Analysis Of Dream Vibrations By Langston Hughes

In the poem “Harlem”, Hughes expresses the overall position of African Americans during the 1900's. America, which is known as the “land of opportunity”, where dreams are suppose to come true; was not the case for African Americans during that time. Even though they we’re obviously "free," poverty, racism and other social injustices still existed; making it difficult and also impossible to actually reach those dreams—therefore, their dreams had been "deferred". In this poem Hughes really expresses the frustration of African Americans at that time, and allows me to relate buy giving me reactions of having my opportunities in life possibly robbed from me. The poem raises various questions to me like what happens to our dreams if we put them on hold? Do we give up? Do we become angry? Do we become complacent? To me, the last line is very powerful, because it indicates the fact that people can only be held down so long before they revolt, rebel or even

Langston Hughes was a successful African-American poet of the Harlem renaissance in the 20th century. Hughes' had a simple and cultured writing style. "Harlem" is filled with rhythm, jazz, blues, imagery, and evokes vivid images within the mind. The poem focuses on what could happen to deferred dreams. Hughes' aim is to make it clear that if you postpone your dreams you might not get another chance to attain it--so take those dreams and run. Each question associates with negative effects of deferred dreams. The imagery from the poem causes the reader to be pulled in by the writer's words.

Waking up miserable and daunted; there is only one way to escape. You are not allowed to leave, you are not allowed to look in her direction, you are not allowed to be happy, yet you escape with your dreams. But, what happens when that sweet urge of freedom vanishes? Do you follow it or forget about it? In his famous poem, Langston Hughes asks, “What happens to a dream deferred?” In correlation with Ethan Frome, both question the ability to be free. Through the use of imagery, symbolism, and appeals, the author agrees with Hughes’ answers.

Two poems are not as widely anthologized, but are thematically comparable in the manner Hughes expresses the disparity among the American Dream and the fact of life for African people in the course of the early twentieth Century.

In Langston Hughes’ poem, the author gives us vivid examples of how dreams get lost in the weariness of everyday life. The author uses words like dry, fester, rot, and stink, to give us a picture of how something that was originally intended for good, could end up in defeat. Throughout the play, I was able to feel how each character seemed to have their dreams that fell apart as the story went on. I believe the central theme of the play has everything to do with the pain each character goes thru after losing control of the plans they had in mind. I will attempt to break down each character’s dream and how they each fell apart as the play went on.

Approach to Hughes’, “Harlem” In the short poem, “Harlem” Langston Hughes writes of being unable to achieve dreams. Written by Hughes in 1951, he expresses the inability for African Americans to achieve the American Dream in society. What makes this one of Hughes’ most famous works, is not what he’s writing about, but how he structures it. It begins with one seductive question, with a very curious tone, but then ends his poem with violence and a threatening voice.

(Lines 58-61). Hughes uses repetition to suggest these words are more essential than the rest and he needs to make this part of the poem emerge. These lines get the poem's message or theme through the reader’s

Dream deferred The poem I will discuss today is “Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes it is located on page 620 of the textbook. The theme of this poem is postponing your dreams can lead to destruction in your life. The tone of this poem is uncertainty. The author is very uncertain of what happens to a dream deferred.

In “Montage of a Dream Deferred”, Langston Hughes uses a recurring theme of covering his experiences as an African American man during the Harlem Renaissance with artificial happiness, especially in music, to show how Caucasian people will only tolerate African American people as long as the latter pretends to be happy under societal oppression. Popular white culture was often willing to embrace Harlem culture to the extent that African Americans were passive and satisfied with their inferior social status. Hughes’ poems “Dream Boogie” and “Lady’s Boogie” describe the hidden painful undertones that were thus characteristic of seemingly upbeat jazz music: “Listen closely: / You’ll hear their feet / Beating out and beating out a- // You think / It’s a happy beat?

Dreams are hopes that people hope to accomplish in their lifetime. When trying to achieve these goals, people are willing to do anything. But, what happens when a dream is deferred? A dream pushed aside can disappoint a person in the deepest way. It is likely to spread throughout their thoughts and becomes a burden. In the poem “Harlem,” Langston Hughes, through literary devices, introduce a strong theme through a short amount of language Hughes is asking what happens to a dream that is being put off.

Hughes’ poem, “Harlem,” is a short, eleven lined poem, with all but one line composed of questions. The use of imposing questions throughout the poem is a way to keep the reader engaged and to be still a sense of power in the reader by allowing him to develop his own answer. The main question the speaker asks in the poem is “what happens to a dream deferred” (Line 1). The question is posed in the first line of the poem in a single standing stanza, therefore the break between the first line and the next stanza allows the reader to contemplate the question for a moment. Hughes then uses powerful analogies such as, “dry up like a raisin in the sun” (Lines 2-3), “fester like a sore” (Line 3), or “crust and sugar over like a syrupy sweet” (Lines

In “Dream Variations” the basic structure is 4 stanzas with each stanza representing a different time of the day. For example the first stanza is the daylight hours, the second transition is the transition to evening, and the final lines are the transition to night. This leads me to believe that the contrast of light to dark to central or important the the overall meaning of the poem. The theme of this poem just like many other Langston Hughes poems is dreams or dreaming. The entire poem is a metaphor of life or a dream compared to a bird. The only problem is the bird cannot fly so it must go a different path to fulfil its dream. Also throughout the end of the last few stanzas he compares night to himself.

A dream is a goal in life, not just dreams experienced during sleep. Most people use their dreams as a way of setting future goals for themselves. Dreams can help to assist people in getting further in life because it becomes a personal accomplishment. Langston Hughes's poem "Dream Deferred" is speaks about what happens to dreams when they are put on hold. The poem leaves it up to the reader to decide what dream is being questioned.

According to Biography, James Mercer Langston Hughes is considered to be an African American poet who is college educated and comes from a middle-class family (Langston Hughes Biography). He attended college in New York City and became influential during the Harlem Renaissance (Langston Hughes Biography). Although Hughes was a talented writer, he faced some challenges early on and it was stated that his “early work was roundly criticized by many black intellectuals for portraying what they thought to be an unattractive view of black life” (Langston Hughes. American Poet). They believed that his work helps the spread the stereotypes of African Americans. “Hughes, more than any other black poet or writer, recorded faithfully the nuances of black life and its frustrations” (Langston Hughes. American Poet). Langston Hughes’s poems “The Negro Mother”, “Let America be America Again” and “The Weary Blues” were influenced by his life during the Harlem Renaissance and the racial inequality experienced in the late 1920s through the 1960s.

What motivation or change did my connection with this piece of literature create in my thinking? In my relationships?