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40 pages 1 hour read

Langston Hughes

Thank You, M'am

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1958

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Paired Texts & Other Resources

Use these links to supplement and complement students’ reading of the work and to increase their overall enjoyment of literature. Challenge them to discern parallel themes, engage through visual and aural stimuli, and delve deeper into the thematic possibilities presented by the title.

Recommended Texts for Pairing

“Harlem” by Langston Hughes

  • published in 1951 as part of a longer work; inspired the title of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun
  • connects to the theme of Reclaiming the American Dream
  • Consider what “Harlem” implies about the effects of racial inequality and lack of opportunity: Do similar concerns inform “Thank You, M’am”?

“The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara

  • 1972 short story
  • connects to themes of Reclaiming the American Dream and The Transformative Effects of Empathy
  • Compare and contrast the story’s critical view of consumerism with Roger’s desire for a pair of shoes, as well as the teacher’s patronizing approach to her students with Mrs. Jones’s interactions with Roger.

“Blue Suede Shoes” by Elvis Presley (lyrics by Carl Perkins)

  • song released by Perkins in 1956 and covered by Elvis later the same year; this version is a re-recording from 1960
  • Consider Elvis and other white musicians’ relationship to Black music in connection with Reclaiming the American Dream

“The Bishop”

  • scene from the 2012 film adaptation of Les Misérables; see also the parallel scene in the novel
  • connects to themes of The Transformative Effects of Empathy and The Importance of Personal Responsibility
  • Compare the leniency the Bishop shows to Mrs. Jones’s.

"How forgiveness can create a more just legal system”

  • 2019 TED Talk by Martha Minow (video and transcript)
  • connects to themes of The Transformative Effects of Empathy and The Importance of Personal Responsibility
  • discusses racial and class-based disparities in the American justice system with a particular focus on how to approach cases involving minors

Other Student Resources

“Langston Hughes”

  • brief biography from Poets.org

"The literature of civil rights”

  • Britannica overview of how African American literature was evolving at the time Hughes published “Thank You, M’am”
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