Short Stories of Langston Hughes

Short Stories of Langston Hughes

By Langston Hughes

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The Short Stories of Langston Hughes

This collection of forty-seven stories written between 1919 and 1963--the most comprehensive available--showcases Langston Hughes's literary blossoming and the development of his personal and artistic concerns. Many of the stories assembled here have long been out of print, and others never before collected. These poignant, witty, angry, and deeply poetic stories demonstrate Hughes's uncanny gift for elucidating the most vexing questions of American race relations and human nature in general.

Publisher: University of Missouri
ISBN-13: 9780826214119
ISBN-10: 0826214118
Published on 7/1/2002
Binding: Hardcover
Number of pages: 448

Book Reviews (6)

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pretty good

KE KE

I think this is a great book and it gets the meaning to the reader in the beginning in the middle and the end.

Jimmey Jimmey

Thank you ma’am In life you should always be kind and give second chances to people.in this story “thank you ma’am” by langston hughes.in the book thank you ma'am roger gets a second chance because mrs Jones was kind to roger and showed empathy roger. taught him to not steal.this show that you should give second chances and be kind. My frist reason is She gave him a second chance because she gave him another chance. The ather put this in the book because When she let him pick up the pocketbook is when she gave Roger a second chance when she let him pick up something that he tried to steal. This show that she gave him a second chance.this show that she gave him a second chance this show that she gave him anther chance My second reason is “ She was kind when she asked him if he wanted food and when she took him home to wash his face,and to give him a second chance. This shows that she is kind and always was trying to be kind but at the start she did not sound nice but she is.this shows that she is kind. My third reason she showed empathy when she gave him a second chance is because I think she did the exact same thing as him and she did not get a second chance so she gave a second chance because she felt how he felt. the text shows she has empathy. In conclusion this shows that she was kind to roger and not mean and gave him a second chance and was just trying to be nice and show empathy to roger because she felt how he felt to sum it up she was kind.this show she is kind.i wonder did roger ever see her again.

Jasper Jasper

In life people normally have problems just like the boy in the story “Thank You Ma’am” but that is not what we are going to talk about today. Today we are going to talk about how the woman in the story is caring. The boy tries to steal the purse and the woman takes the boy home and helps him. In the story “Thank You Ma’am” by Langston Hughes tells me the woman is caring. The woman is caring by giving the boy ten dollars to buy shoes, the woman gave the boy a place to sleep, and the woman fed the boy. Take a look in the story “Thank You Ma’am” the woman was caring because she gave the boy ten dollars to buy some blue suede shoes. The boy tries to steal the purse and the woman takes the boy home and helps him. I believe she did this because she felt bad for the boy. The text said, “now here, take this ten dollars and buy yourself some blue suede shoes”. This means that the woman wanted to give the boy ten dollars because she felt bad for him. For example the woman went really hard on the boy at the beginning so the woman felt bad for the boy. This shows that the woman is caring. Anyway in the story “Thank You Ma’am” the woman is caring by giving the boy a place to sleep. The boy tries to steal the purse and the woman takes the boy home and helps him. For example the text said, “she led him down the hall to the front door and opened it “good night! Behave yourself, boy” she said, looking out into the street”. I think the woman did this because she felt sad for the boy. She felt sad for the boy because he does not have anyone to help him with money or him and that is why he tried to steal the purse. This shows that the woman is caring. Anyway in the book, “Thank You Ma’am” the woman is caring because she feeds the boy after she found this boy on the street trying to steal the woman's purse. The boy tries to steal the purse and the woman takes the boy home and helps him.For example the author put in “she heated up some lima beans and ham she had in the ice box, the cocoa, and set the table”. I think the woman did this because the woman noticed the boys face at the beginning of the story. The text said, “um-hum! And your face is dirty. I got a great mind to wash your face for you. Ain’t you got nobody home to tell you to wash your face?” The way I see it is the woman felt bad for the boy because he probably does not even have a home. That is why she fed the boy. This shows that the woman is caring. As you can see the woman in “Thank You Ma’am” is caring to the boy even though he tried to steal the woman's purse. The woman is caring because she feeds the boy, the woman is caring because she gave the boy a place to sleep, and giving the boy money. The woman went from being angry and dragging the boy down the street to letting the boy sleep in her house. For now on I will not judge someone by what they are doing. You never know maybe they are doing it for a reason. Sometimes you just have to say thank you ma’am.

