Response to Rhanita Oneal Blog Post of February 26, 2009

Hello Ms. Oneal. I liked your insightful commentary about Theme for English B and Mother to Son. You hit it directly on the head about how the instructor stated when giving the assignment to the students for them to "let the assignment come out of you, then it will be true". I also believe that this poem is also backing up Hughes' beliefs in the essay that he wrote, The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain. I totally agree with Hughes in that you should not have to conform to a standard when creating art or writing literature. You should be who you are because that will make it more genuine. Mother to Son, another poem by Langston Hughes was about a mother trying to impart some knowledge to her son in helping him to become a man. Which was alot harder to be back then with the hardships our people went through. I believe that because of the generation that this young man listened to his mother because she was a big influence on his life (contrary to what other people think) and that he became that man she would have been proud of. You are doing well with your blog posts. I know that you are tired (as am I) but the mountaintop is almost there, homegirl. Hang in there!