In the poem “Harlem ( A Dream Deferred)” by Langston Hughes, he talks about dreams; dreams that society has, dreams that he has. Not a dream that you have while you're sleeping but a dream that you have and want to pursue. He addresses the questions of what happens when a person's dreams are destroyed. The author uses a lot of visual, descriptive language to try and show that nothing good can come from not achieving your dreams. For example, he compares not realizing a dream to the stench of rotten meat, which suggest the consequence is negative. None of the language in the poem reflects anything positive about a dream deferred.…
In the poem Langston Hughes states “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” A dream full of potential and hope becomes worthless in a matter of minutes, just like a raisin drying up in the sun. The readers can visualize the raisin drying up in the sun, by using that comparison Hughes allows readers to understand that the dream, once so full of hope, is never going to happen. Hughes also says “Maybe it sages - like a heavy load?” Hughes now allows the readers to understand that the dream has now become a burden to the dreamer. Readers envision the dream sagging low and aggravating the dreamer. Because of the displeasure the the dream causes the dreamer, the readers can infer the dream will never come…
Langston Hughes's poem "Dream Deferred" is basically about what happens to dreams when they are put on hold. Hughes probably intended for the poem to focus on the dreams of African-Americans in particular because he originally entitled the poem "Harlem," which is the capital of African American life in the United States; however, it is just as easy to read the poem as being about dreams in general and what happens when people postpone making them come true. Ultimately, Hughes uses a carefully arranged series of images that also function as figures of speech to suggest that people should not delay their dreams because the more they postpone them, the more the dreams will change and the less likely they will come true.…
Most people have expectations of how something is going to turn out. When things do not turn out the way, we want them to turn out; the feeling of disappointment takes over. That is a coincidence when I read "Salvation" written by Langston Hughes because I run into my feeling five years ago, not in the same situation with him, but not so many differences to be his partner.…
A dream that seems impossible to attain, causes obsession and corruption in one’s mind. Langston Hughes asks in his poem, “Does…
America wasn’t a dream for everyone because everyone has different viewpoints of America. Walt Whitman took an optimistic approach in his poem about America while Langston Hughes took the pessimistic approach in his poem about America. This goes to show Langston Hughes wasn’t living the “America dream”. “I am a negro bearing slavery’s scars.” Is a…
The poetry of Langston Hughes, the poet laureate of Harlem, is an effective commentary on the condition of blacks in America during the 20th Century. Hughes places particular emphasis on Harlem, a black area in New York that became a destination of many hopeful blacks in the first half of the 1900ís. In much of Hughes' poetry, a theme that runs throughout is that of a "dream deferred." The recurrence of a"dream deferred" in several Hughes poems paints a clear picture of the disappointment and dismay that blacks in America faced in Harlem. Furthermore, as each poem develops, so does the feeling behind a"dream deferred," growing more serious and even angry with each new stanza.<br><br>To understand Hughes' idea of the"dream deferred," one must have an understanding of the history of Harlem. First intended to be an upper class white community, Harlem was the home of many fancy brownstones that attracted wealthy whites. Between 1906 and 1910, when whites were forcing blacks out of their neighborhoods in uptown Manhattan, the blacks began to move into Harlem. Due to racial fears, the whites in the area moved out. Between 1910 and the early 1940's, more blacks began flooding into the area from all over the world, fleeing from the racial intolerance of the South and the economic problems of the Caribbean and Latin America. Eventually Harlem became an entirely black area. However, this town once filled with much potential soon became riddled with overpopulation, exploitation, and poverty. Thus, what awaited new arrivals was not a dream; rather, it was a"dream deferred" (Harlem Today).<br><br>Hughes' first poem"Harlem" clearly outlines the"dream deferred" theme, setting the pace for the poems to follow. The first line of this poem is"What happens to a dream deferred?" In the case of this poem, the dream is of the promise of Harlem, and what blacks hoped to find there: opportunity, better living conditions, and freedom from racial intolerance. When blacks arrived in Harlem,…
First, I’m going to be explaining about what the dream means to Langston Hughes. Langston Hughes has a good way with words. In the first paragraph he talks about how he wants America to be the dream that it was meant to be. Pretty much the way that I think Langston feels about America is that he believes that everyone should have the opportunity of the American dream and have equal rights. It’s saying that there are many people who’ve come here with hopes and dreams, and they’re being let down. He’s also saying that there is an economic disparity between people. In essence the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer because there is not equal opportunity.…
The specific meaning of “dream” is to be in pursuit of something, or a goal on e wants to accomplish. The understanding of the poem reveal some struggles and hopelessness because as a black American in the early 1900s it was difficult to do anything or even aspire to dreams.…
Langston Hughes was a poet in the early 1900’s. He was an African American poet which during this time his was discriminated by the color of his skin. His poem dreams deferred is obviously about his dreams to be free. “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” If they gave up their dream of equality the wouldn't be where they are today, they would lose all life and passion they had left. “Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over-- like a syrupy sweet?” This dream that Langston Hughes had of equality wouldn't just become better if they didn't try. If African Americans back then gave up and said it wasn't worth it to dream, it wouldn't just become better just because they tried. Dreams are hard to achieve sometimes, but quitting doesn't get you closer to achieving it than hard work. Many people work so hard just to accomplish a dream just like this next…
Flashbacks, in his poem, are ways to show examples of how peaceful America used to be before the corruption of the country. In his flashbacks, he refers to older America before the amount of poverty and false freedom they had at the time. He refers to the pioneer days when pioneers were in search of freedom and “the dream the dreamers dreamt”. Hughes then goes on to say, “We must bring back our mighty dream again.” His now determined and hopeful demeanor expresses how he wants the people of the land to take back what is theirs. He wants every person to come together no matter the race or color of skin to get their freedom and happiness returned back to…
Many people have dreamed their dreams since they were young, constantly believing that if they reach them they’ll achieve complete happiness. For many people, they follow a certain path with their dream in mind, and gear everything they have towards achieving it. Sometimes, however, when life gets in the way, people are required to push their dreams to the side in order to focus on things that are more important at the moment. If people have to do this for a long period of time, it usually begins to wear on them, and the effects of their deferred dreams begin to show. In Langston Hughes’s poem “Harlem”, he implies that these deferred dreams are toxic to the person that harbors them.…
Literature opens our minds to imagination, creativity, and individuality. Lamentably, individuality is a treasurable aspect that has begun to be discouraged in modern society. One of today’s trends is to conform to societal pressures and hide one’s true self, as seen in Langston Hughes’ “Salvation.” Based on a true experience, Hughes exposes how he lost faith in religion as he witnessed his church’s “big revival.”…
A comparison of the poems shows a different use of figurative language in relation to the American dream. Firstly, Hughes uses ‘similes’ to describe the American dream. The examples of word use ‘like’, ‘as’ and ‘than’, these are ‘similes’ in the use of figurative language. By the second stanza, ‘Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?’ a raisin in the sun is really a metaphor for his dream also dries up and sounds hopeless. Also, ‘Does it stink like rotten meat?’, the fresh meat already has some smelling, if it turns to bad and becomes rotten…
In Langston Hughes poem “I, Too, Sing America” he taps into the the American dream from a slave’s point of view. His poem is about an equal America and an America where whites weren’t seen superior to African Americans. He is assertive that is he also an American and that it is just as much his country. He envisions and believes in a more hopeful future and says…