Mother to Son

1. C. As an interjection, “well” typically appears in more casual or conversational speech and writing. It also suggests the continuation of a conversation because it often precedes a response to a question (e.g., “What do you think about life?”; “Well, I’ll tell you”). Finally, the word often prefaces a conclusion or summary—in this case, of the speaker’s philosophy of life.

2. D. By placing “bare” on its own line, Hughes not only underscores the word’s meaning (the line is literally bare of anything else) but also creates a visual low point after which the lines become longer as the speaker’s determination grows. In addition, he begins the next line with the conjunction “but,” underscoring the break from what has preceded it.

3. D. The contraction “I’se" (“I is”) is a feature of AAVE, as is dropping the -g from verbs like “going” (though this is common to many other English dialects as well).

4. A. “Mother to Son” is an example of free verse, which does not adhere to any strict meter or rhyme scheme.

5. B. The initial repetition of “and” highlights the number of obstacles the speaker has faced in life—”tacks,” “splinters,” unfinished floors, etc. By the end of the poem, however, Hughes’s use of anaphora underscores the speaker’s determination (“And reachin’,” “And turnin’,” etc.