In “Dreams” by Langston Hughes‚ metaphors help convey the meaning of the poem and add to the power of it. He starts off in the imperative mood‚ telling people to hold on to their dreams (line 1). The use of the phrase “hold fast” in connection with the word “dreams” shows that Hughes is using the word “dream” to mean hope and will-power for the future—not the kind of event that takes place in the mind when we are sleeping. Then‚ he transitions to the conditional (“if”) of a dream being lost (line
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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 your sleeping but a dream that you have and want to pursue. He addresses the questions of what happens when a persons 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
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Langston Hughes and Leonardo Da Vinci positive aspect of life Devante Gray Professor Cain Composition II 9/17/12 My paper is about Langston Hughes and Leonardo Da Vinci and how they have an effect on their readers and their positive aspects on life. Leonardo Da Vinci was born in 1452 in a town named Vinci in Italy. He was a renaissance painter and he painted realistically‚ he used light and dark colors in his paintings. In his paintings he painted figures without outlining them. He used a
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Inspiration From Life Langston Hughes had many influences in his life that is reflected in his work. Every author has a "muse" for his\her writings because he\she is inspired differently by a number of things. Influence and inspiration are relatively the same‚ they both affect a person. How that person is affected is the way he\she perceives and feels about it. Hughes was influenced by several things. One of which was a famous poet named Walt Whitman. Other things that influenced Hughes were racism‚ music
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What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore-- And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over-- like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode? This essay will investigate two poems‚ ’Harlem’ by Langston Hughes and ‘Altar’ by Marilyn Chin and analyzes the topics‚ the themes and figurative languages‚ especially in the use of figurative language. The aim of this paper is to compare
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American Dream The American dream has no set definition because it means something different to each person‚ for some its freedom and equality but for others it could be wealth and success. It varies person to person but it always has the same foundation which is that they are given the opportunity to reach their goals. The Declaration of Independence is the declaration that secured our freedom from England and in it our founding fathers stated “that all men are created equal‚ that they are endowed
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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
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Langston Hughes is a key figure in the vision of the American dream. In his writings his African-American perspective gives an accurate vision of what the American dream means to a less fortunate minority. His poetry is very loud and emotional in conveying his idea of the African-American dream. Most of his poetry either states how the black man is being suppressed or is a wish‚ a plea for equality. He does not want the black man to be better than everyone else‚ but just to be treated equal. Able
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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
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Historical and Biographical Approaches Historical criticism seeks to interpret the work of literature through understanding the times and culture in which the work was written. The historical critic is more interested in the meaning that the literary work had for its own time than in the meaning the work might have today. For example‚ while some critics might interpret existential themes in Shakespeare’s Hamlet‚ a historical critic would be more interested in analyzing the play within the context
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