Langston Hughes Literary Devices
Dreams are vital to live as they carry one to aim for the future. Without dreams, one's heart is lost,
Dreams searching for another possible outcome. In the poem Dreams, Langston Hughes makes a theme statement that dreams have a purpose in our life and without dreams, one's goal can not flower in an open field. He uses many devices to portray the thematic statement and the ones that stand out the most are the personification, metaphor, and the tone.
Firstly, Hughes uses personification to deepen the understanding of what can happen when one doesn't hold on to their dream. At the beginning of the poem, the poet explains to always hold on to ones dreams for if they die. By doing this, the poet makes the statement clear to the reader that ones
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Throughout the poem, Hughes used many different styles of done in the poem. For example, he uses the phrase " hold fast to your dreams". He uses this phrase twice at the beginning of both stanzas. Another example is that Hughes uses a metaphor near the end of the stanza. In stanza one he states," life is a broken-winged bird that can not fly", and in stanza two he uses another metaphor" life is a Bergen field frozen with snow. Hughes is saying, " hold fast to your dreams", he really emphasises the imperative of that phrase by saying it twice throughout the poem. He chases the tone of seriousness because it makes it clear to the audience the importance of dreams. This use of the imperative in the tone catches the audiences attention, as it is the focus of the poem. Langston Hughes the tone of regret for both metaphors used in the poem. He uses a strong tone such as regret because he once had a dream the he let it disappear right in front of his eyes, which then, later on, he was filled with regret. He applies his feeling of regret by the tone of the metaphors. This makes the audience think about what will happen in their future if they let go to their dreams. Thus, the tone in the poem has not many shifts it uses very key and strong tones to show the audience the important message being passed on. You must follow your dreams for if you don't life is like a bird that can't fly or an open field that will not
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