Dreams Deferred By Langston Hughes

The short story Volar by Judith Ortiz Cofer, and the poem Harlem by Langston Hughes share a common theme which is the elusive American dream, thus, compared to a pot of gold for migrants. There are several ideas that pertain to elusive American dream of both the short story and the poem. First, in Volar, a family migrated from Puerto Rico to New Jersey to seek opportunities and better life conditions. Similarly, in Harlem, it speaks about African-Americans who migrated from the South to the North for better working conditions. Secondly, in Volar, the reality of how hard to attain the American dream is evident as the story described the living conditions in their tiny apartment. In a like manner, the poem Harlem expresses the devastation in the truth that American dream of African-Americans is unattainable. Lastly, both the short story and the poem have a message of hardship contrary to their expectations once settled in the place of what they thought to be the end of the rainbow.

Compared to Langston Hughes, how are e.e. cummings’s thoughts about dreams different? Langston Hughes and e.e. cumming’s both wrote a powerful poem about dreams, although they both have the same topic they appear to be different in meaning. I believe that in Hughes poem he was addressing that dreams are what makes you who you are, however in cummings poem it seemed like dreams allow you to be who you want to be. Langston Hughes wrote the poem, Dreams, to tell the reader to hold onto your dreams, even when things in life can get hard, because without them, your life would be incomplete. e.e. cummings’s poem, Dive for Dreams, has a different approach. This piece of poetry is a way to get the reader motivated, to inspire them, and give them

As the late Osho believed, "And desires are never here and now -- they are non-existential. They are just mental, in the mind. And they cannot be fulfilled because their very nature is to move into the future." John Steinbeck 's novella, Of Mice and Men explores this theme of futile desire through various relationships and character complexes. This fictional story begins by introducing two men with a relationship built from the very foundations of love. As the novel progresses, we begin questioning innate truths. Steinbeck uses his literary prowess to entwine us within a story of loneliness, loss and morality. The characters ' hopes and dreams, regardless of outcome, are a mechanism of survival and a desire to lead something other than an otherwise inconsequential existence.

Stephanie Ericsson and Langston Hughes both confront dishonesty in The Ways We Lie and Salvation respectively. These authors present the deviation from the truth as a main theme and maintain that it produces negative impacts on life. However, The Ways We Lie more effectively supported its purpose than Langston Hughes’s Salvation.

The two poems “White Lies” by Natasha Trethewey and “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes were written to express racial dilemmas that the authors went through. Thematically, they represent the American Dream. In “White Lies” we see that Trethewey went through some racial identity issues. She felt as if she had to lie to blend in with the rest of the whites, which was easy for her because she was mixed. To understand the full meaning of this poem, one assumes that Trethewey was the product of an interracial marriage. This type of thing was frowned upon during the time she grew up. In the poem “Theme for English B” Hughes seems to accept the fact that he is different. Hughes does not seem to have a problem with expressing his difference. He looks at as his individuality and strives to let everyone know that he is proud of who he is. The two poems have many similarities and differences.

Lorraine Hansberry, the author of Raisin in the Sun, simulates the title of her play from the famous line in the poem “Harlem” by Langston Hughes, in which the poet asks, “What happens to a dream deferred?” A dream deferred is a vision that someone has, but due to certain circumstances, their fantasy life is either ignored or put on hold. For the Younger family, their dream of living as an ordinary middle-class black family and being accepted by the whites was deferred at one point. At the time the story took place, the blacks in the Chicago area still faced racism just like the south. The dream of the Younger family was very essential to each of them. They were willing to do literally anything to make their dreams come true.

The novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, "A Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes and "Hope" by Karen Hesse are three bodies of writing that share many similarities in how they use rhetoric to develop overarching themes. First, "A Dream Deferred" uses personification to get it's theme across. It states "What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore—And then run?"