In life the world can be unkind but in ‘’Thank you ma’am’’ by Langston Hughes is about kindness This story teaches me kindness.This story teaches me kindness because Mrs.Jones did not turn him into the cops reason two she feed him food reason three she gave ten dollars for the shoes he wanted. Reason one she did not turn him in to the cops. A boy tried to steal a woman's purse. She took him home to wash his face. Are you going to take me to jail asked the boy ‘’Not with that face I would not take you nowhere’’ this shows that mrs. johns did not take him to jail. This teaches me kindness because she did not take him to jail. The second reason is Mrs Jones fed him food. A boy tried to steal a woman's purse. She took him home to wash his face. The text said I believe you have been hungry. This shows that she fed him food. This teaches me kindness because she feed him food. The last reason is that she gave him ten dollars for the shoes.A boy tried to steal a woman's purse. She took him home to wash his face. I believe you have been hungry, she said.than she fed him food. Now take this ten dollars and by yourself the shoes you wanted. This shows that she gave him ten dollars. This is why the story teaches me kindness Mrs.Jones did not turn him into the cops reason two she fed him food reason three she gave him ten dollars.

Eli Eli

Have you ever given or got a second chance? If you did, you will like the story “Thank you ma'am'' by Langston Hughes. In the beginning the boy Roger tries to steal Mrs. Jones’s purse, and later she gives the boy a second chance. The text teaches me that everyone deserves a second chance. For example the story shows this when Mrs. Jones gives Roger a second chance even though he tried to steal, when Mrs. Jones might have got a second chance so she is doing the same thing for Roger, and when Mrs. Jones gives Roger food and money. This shows that people deserve a second chance. One reason everyone deserves a second chance is because Mrs. Jones gave the boy Roger a second chance even though he tried to steal. For example In the beginning of the story of “Thank you ma’am” Mrs. Jones was walking alone and someone tried to steal Mrs. Jones’s purse. Later on, she brought the boy home to wash his face. Meanwhile Mrs. Jones took her eyes off of the boy, when the boy could have run out the door . . . but he didn’t. In the text it said,“The woman did not watch the boy to see if he was going to run now, nor did she watch her purse which was left behind her on the day-bed.” This shows that she gave him a second chance because everyone deserves one. Another reason everyone deserves a second chance is because Mrs. Jones might have got a second chance when she was young so she is doing the samething for Roger. For example Near the middle of the story Mrs. Jones brings the boy back to Mrs. Jones went home with the boy to wash his face. In the part after that Mrs. Jones and the boy were talking about their lives. The boy then says that he does not have family at his house. Later Mrs. Jones says that she had done things too. In the text it said ,“I have done things, too, which I would not tell you, son-nether tell God, if he didn’t already know.” This shows that someone might have helped her and given her a second chance because they felt the same as Mrs. Jones feel’s for the boy. My last reason everyone deserves a second chance is because Mrs. Jones gave the boy food and money even though he tried to steal. For example In the beginning, middle and end of the story of Thank you ma’am it shows evidence that the text teaches me everyone deserves a second chance. In the beginning Mrs. Jones takes the boty home, then she gives the boy lima beans and ham. This is weird because the boy tried to steal and she is giving him food. Later, the boy said he wants shoes but he does not have money to buy them. Mrs. Jones then gives the boy 10 dollars so the boy can buy shoes. One technique is description. The author did this because the reader would not understand lot’s of things. According to the Author she puts in, “ Now, here, take this 10 dollars and buy some blue suede shoes,” and the text said “ she heated some lima beans and ham she had in the icebox.” This shows that if someone does something bad, you can give them a second chance. In conclusion everyone deserves a second chance, it shows this when Mrs. Jones gave Roger a second chance. When Mrs. Jones might have got a second chance. When Mrs. Jones gives Roger food and money. If this happens like this I will give people a second chance. So, will you give people a second chance?