Hughes poems told stories that were relatable and reflected his community. It is what that drives them. So these five contrasting elements help shape the poem and bring strong visual energy into the mind of the reader. Here we can see the raisin, which used to be a moist, taut, healthy-looking grape, has shriveled up to become a raisin. Why compare a dream deferred to a raisin? But opinions of the figurative meaning behind this poem vary with each opinion. At the time he wrote this poem, the slaves had been free nearly ninety years, and yet were still not treated as equals.
That's what the poem is asking. The speaker doesnt emphasize the appearance of the raisin, so it isnt as good of an image as the simile. It is often used in cases of probation when the final verdict adjudication in the case is withheld pending the completion of a court ordered requirement of the defendant. This could be taken as a dream that just sits there but never receives the attention it needs will never quite go away. Or it can mean does it explode as in come true and explode in a happy way. Although dreams come in all shapes and sizes and to people enjoying different seasons of the life-cycle, personally, I feel it questions the state of dreams of the past and what has happened to them in the present day. Oppression, societal pressure, prejudice and historical baggage and other factors can play their part in denying the dream.
The sand symbolizes the time he can not keep. The author uses similes to ground and explain the importance and danger of deferred dreams. Harlem, also named Dream Deferred, is a simple, but meaningful poem by the wonderful Langston Hughes. . However, you still have to pay court fees in this case but that's still a lot better than having to pay increased insurance costs for the next three years.
Like the raisin, the dream has been on hold for a long-time consequently, it has transformed into something very different than it once was. But unlike any other line in the poem, it is italicized, which makes us pay extra careful attention to it. The speaker does not emphasize the appearance of the raisin, so the description isn't as significant as an image as it is as a simile. Line 11 Or does it explode? A sweet gone bad is all of the broken promises of emancipation and reconstruction, integration, and equal opportunity. That dream was sweet once upon a time.
Neglected injuries may lead to infection, even death. Kindergarteners sag from the weight of backpacks that are too heavy. The poet doesnt want people to postpone getting what they want. Or crust and sugar over-- like a syrupy sweet? Before the last line, Hughes compares dreams to other objects using detailed similes, and the comparisons usually take a while to occur i. Federal laws granted American black the right to vote, the right of property etc. African Americans were saddled with the legacy of slavery, which essentially rendered them second-class citizens in the eyes of the law, particularly in the South. Thus, the poet Hughes is able to, with help of this simile, vividly describe the plight of his people.
The speaker in the poem originally entitled it Harlem, which is the capital of African-American life in the United States. This was a unique time period in American History in which many African American writers, artists, actors, and celebrities of various kinds emerged. Board of Education that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students top be unconstitutional. Do they simply go away, or come back to haunt your life by making you wish that you never gave them up? Some horrific and terrible thigns stay in our minds forever. The last stanza of the poem shows liberation as the only means of freedom for the slave.
From reading the poem for the first time, I think that the title itself provides a paradox, because somehow it makes sense. Realize the era that this poem was written in. This is a smell closely associated with death. In my opinion the author is trying to ask questions about life and how dreams affect it. What is the mood of the poem? Analysis of Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes Dreams are the driving force of America today. This shows imagery because the speaker went for a swim and bathed in the Euphrates River watching the sunrise thinking about the first human civilization.
The poem leaves it up to the reader to decide what dream is being questioned. It could thus be said that all of us live a dream. The emphasis on the sun is important because it stresses time-we measure time by the sun's movement. In addition, the questions give indications about Hughes' views on deferred dreams. The poem is about the lost dreams of the millions of African Americans.