The Restrictions Of The Dream Deferred By Langston Hughes

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?"

They express the frustration and stress of African Americans who face systemic barriers to equality and justice. Hughes' poem captures the impact of unfulfilled dreams, he says, "What happens to a dream deferred?" Does it dry up like a rain in the sun? " Line 1-3 while BLM channels

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 .

In “Harlem”, by Langston Hughes, he demonstrates that obstacles and disillusionment can prevent someone from achieving his or her dreams. Hughes tells about a dream that has been put off by obstacles, and how it stays with someone, almost haunting them. He shows this in the second stanza, where he says,”It festers like a sore-- and then runs”(Hughes). The dream is like a festering and infected sore, that runs and oozes. This relates to the theme of the poem because the obstacles defer the dream, turning it into a festering sore, and showing that a deferred dream becomes rotten and nasty. This explains the statement by showing if the dream is prevented by an obstacle,

In our journey through life, we all have certain expectations of how we would like our lives to be. All of us strive to reach a certain level of self-actulization and acceptance. It could thus be said that all of us live a dream. Some of these individual dreams inevitably become the collective dream of many people. In "Harlem (A Dream Deferred)", Langston Hughes makes use of symbolism as well as powerful sensory imagery to show us the emotions that he and his people go through in their quest for freedom and equality. By using questions he builds the poem towards an exciting climax.

Langston Hughes was a successful African-American poet of the Harlem renaissance in the 20th century. Hughes' had a simple and cultured writing style. "Harlem" is filled with rhythm, jazz, blues, imagery, and evokes vivid images within the mind. The poem focuses on what could happen to deferred dreams. Hughes' aim is to make it clear that if you postpone your dreams you might not get another chance to attain it--so take those dreams and run. Each question associates with negative effects of deferred dreams. The imagery from the poem causes the reader to be pulled in by the writer's words.

The Oxford English Dictionary describes the word “deferred” as to, “Put off (an action or event) to a later time; postpone.” (Murray, Bradley, Craigie, Onions 1). This is a good word to describe what can happen to the dreams of African Americans in Ameica. In “Harlem”, Hughes describes how African American’s dreams are often forced to take a backseat. This happens because African Americans are put at a disadvantage in this country and often need to work twice as hard to do the same as others who aren’t oppressed. Speaking of dreams being deferred, in the line “Maybe it just sags Like a heavy load” (Mays 1043, lines 9-10, Mays), Hughes describes the way that African Americans can feel hopeless because they are forced to put their dreams aside. Their dreams can even die because of the disadvantages they must overcome. In lines 1 and 2, Hughes writes, “Does it dry up Like a raisin in the sun?” (Mays 1043, line 1-2). Dreams dying is a very real thing and can happen to African Americans. The oppression they face in this so-called “home of the free” can cause their dreams to never be realized. The last line in the poem is very striking; “Or does it just explode?” (1043, line 11, Mays) In

“Harlem [Dream Deferred]” by Langston Hughes may seem like an insignificant poem at first glance. It contains only 11 lines and the diction is simple enough, but it is much more profound upon further exploration and understanding. Hughes applies the theme of frustration and use of metaphor, simile, and imagery to express the important issues of this time. The community of Harlem was primarily black, and this poem articulates the struggle of these people during the Civil Rights Movement. People of this time were left with injustice and their dreams were very much deferred.

First of all, it’s a poem. With a lot of questions. Its central question, however, is "what happens to a dream deferred?" meaning basically "what happens when your dreams don’t come true?" only Hughes’s version sounds better. He poses a couple of graphic suggestions: do the dreams dry, fester, run, stink, crust, sugar, sag, or explode? If we make like kindergarteners and play a little game of, "what doesn’t belong," the word explode fits the bill. While the other verbs deal with decay, waste, or extinction, explode is considerably more active, more powerful. No wonder Hughes chose to use it

The epigraphy by Langston Hughes describes how dreams change after they had been put off. When dreams fail, it affects each person differently. The person may just give up on the dream completely, find a new way to reach the dream, change the situation so it may not be the dream but something similar, or it can destroy other dreams too. The Youngers were a African American family living on the south side of Chicago and barely scraping by with Walter’s job as a limousine driver. They all eagerly wait for the insurance money, produced after Walter’s dad passed away, to make their dreams come true. But when the check arrived, Walter gave most of the money to Willy Harris, a business partner, runs off with the money when it was suppose to be invested

The poem is very typical of Hughes’ subject matter and themes. This is because he usually writes about racial subjects such as equality and the average life of an African-American. Going so far as to say that most of his poems are racial in theme and treatment, derived from the life that he knows (“An Introduction to Langston Hughes.”). This poem does have the racial topic of equality for a couple of reasons. To begin with, the speaker talks about how people should see the world and the other people in it. Key word, should, because he then goes onto say, “That is my dream!” (Hughes l. 9). This is one reason why “Dream Variations” has a theme centered on how everyone wants to be treated equally. Because the speaker talks about how he wishes he was treated by the world. Along with the theme of equality the poem’s subject is the life of an average African-American. This is because he speaks of how he wants to dance “Dance! Whirl! Whirl! Till the white day is done” (Hughes ll. 12-13). Yet he cannot because he has to work, and he tries to make his work seem like dancing but he is still very tired at the end of the day. This shows the average life of an African-American because they had to work very hard in the early

The epigraphy by Langston Hughes describes how dreams change after they had been put off. When dreams fail, it affects each person differently. The person may just give up on the dream completely, find a new way to reach the dream, change the situation so it may not be the dream but something similar, or it can destroy other dreams too. The Youngers were an African American family who lived on the south side of Chicago and barely scraped by with Walter’s job as a limousine driver. They all eagerly waited for the insurance money, produced after Walter’s dad passed away, to make their dreams come true. But when the check arrived, Walter gave most of the money to Willy Harris, a business partner, who ran off with the money when it was supposed to be invested in a liquor store.

He wrote the poem in a quest to answer what happens to a situation when a dream is deferred. The poem is written to in response to the African Americans in relation to the American dream that they were hoping to achieve. The poem is fairly short with eleven stanzas some coupled with questions.

The poem addresses an issue I am familiar with, referencing a white man in poverty being taken advantage of: “I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart” (Hughes). Many of my family members are like this man: white Americans working minimum-wage jobs. They struggle to afford necessities due to their employer’s desire for profit. These family members are like another man referenced in the poem, “who never got ahead” (Hughes), as they were held back by poverty-stricken childhoods with no college education. Still, similar to those discussed in the poem, these poor family members are the ones who have worked the hardest and continue to dream.

“A Dream Deferred” by, Langston Hughes is a great masterpiece in my vision; he conducts imagery in his work and simple diction. “Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over like a syrupy sweet?” I felt Mr.Hughes was questioning whether or not the dream expires and becomes useless, or if the dream gets a little crusty, but still sweet. Mr.Hughes also implies that you can either have sweet dream, or hold on to something that no longer serves you, in your journey through life.