If you could rewrite the title of the story, "Thank You Ma'am," what would it be?

To come up with alternative title for the story, you need to analyze what Roger is thanking Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones for. He may be thanking her for two things, and Hughes makes the final gesture of thanking her ambiguous in its meaning. One reason Roger may be thanking her is for the ten dollars to buy the blue suede shoes he so desperately wants, and the second reason is because Mrs. Jones taught...

To come up with alternative title for the story, you need to analyze what Roger is thanking Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones for. He may be thanking her for two things, and Hughes makes the final gesture of thanking her ambiguous in its meaning. One reason Roger may be thanking her is for the ten dollars to buy the blue suede shoes he so desperately wants, and the second reason is because Mrs. Jones taught him a lesson by telling him about her own mistakes and encouraging him to change his life around. If you believe that the story is about a woman changing a young kid’s life by empathizing with him and being an example for him, you can come up with some new titles. Think about these words or forms of these words to create a new title.

The characters’ names can be in the title.

Words like lesson, teaching, learning, life changing, change

Blue suede shoes

Be creative by thinking about the overall message or lesson of the story.  Keep your new title short and to the point but with an interesting message about the meaning of the story.