Dream Deferred By Langston Hughes Essay

The only major shift that occurs in Dreams Deferred, happens on the last line of the poem. Hughes compares dreams to other things using similes. These similes are not instantaneous, they happen and worsen over time. i.e(Does it dry up/like a raisin in the sun?/Or fester like a sore). But on the last line, he compares dreams deferring to something that doesn’t need time. An

“A dream Deferred” real name was “Harlem”. In this poem Hughes uses some poetic devices like simile and personification to give a picture to readers. It suggests that people shouldn’t get late to their dream because the more they delay them, the more the dreams will change and less likely they will come true. The poem says “What happens to

Langston Hughes was the most famous poet from Harlem, writing during the 1920’s and 1930’s. Hughes wanted to show the lives of the black community through his poems and the things they faced in America at that time like racism. He would compare the ways African American experience was different from the white Americans. At the time he was writing, slavery was over for sixty years already, but blacks were still treated unequally everyday. African Americans had a dream that was being held back from them, called a deferred dream. What is a dream deferred? Langston Hughes relates his sequence of poems, “Lenox Avenue Mural,” to this question. It is said that, “The “dream deferred” is the dream of African Americans: a dream of freedom, equality,

     People always listen to music, watch movies or plays, and even read poetry without once even thinking what is could be that helps and artist eventually create a masterpiece. Often times, it is assumed that artists just have a “gift”, and people just do not consider the circumstances and situations that gradually mold a dormant idea into a polished reality. This seems to be the case with nearly every famous actor, writer, painter, or musician; including the ever-famous Langston Hughes.

James Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. His parents divorced when he was very small, and his father (who found American racism made his desires to be a lawyer impossible) left the family and emigrated to Mexico. Hughes' mother moved with her child to Lawrence, Kansas, so she and he could live with his grandmother, Mary Langston.

magine America with no rules, government, or any type of structure . This is thanks to Thomas Jefferson and the founding fathers for creating , The Declaration Of Independence . Although the Jefferson and the founding fathers anticipated a better country after the creation of the Declaration Of Independence , America has not fully fulfilled these hopeful ideals. However America has come a long way since then , we still have work to do as a nation .

"Does it dry up/like a raisin in the sun?" (2-3). suggest that a postponed dream will eventually be forgotten or fizzled out. The image of a raisin stimulates the reader's sight and taste senses. The dream is like a sweet grape which is fresh and new. If you set that grape aside (in hopes of coming back to it later) it most likely will be bitter, dried out, kaput, and

Langston Hughes is an extremely successful and well known black writer who emerged from the Harlem Renaissance (“Langston Hughes” 792). He is recognized for his poetry and like many other writers from the Harlem Renaissance, lived most of his life outside of Harlem (“Langston Hughes” 792). His personal experiences and opinions inspire his writing intricately. Unlike other writers of his time, Hughes expresses his discontent with black oppression and focuses on the hardships of his people. Hughes’ heartfelt concern for his people’s struggle evokes the reader’s emotion. His appreciation for black music and culture is evident in his work as well. Langston Hughes is a complex poet whose profound works provide insight into all aspects of black

In this poem, Hughes is focusing on deeper meaning of "dreams" rather than trivial daydreams, or dreams left to be forgotten while only our minds are awake. These deferred dreams are the ones that engrave in young minds and pave the way for future endeavors. The dream postponed in this poem is one many share for the Black Americans, the right to life, equality and liberty. Due to Hughes prominent and personal involvement with the Black Americans and

It gives us an example of the resentment that is growing. People are getting more inflamed emotionally, just like the wound gets worse if not treated. It draws a clear parallel between people's emotions and the images of the sore. Just as an untreated sore will not heal, but get more infected, a deferred dream will not go away, but become more intense. A wound that gets worse will eventually start to smell bad. Hughes compares this to rotten meat. "Does it stink like rotten meat?" This image creates the idea that unrealized dreams will bring out the worst in men. It also means that for some the realization of their dreams will become less attractive.

“Harlem”, also known as “A Dream Deferred”, is a poem by Langston Hughes published in 1951. The four stanza, free verse poem is composed of six questions and one declarative sentence. This poem reflects the post-World War II mood of many African Americans. The Great Depression and the war were over, but for many African Americans their dreams, whatever particular form it took, were still being deferred. Through this poem Langston Hughes examines the possible effects caused by the dream, when they are constantly deferred. As Hughes explores what happens when dreams are put on hold, the speaker uses a series of similes that compare the act of deferring dreams. To catch the reader's attention, the writer also made sure that specific words and questions stood out. As a result, the

Hughes placed a particular emphasis on Harlem, an area in New York that was predominately Black, which became a Mecca for many hopeful blacks in the first half of the 1900's. Hughes has a theme in most of his poetry, in other words his writing style was to write poetry that is called "dream deferred". His use of a "dream deferred" focus in several poems paints a vivid picture of the disappointment and dismay that blacks in America faced in Harlem. Furthermore, as each his poems develop, so does the feeling behind a "dream deferred," his words make the reader feel the growing anger and seriousness even more at each new stanza.

In the poem “Harlem,” by Langston Hughes, he uses a simile “Does it dry up - like a raisin in the sun?" (Line 2-3) Using this simile, he is expressing that dreaming can be good or bad. A raisin is a grape that has been dried out by the sun. Hughes is making known that dreams can suck the life out of a person, mentally drying them out. However, a raisin is not automatically bad. When the grape is dried out by the sun it turns the grape into a raisin, a sweet and delightful fruit which can furnish life when eaten. A dream can be just like a raisin. A person may feed off the idea of the dream in order to strive and strive to achieve the dream.

The meaning of, "A Dream Deferred," is that no one really knows what happens to dreams that are not fulfilled. The poem starts with the line, "What happens to a dream deferred?" and this plainly asks what happens to dreams that have not been paid attention to. The next line in the poem is, "Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun or fester like a sore and then run?" meaning does a dream simply wither away until it is no longer prevalent, or does it sit and stew until it becomes unbearable enough that it is fulfilled out of convenience. The following stanza is, "Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over like a syrupy sweet." This means that dreams could possibly be attainable, but people put them on the figurative back burner making them "rot" and "smell" like a constant reminder. A scholarly review written by Marie Rose Napierkowski proves my point by saying, "With the smell of rotten meat, Hughes suggests that dreams deferred will pester one

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.