Consider a pencil. It is designed to write on paper— to express the thoughts and ideas of its wielder. What would become of the pencil without paper? Certainly, the pencil would have other uses, but none of them would be meaningful enough to justify its continued manufacture. Thus, the pencil would become obsolete and fade into oblivion. In Langston Hughes’ poem “Dreams,” he elucidates that life without dreams would be a similar existence to a pencil without paper: a life drained of purpose. Hughes posits that dreams are the crux of human life because every person needs something to aspire towards; a life void of dreams would be one void of hope. Yet, Hughes does not explore the value of dreams by lauding their beauty, but rather by lamenting …show more content…
In the first stanza, by stating “for if dreams die,” Hughes makes clear that dreams dying is a hypothetical situation: he says “if dreams die,” not that dreams have already passed on (2). There is incredible optimism in this diction because it illustrates that dreams have not yet vanished and will not disappear as long as we continue to hold onto them. Again, in the second stanza, Hughes proclaims “For when dreams go,” reinforcing that there is still a chance for dreams (6). Though same may argue that “when” implies dreams are destined to vanish at some point and have simply not yet reached their expiration date, “when” is used in the same way that if was in the previous stanza: to refer to a hypothetical situation (6). In this sense, Hughes is saying “should dreams go” or “when someone capitulates and allows their dreams to leave,” not that all dreams fade eventually, so this line still reiterates the assurance of the previous stanza. Although it is valid to argue that “when dreams go” refers to an eventual collapse of hope, this interpretation does not coincide with the optimism in the previous line that urges readers to “Hold fast to dreams” because it is not too late to salvage them
The poem “Dream Variations” by Langston Hughes depicts a theme and dream of getting out of segregation and violence.
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.
What is the American Dream? Many people have tried to explain the dream, or how they feel about the dream. Most try to be all patriotic and country loving like Walt Whitman... But others like Langston Hughes reveal a darker side of the dream. Whitman hears America Singing.
These quotes represent how no matter how good a idealistic dream looks, reality will set
In the beginning of the poem, Langston Hughes converses about what the American Dream is to him and who believed it. Let it be the dream it used to be (2) The American Dream was noted to be, the land where you obtained complete peace and equality
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).
How has the American Dream changed from the 1920’s to now and how has the theme of the American Dream been supported by works of American Literature. We will see how the American Dream though time did not follow what the founding fathers set out for us in the declaration of independence and when they said, “The authors of the United States’ Declaration of Independence held certain truths to be self-evident: that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness". We will see how the American Dream suffers, what an American Dream is centered on, and how, for some, the American Dream is unattainable. In "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman and in "Harlem" by Langston Hughes we see the American dream depicted, as the loss and utter death of a distracted corrupt American Dream, as the love of the American dream, and as the American Dream for Blacks in a time of segregation and discrimination.
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.
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.
Langston Hughes is an African American Poet who is very closely connected to his culture and expresses his feelings very thoroughly through his poetry in a jazz style. Langston Hughes is a modern poet who ignore the classical style of writing poetry and instead, in favor of oral and improve traditions of the Black culture. In majority of Langston’s poetry, many of his audience seems to take away a very strong message that many can apply to themselves or to others or his poems gives you an educational background of what’s going on in the African American community right now. For example, Langston Hughes writes a poetry piece called Afro American Fragment, which gives you a great breakdown of what an everyday African American person goes through considering that their whole history is basically taken away from them. Langston seems to show his audience that in books we never hear much about what contributions a African American person has done except for being brought to America and being a slave.
What would happen if the dreams you most desired were at risk of never coming true? In the poem, "A Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes, he uses figurative language to convey the importance of what happens when a dream is deferred for too long due to oppression. Not only does Hughes uses similes to help the reader understand the author 's point of view, but also metaphors and imagery. "A Dream Deferred" was written in a time where oppression was not only harmful but also a painful way of life for Hughes and hundreds of other Americans. In this poem, he uses imagery to convey just how desperate those Americans felt at that time with what was happening in the world, and what would continue to happen if nothing was fixed.
The poem’s title refers to the way people feel when their dreams are put their dreams to the side. When you think “What happens to a dream deferred?” It provokes a feeling of gloominess. The words “What happens,” makes the reader think in general what comes as a result from it.
Democracy is a government in which the supreme power is held by the people. The definition of democracy is viewed differently or similar based on your perspective. In both poems “Democracy” by Langston Hughes and,”Democracy” by Sara Holbrook, both used strategies to describe their perspective. On how democracy is defined to them, which had the different and similar perspective on democracy 's meaning.
If people give up or lose their dreams and live without their goals, they will be very upset and aimless. As same as the poem Dreams by Langston Hughes says, “ Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die; life is a broken bird that cannot fly,” (4). If people give up their dreams and lose their goals, their lives will become the dry arid desert with no color. There is a real example in the book Crossover, Josh