Thank You, M'am

As a result of her behavior throughout the story, Mrs. Jones is revealed to be a strong, compassionate, empathetic, and generous woman who genuinely cares more about Roger’s well-being and...

Mrs. Jones treats Roger with kindness and compassion because she sympathizes with his difficult situation and knows firsthand the hardships of poverty he is experiencing. When Mrs. Jones grabs...

At the beginning of Langston Hughes's celebrated short story "Thank You, M'am," Roger attempts to steal Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones's purse but ends up falling on the sidewalk. Mrs. Jones...

In Langston Hughes's celebrated short story "Thank You Ma'am," Roger is a young African American teenager who does not have enough money to buy a new pair of blue suede shoes and attempts to rob...

The primary conflict in Langston Hughes's short story "Thank You, M'am" is considered a man versus man conflict between Roger and Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones. This conflict takes place at...

From the beginning, Roger proves that he has the capacity to change and has been caught in the middle of a horrible decision which he comes to regret. After trying to mug Mrs. Luella Bates...

Young Roger has learned (1) to respect people and their property, and he has learned that (2) there are people who are genuinely concerned about the welfare of others. (1) When Roger attempts to...

Roger places himself in direct physical conflict with Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones when he tries to mug her. Unfortunately for him, Mrs. Jones is not a woman who is easily taken advantage of,...

One of the principal lessons of Langston Hughes's "Thank You, Ma'am" is that one cannot make judgments based on appearances. When Roger first sees Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, alone at...

In literature, the rising action relates to the events which take place before the climax, the most intense and dramatic point of the story. In "Thank You M'am," the rising action happens after the...

The character traits displayed by Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones include kindness, forgiveness, generosity, compassion, and grace. She also displays a particularly trusting nature. The story...

Roger: "Oh my God! You're Mrs. Jones! It's been so long since I've seen you. How are you, and how is your life?"Mrs. Jones: "Oh, Roger, my dear! I'm fine. It's been so long since I've seen...

The culture in which we are raised affects all of our decisions, one way or another. We cannot identify exactly what sort of culture Mrs. Jones and the boy in this story have been raised in,...

The short story Thank You M'am by Langston Hughes is told from an omniscient third person perspective. The narrator sets the scene by describing Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones on her route home...

"Thank You, M'am" was first published in 1958 and appears to be set in the present or recent past. Roger wants a pair of blue suede shoes, which were fashionable in the 1950s and were even the...

One of the most striking similarities between these two pieces of literature is the characterization of a strong female. Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones is determined to steer young Roger back...

There are two characters in this great story by Langston Hughes. The first is Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, and the second is her would-be assailant, Roger. The first thing we learn about...

In the first paragraph of "Thank You, M'am," Langston Hughes uses hyperbole and auditory imagery to create a vivid picture of the encounter between Roger and Mrs. Jones. The purse Roger tries to...

In a story, the climax is the moment of greatest tension and takes place just before the resolution. If successfully deployed, the climax should represent the dramatic high point of the story. In...

The first point to consider is where the ending begins. "Thank You, Ma'am" is short even by the standards of short stories, so the part that counts as the ending is not a lot of text. Perhaps a...

This first sentence is an example of hyperbole (an exaggerated statement) because it is impossible to carry around a bag so large that it contains all of your personal possessions. However, by...

Both Roger and Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones are African Americans, who share similar backgrounds and come from poor homes. Through Roger's comments, one can surmise that he comes from a...

Overall, I think you've done a great job with this letter. I just have a few pointers to offer: You don't need to introduce yourself at the beginning of a letter, as you will sign your name at the...

Tone is the attitude the author takes toward the subject of the text. The primary conflict in this story is between Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones and Roger, a young boy who tries to rob her....

Both the exposition and the resolution of short stories are essential elements. Interestingly, in "Thank You Ma'am" by Langston Hughes, the exposition is much more developed than the resolution....

Roger looked at the door--looked at the woman--looked at the door--and went to the sink. The appearance of the italicized words differs from the upright letters, suggesting the leaning of a...

At the very beginning of “Thank You, Ma’m” by Langston Hughes, we are introduced to a tough woman named Mrs. Jones. Roger, a 14- or 15-year-old boy, attempted to steal her purse. Since the strap of...

In Langston Hughes's short story "Thank You, M'am," Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones significantly influences Roger through compassion, care, and generosity. When Roger tries to steal her purse,...

The mood of a story consists of the elements the author uses to make us feel a certain way while we are reading. This can include elements like description, setting, metaphors, and similes. The...

In the short story "Thank You, M'am," by Langston Hughes, Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones is walking home late at night. A young man approaches her and tries to steal her purse. The story...

Arguably, Roger does not want to be mistrusted by Mrs. Jones, because he realizes that she wants to look after him. Despite Roger trying to steal her purse, Mrs. Jones has treated Roger with...

I think that one of the most profound elements of the story is how Mrs. Jones achieves a quality of transcendence. She is clearly of this world, as is Roger. Yet, she speaks with an authority and...

What a great question that really takes into account many textual details toward character development. If I had to guess, here are some things that Roger would have liked to say that night in...

First things first: what is an internal conflict? If an external conflict is a struggle that takes place between two characters in a story, then an internal conflict is a struggle taking place...

Langston Hughes generates foreshadowing, or hints of things to come, with the characterization of Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, a large woman who is both physically and spiritually strong....

In the short story "Thank You, M'am" by Langston Hughes, a boy named Roger tries to snatch the purse from the arm of a large woman named Luella Bates Washington Jones. She is too strong for him,...

Mrs. Jones does not ask Roger about his home life because doing so is superfluous; her powers of perception tell her all about Roger. After Mrs. Jones foils Roger's attempt to steal her purse by...

Roger finds himself in the grip of Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones when he attempts to steal her pocketbook. She drags him to her residence. Here, evidence can be found in the description of her...

Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones is a pretty fearless lady. After all, not many women (especially older women) would react to an attempted mugging this way: Then she reached down, picked the boy...

In Langston Hughes short story “Thank You M’am,” Roger tells Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones his motive for attempting to steal her purse is to get money to purchase blue suede shoes. After...

In "Thank You Ma'am" by Langston Hughes, young Roger meets his match when he attempts to steal the purse of Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones. Instead of grabbing the purse and running away, Roger...

It is clear that Mrs. Jones is not rich. She is working late at night: It is eleven o’clock at night as a large woman carrying a large purse slung over her shoulder walks down a deserted city...

From the beginning to the end, Mrs. Jones reacts in a way that is completely beyond Roger’s expectation. In the first place, Roger is quite sure that he would be able to pull the purse slinging on...

The two characters in Langston Hughes's short story "Thank You, M'am" are Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones and Roger. Roger is portrayed as a young, naive adolescent who makes the reckless...

Once Mrs. Jones learns that Roger has no one at home to "'tell [him] to wash [his] face,'" that there is, in fact, "'nobody home at [his] house,'" she obviously softens toward him. She insists that...

In "Thank You, M'am," we learn that Mrs. Jones's home is a modest one. When Mrs. Jones drags Roger to her home, she is not taking him to an opulent mansion. Hughes gives us specific details about...