This is the lesson to accompany the story "Thank You Ma'am" by Langston Hughes and may include extra excerpts from songs and poems as comprehension questions and language development. The actual story in not included here; this lesson is for after reading the story. Created by Coleman’s Classroom.
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Langston Hughes
b. 1902
d. 1967
“I have discovered in life that there
are ways of getting almost anywhere
you want to go, if you really want to go.
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Mrs. Jones
• Walking alone at
night
• Lives in boarding
house
• Beans and ham
Roger
• No parent figure
• hungry
• dirty
Poverty
Story Themes
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Dialect Examples p 16
* ain’t * I didn’t aim to
* gonna * sit you down
* could of * I were
* late as it be * fix us
Ebonics – Black English
Other Types of English?
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Literary Terms:
Rhyme / Alliteration/ Repetition
• Words or phrases that end with
the same sound.
• Words that begin with the same
sound.
• Repeating words or phrases for
emphasis.
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Harlem
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore —
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over —
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
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Harlem
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore —
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over —
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
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Harlem
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore —
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over —
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
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If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking
Emily Dickinson
If I can stop one Heart from breaking
I shall not live in vain
If I can ease one life the Aching
Or cool one Pain
Or help one fainting Robin
Unto his Nest again
I shall not live in Vain.
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If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking
Emily Dickinson
If I can stop one Heart from breaking
I shall not live in vain
If I can ease one life the Aching
Or cool one Pain
Or help one fainting Robin
Unto his Nest again
I shall not live in Vain.
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• How old is Roger? Mrs. Jones?
How does Roger get caught by
Mrs. Jones?
• Why does Roger tell her the
truth about running? Why did
Roger try to steal the purse?
Understanding the story
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• How does Mrs. Jones feel about
Roger? Is she angry at him?
Does she like him?
• Why does she take him home?
How does she treat him at
home?
Understanding the story
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• How does Mrs. Jones treat
Roger initially? How does this
behavior change?
• Find sentences that demonstrate
that Mrs. Jones understands
Roger very well.
Understanding the story
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• What kind of details does
Hughes use in the description of
Roger? Of Mrs. Jones?
• Why does Mrs. Jones give Roger
the money? Does this action cost
her anything?
Understanding the story
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• Do you think Mrs. Jones’ actions
changed Roger’s life?
• Would you have done what Mrs.
Luella Bates Washington Jones
did?
Understanding the story