In Langston Hughes’s poem, Harlem, he questions what happens to a “dream deferred” and he lists multiple possibilities that all involve a dream going away (Hughes, Harlem). This poem seems to define Hughes’s life of not wanting to see his own dreams pass him by despite moving from place to place due to his parents’ separation and economic struggles (Otfinoski). Beyond that, Hughes faced racism that could have gotten in the way of his own goals, but instead of letting this deter him, he used it as fuel to pursue a literary career. During the 20th century, Hughes’s worldview was greatly impacted by the Civil Rights Movement and the effects of the World War I, which caused his poetry to revolve around racial discrimination against African Americans.
James Mercer Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri (Otfinoski). His mother wrote poetry and his father wanted to be a lawyer, but he was rejected by an all-white examination board to take a bar exam (Otfinoski). When he was young, his parents separated and his father moved to Mexico to escape the racism, so Hughes “wandered from place to place” with his mother and grandmother (Otfinoski). His grandmother’s second husband, Hughes’s grandfather, Charles Harold Langston, was a committed abolitionist and Virginia’s first black congressman (Otfinoski). As Hughes grew up, his grandmother enrolled him at Harrison Street School, where he encountered his first experience with white people, and it taught him “not to hate all white people” (Otfinoski). Hughes tried to achieve his goal throughout high school and college, until he finally stumbled upon a major turning point in his life when he met a poet, Vachel Lindsay, as a “tall, black busboy” (Otfinoski). Hughes made...
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"A Centennial Tribute to Langston Hughes." Library System - Howard University. Howard University, n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
Langston Hughes was born on February 1st, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. He started education at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. He went on to write and publish his first work, a poem called, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” in Crisis magazine. He then continued his education at Columbia University in New York in 1921. He then lived for sometime in Paris and after returning to the United States, he worked in Washington D.C. as a busboy. Later after that, Vachel Lindsay discovered Hughes literary talents. Hughes talents did not only exist in poetry, he also expanded his talent into music, play writing, and short stories, for example the “Simple” stories. His most prominent work however was written and published during the Harlem Renaissance a time where many other African-American authors were showcasing their work and being published. Hughes however, stood above the rest with his multiple talents and work which spread across the board. The white society of America at the time of the Harlem Renaissance and years after began to label him as a radical. Hughes remained extremely prolific to the very end of his life. Hughes published over forty books, including a series of children’s books. However, if you add his translations and his many anthologies of black writing, the amount of books he has published would double. He remained a controversial figure, having been considered a dangerous radical in the 1940s. Hughes was now, as he retained his lifelong commitment to racial integration, rejected by 1960s radicals considered to be a part of the problem, rather than part of the solution. However, that would not stop Hughes from being recognized as one of the important black a...
When reading the literature of Langston Hughes, I cant help but feeling energetically charged and inspired. Equality, freedom, empowerment, renaissance, justice and perseverance, are just a taste of the subject matter Hughes offers. He amplifies his voice and beliefs through his works which are firmly rooted in race pride and race feeling. Hughes committed himself both to writing and to writing mainly about African Americans. His early love for the “wonderful world of books” was sparked by loneliness and parental neglect. He would soon lose himself in the works of Walt Whitman, Paul Laurence, Carl Sandburg and other literary greats which would lead to enhancing his ever so growing style and grace of oeuvre. Such talent, character, and willpower could only come from one’s life experiences. Hughes had allot to owe to influences such as his grandmother and great uncle John Mercer Langston - a famous African American abolitionist. These influential individuals helped mold Hughes, and their affect shines brightly through his literary works of art.
Berry, Faith. Langston Hughes Before and Beyond Harlem Connecticut: Lawrence Hill and Company Publishers, 1983
Hughes, a.k.a. Langston, a.k.a. “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed.
Langston Hughes was an African American poet who emerged during the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance strongly influenced most of Langston Hughes’s writing. In such works as “Dream”, “Still Here”, “Dream Deferred”, and “Justice” you see the clear messages that are trying to be voiced through his work.
Poems, Poets, Poetry: An Introduction and Anthology. 3rd ed. Ed. Helen Vendler. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s,
Works Cited Rampersad, Arnold and Roessel, David. The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes.
Langston Hughes was an activist for the African-American community and made significant artistic contributions to the Harlem Renaissance throughout his career. In one of his most famous poems, “Harlem [Dream Deferred]”, he addresses the limitations and oppression of African Americans after the Great Depression. Many African Americans dreamed of equality, but often times that dream became neglected and pushed aside. In his poem, Hughes responds to a question about a deferred dream with a series of vivid similes, inquiring what happens to a constantly ignored dream.
The "Langston Hughes" Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. The Web. The Web. 03 Dec. 2013.
Hughes, Langston. “Visitors to the Black Belt”, Note on Commercial Theatre”, “Democracy”, Theme for English B” : The Norton Anthology of English Literature Gen. ed.
Rampersad, Arnold. "Hughes, Langston (1902–1967)." African American Writers. Ed. Valerie Smith. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001. 367-78. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 8 Apr. 2014. .
“Harlem” by Langston Hughes is a poem that talks about what happens when we postpones our dreams. The poem is made up of a series of similes and it ends with a metaphor. The objective of the poem is to get us to think about what happens to a dream that is put off, postponed; what happens when we create our very own shelve of dreams? The “dream” refers to a goal in life, not the dreams we have while sleeping, but our deepest desires. There are many ways to understand this poem; it varies from person to person. Some may see this poem as talking about just dreams in general. Others may see it as African-American’s dreams.
Hill, Christine M. Langston Hughes: Poet of the Harlem Renaissance. Springfield, NJ, USA: Enslow, 1997. Print.
Analysis of Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes Dreams are the driving force of America today. Every person has some sort of dreams and goals. Although in life everyone has dreams and goals, there are obviously more struggles for some ethnic groups than for others. The poem, "Dream Deferred," by Langston Hughes, is one man's expression of his dreams during a difficult time period. As a black man in a time period where African-Americans were considered an inferior group of people, dreams and goals would have been difficult to realize.