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Langston hughes common themes
Langston hughes poetic devices
Dreams by langston hughes analysis
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“Dreams” by Langston Hughes, uses powerful metaphors to enhance the poem and make it more relatable to the reader. This short poem that is only two stanzas, and is about that if you don't follow your dreams, life is basically pointless. This poem starts out with a very powerful sentence which states, “Hold fast to dreams” (Hughes). This is stating that one should always hang onto their dreams. Then the author uses a metaphor on (lines 2) which states, “For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly” (Hughes). The author is trying to help the reader understand that when you let go of your dreams you are doing nothing with your life. Maybe the author had experienced this in life, his dreams could have been crushed by a tragic
“If you fall behind, run faster. Never give up, never surrender, and rise up against the odds.”- Jesse Jackson. Jesse Jackson quote and Ha Songnan short story “Waxen Wings” both promote the lesson. In “Waxen Wings”, Songnan’s protagonist, “Birdie”, aspires to fly but faces many obstacle that shoot her dreams and yet she continues to fly.Jesse Jackson quote relates to Ha Songnan short story because even though, “Birdie”, gets hit with laborious obstacles, she never gives up. Songnan’s use of fractured narrative , Imagery and Symbolism, and 2nd person point of view demonstrates Birdie’s superfluous tribulation to never give up on dreams.
Although Langston Hughes’ “Why, You Reckon?” is a short story, it encapsulates differences between races and classes in American society. The story highlights the desperate and hopeless lives of poor African-Americans in Harlem, New York, who would do anything just so they can fill their stomachs. Hughes adds a contrast by putting in a white man who uses his money and privileges to try to experience the exuberance of Harlem but fails to do so. Written in 1934, during the peak of racial divide in America, Langston Hughes’ “Why, you reckon?” shows that real experiences, not money, contribute to happiness.
What we hope for is not always what we need. This is prevalent in the novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston where the characters have his or her dream crushed for the sake of fate. This is especially true for Janie who strives throughout the novel to have her dream of “the pear tree” realized, and Hurston shows this using a variation of metaphor, imagery, and personification.
Dream Variations, also by Langston Hughes, is a strong poem that conveys his cultural identity. In this poem, Hughes uses the light and dark hours of the day to represent the cultures of white and black people. Hughes says, “To fling my arms wide in some place of the sun. To whirl and to dance till the white day is done. Then rest at cool evening beneath a tall tree while night comes on gently, Dark like me-That is my dream!” Hughes compares the daytime to the white man 's work day and correlates the night to himself and his race. This poem clearly conveys Hughes cultural
The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement during the 1920s and 1930s, in which African-American art, music and literature flourished. It was significant in many ways, one, because of its success in destroying racist stereotypes and two, to help African-Americans convey their hard lives and the prejudice they experienced. In this era, two distinguished poets are Langston Hughes, who wrote the poem “A Dream Deferred” and Georgia Douglas Johnson who wrote “My Little Dreams”. These two poems address the delayment of justice, but explore it differently, through their dissimilar uses of imagery, tone and diction.
“All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” This quote from Walt Disney addressing the concept of achieving dreams is very accurate, and can be seen throughout literature today and in the past. Dreams can give people power or take away hope, and influence how people live their lives based upon whether they have the determination to attack their dreams or not; as seen through characters like the speaker in Harlem by Langston Hughes and Lena and Walter Younger in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in The Sun.
stanza to explain that a dream deferred can end with the entire population in a war.
(36 points) Figurative LanguageQuoteMeaningMetaphorPoem: Dreams Quote: Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.If you ever give up on your dream, later down the line you will regret it.Poem: DreamsThis quote
Achieving one's goals can be very hard and rather restricting. In the reading A Raisin in the Sun and the poetry by Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes this theme can has been portrayed. These texts have portrayed this common theme by exposing issues that had affected people, explaining what happens to their dream, and what occurs thereafter.
... beings react when a dream dies. Edward J. Mullen notes that Hughes' poem represents the idea that, "the inhabitants of this 1951 Harlem seem to be seeking feverishly and forlornly for some simple yet apparently unattainable satisfaction in life" (142). Both Hansberry's play and Hughes' poem establish a powerful and human reaction to the death of a dream.
Being a poet is not an easy thing. Well at least not without experience. I have discovered this after writing a poem modeled after Langton Hughes poem, “Theme for English B”. I chose to model my poem after Hughes poem for two reasons. One reason being that the assignment required that my poem be modeled after this specific poem and the other reason is what better way to write an original personal poem for an assignment then by modeling it after someone who did the same thing.
Throughout Langston Hughes poem Harlem he used heavy imagery to convey his central idea. In this poem Hughes is discussing the circumstances that could happen if you were to defer a dream. He uses a variety of similes in order to get his point across to his readers. In the first two lines he asks “Does it dry up -- like a raisin in the sun?” By saying this it makes the readers think about a dried up raisin that is no longer good, helping convey the fact that if you were to hold off on your dreams they might die as quickly as a raisin would dry up if it were in the sun. If the dream was used while it was fresh it would still be usable. “Does it stink like rotten meat?” makes the reader understand that eventually your dream could rot and could
...ere in a dream. However, it is almost as though the imaginative wording of the poem makes it easier to see the reality behind its message. The poem refreshes the craving people have for a better world with no hardships, and the need they have to leave a part of themselves here to sing eternally "Of what is past, or passing, or to come" (32).
I think the message is about people putting off their dreams instead of reaching for them. The first simile is – does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? this means the dream no longer has a purpose, a dream deferred is useless. The second similes is – or fester like a sore and then run? This means a dream deferred causes irritation. The third simile is – does it stink like rotten meat? This means if a dream is not met in time, it will decay because it dies. The fourth simile is – or crust and sugar over like a syrupy sweet? This means a dream can become unusable like the hardened crust on top f unused honey. So a dream that sits hardens and is unusable. The fifth simile is – maybe it just sags like a heavy load. This means the goal just sags
As dreams and wishes are made countlessly, only a handful of them come true without work or effort being made into them. However, the mindset that dreams can true with only a wish will cause people to believe they do not need to try for their dreams to come true. In my sonnet, “Dreams”, I write about dreams are being made, however multiple people are disappointed when their aspiration do not become reality. I state how dreams linger in many minds throughout the day, however they continue to stay as dreams due to no one working at them. In my poem, “Dreams”, I use multiple forms of figurative language and the structure of the sonnet to express the idea that dreams and wishes need to be worked for in order to be granted.