“We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed.” - Martin Luther King, Jr. The activist Dr. King was best known for being the leader of the Civil Rights Movement that took place during the 1960s. He also was a baptist reverend that lived 39 years, since 1929 through his assassination in 1968 by the hands of James E. Ray. During his career as an activist, he gave several speeches whose main focus was freedom and liberty. One of his most famous one is “I have a dream” that took place in Washington, D.C. August 28th, 1963. There, he spoke about how people, especially the black community, needed to fight for their rights, to make changes in society in order to stop segregation, and unify people despite their race, beliefs, ethnicity, and culture.

Hughes line from the poem claimed that when dreams are deferred its like a raisin in the sun. This meant that they disappeared or vanished. Hughes poem further suggested that when dreams

“Salvation” by Langston Hughes is a true-life drama in his childhood. He reveals how he was pressurized to see Jesus. He was told by his aunt Reed and preachers, if he sees a light he will be saved from sin and Jesus will come to his life. He has been waiting but nothing happened even he and a boy Westley left waiting for light. After some time, Westley told a lie and left. Now, he was all alone there and everyone wants him to say he also saw the light. He didn’t see anything but due to the pressure of people he also said he has watched the light and saved from sin. Now, everybody was happy and shouting but he was ashamed and has his believe to Jesus because he didn’t see

“Dream Deferred,” is a poem written by Langston Hughes discussing what may become of a dream that is put off, delayed, or postponed by external influences. Throughout the poem, Hughes uses questions about concrete things in everyday life and compares them to the ignored dreams. Langston Hughes isn’t referring to the dreams we have when we go to sleep at night, he’s referring to an aspiration or a desire.

Langston Hughes’s “Let America Be America Again” is a poem that could be endlessly applied to where America stands today. This poem illustrates the morals, ideas, and visions set forth by those who found this country and how America has begun straying from those principles. The poem expresses that America is made up of all walks of people and that no man should be crushed by those above him, but rather be given the same opportunity as those above him. Hughes desire to make America great again can be shared in some way or another by most Americans making this poem everlasting. “Let America Be America Again” has the personalization, the language, the connection shared by every American, and the rhyme to allow readers of every race, gender, or religious belief to be brought together as not only people but as Americans.

Not all poems fall into the category of epic poetry or ballads. Some pieces are short and concise rather than lengthy and elegant. A shorter poem may focus more thoroughly on diction, or the author’s specific choice of words, rather than things such as rhyme scheme or meter. Langston Hughes poem “Suicide’s Note” is a perfect example of this. Because it is only twelve words long, every single word is important and chosen carefully. This poem uses many literary techniques, none more than diction, to achieve its purpose. which is to focus on the split-second decision that is suicide.

“There are over 6,000 languages spoken in the world today, many of which are spoken by fewer than a few hundred people” (10 cultural differences and facts that make the world interesting). The world as we know it today is a very diverse place, it has multitudes of culture and ways of life. Throughout the world there are many different religions, races, and countries that all deal with setbacks and disadvantages. But we all have something in common, people no matter who they are or where they are from, battle with hardship. We all face the same problem whether its home, work, family or personal problems we all suffer through the disasters, and the heartaches. Furthermore it takes in every situation perseverance to overcome all hardships. Nevertheless to have perseverance one has to have hope and courage to pursue and conquer the obstructions of life. By looking at “As I Get Older” by Langston Hughes one can see that individuals overcome their struggles and hardships by having hope and courage and being able persevere through each and every interference, or misfortune.

Have you ever wondered if it was easy or hard to attain childhood dreams? Through this poem, full of symbolism and detail, the character recalls back to the time in his life where it was hard to achieve his long lived dream. This was because there was bumps in his pathway of success. He didn’t let these obstacles take him down and fought his way through to eventually reach his goal. The author, Langston Hughes, main intepretation he wanted everybody to understand was everybody will have a abiding mission to achieve a dream of theirs, but individuals will soon realize that it’s not going to be simple getting there, but with determination and self-motoviation everybody will attain their dreams.