey,
    I'se still climbing,
    And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
Created on Mon Nov 17 08:36:58 EST 2014 (updated Mon Nov 17 09:18:53 EST 2014)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.