The social theory being put forth by Langston Hughes about the American dream in this poem is that a “dream deferred” is a long and frustrated dream for the people in African American communities. I say this because the author is African-American and this poem concentrates, on possible reaction to the deferral of a dream. He states that the dream “dries like a raisin in the sun.” Since a raisin is just a dried grape, I believe it means that you can still use it no matter how long it dried for. When dreams are constantly getting deferred, we lose hope and motivation. “Does it stink like rotten meat” gives the reader a sense of disgust. A dream deferred may also stink, because of the negative aspects of it.
The development of the Harlem neighborhood in New York City, as a black cultural time period in the early 20th century is also known as the Harlem Renaissance. This time period, 1910’s to the mid 1930’s, was very successful and considered the Golden Age in African American history, performing arts, music and literature. At one point, like many, a group of people who had no power nor place in society are now changing the world one step at a time. This time period changed America using Langston Hughes, the Great Migration and the “New Negro” organization organized by Marcus Garvey.
What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?(Hughes) A Raisin in the Sun becomes to be dry. At first, it might be fresh, but the grape is getting dry and becomes the raisin in the sun. In this way, the grape is changed and disappeared.
Poems are tools used to demonstrate dissatisfaction. The play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry leads by foreshadowing its theme of crushed dreams by starting with the poem A Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes. The play follows an African-American family in 1950s Chicago, consisting of protagonist Walter Lee Younger, his son Travis, his wife and Travis’ mother Ruth, sister Beneatha, and mother/grandmother Lena, called simply “Mama” in the play. Walter is ambitious and wants to move out of his small and run-down home and find a better job than a chauffeur for the kind of man he wishes he could be.
The Harlem Renaissance was a period in American history, which occurred in the 1920s in Harlem, New York. The cultural movement was an opportunity for African Americans to celebrate their heritage through intellectual and artistic works. Langston Hughes, a famous poet, was a product of the Harlem Renaissance. One notable piece of literature by Hughes is “Dream Deferred”. However, the discussion of African American culture isn’t limited to the 1920s.
Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem: Dream Deferred” and John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men share a similar theme. Certain circumstances cause dreams to be impossible to achieve, and all people endure this in different ways. In “Harlem: Dream Deferred”, the speaker suggests that deferred dreams can “crust and sugar over-- / like a syrupy sweet” (Hughes 8-9).
Is your dream vibrant and alive like that grape, or does it wither and dry out in the sun? Instead of thinking of a raisin in the sun, the poet is imagining a man who waits and waits, dreams and hopes, until he finally bursts from the weight on his shoulders. Hughes also uses irony when he talks about stinking like rotten meat or crusting and sugaring over like syrup. “Does it
In the poem “Harlem” by Langston Hughes, several similes are used to portray the reality of dreams. Hughes employs effective metaphors, inviting us to visualize a dream and what may happen to it after it passes from conscious thought. Could a dream dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or even fester like a sore? (Hughes, 1951, p. 631).
Genevieve Mahoney Mr. Mischinski English 10 - American Studies 2 March 2018 A Raisin in the Sun: An Analysis of The Kismet of Dreams Deferred “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” In Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry details the Youngers, a zealous black family, struggling to make their dreams come true in the slums of Chicago. Langston Hughes’ poem, "A Dream Deferred
For example, Langston Hughes says, “What happens to a dream deferred?” (Hughes). This means, what happens when a dream is ignored? This poem was written in a time with feelings of segregation and discrimination toward blacks in America. In addition, Hughes says, "Does it dry up" (Hughes).
In the poem “I, Too”, the author Langston Hughes illustrates the key aspect of racial discrimination faces against the African Americans to further appeals the people to challenge white supremacy. He conveys the idea that black Americans are as important in the society. Frist, Hughes utilizes the shift of tones to indicate the thrive of African American power. In the first stanza, the speaker shows the sense of nation pride through the use of patriotic tone. The first line of the poem, “I, too, sing America” states the speaker’s state of mind.
America is well known as the land of the free and the home opportunity. Although it is said everyone is equal in every way, that has not always been the case. Langston Hughes is a poet who tried to emphasize the idea of equality among all human beings. Hughes underlined the basis of the American Dream with what is and what should be in the societal era he lived in. In hindsight he believed his poems helped others realize the injustices that all minorities had to face during this era.
At this time, the dream was equality and being accepted as citizens of the United States. Hughes felt that this goal of liberty and quality for African Americans was very hard to reach or match. A poem that resembles this thought well is titled “Youth”, where Hughes writes, “We have tomorrow… Bright before us… Like a flame” (Hughes 39). This poem has a lot of analysis towards the American Dream.
Saad Moolla Ms. Noha Enligh III 15 January 2015 Literary Analysis Essay The play, “ A Raisin in the Sun” authored by Lourraine Hasenberry holds a very unique title that refers to Langston Hughes’s poem “A Dream Deferred.” Langston’s poem is about dreams and what happens to those dreams are not fulfilled. Hassenberry wrote her play about a poor African American family by the name of the Yongers. Mrs. Younger, Walter Lee, and Beneatha all have there own individual dreams.
Langston Hughes was an American poem born in the early nineteen hundreds, who became known as the leader of the Harlem Renaissance. He published many poems that brought light to the life of people of color in the twentieth century. There are three poems that the speakers are used to portray three major themes of each poem. Racism, the American Dream, and Hopes are all the major themes that Hughes uses to highlight the average life of a person of color. Theme for English B,” “Harlem,” and “Let America Be America Again” were three of Hughes’s poems that was selected to underline the themes.
Everyone has dreams, but the thing is most people never accomplish them. Some people put off their dreams to the side because something more important than their dreams comes forth. They believe that is better to put their dreams to the side or give up on them and allow their dreams to fade in their minds. In “What happens to a dream deferred?” by Langston Hughes, the poet uses the title, tone, diction, and selection of detail, to express how people are affected by deferred dreams.