John Mercer Langston Essays

  • Langston Hughes: Write, Fight, And Persevere

    1420 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

  • An Analysis Of A Dream Deferred By Langston Hughes

    717 Words  | 2 Pages

    it becomes a personal accomplishment. Langston Hughes's poem "Dream Deferred" speaks about what happens to dreams when they are put on hold. The poem leaves it up to the reader to decide what dream is being questioned. The poem A Dream Deferred discusses the many potential consequences that can occur when a dream is not realized soon enough. These six moments illustrate the different ways that a deferred dream can die, and consequently harm its dreamer. Langston Hughes, the speaker of the poem, expresses

  • Dreams Deferred in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun

    721 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hansberry’s classic play, A Raisin in the Sun, culls its title from the infamous poem “Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes, and both works discuss what happens to a person when their dreams -- their hopes, their aspirations, their lives -- are endlessly put on hold. For this analysis of the dreams and character of Beneatha Younger in Raisin, I would like to pull on another dreamy poem of Langston Hughes’ entitled “Dream Boogie.” Like all the characters in the play, Beneatha has dreams that are dear

  • A Brief Moment in the Life of Angus Bethune, by Chris Crutcher and One Friday Morning, by Langston Hughes

    806 Words  | 2 Pages

    in the Life of Angus Bethune” and “One Friday Morning” that manifests how iron can be burdened with fire, but still constitutes itself into steel. It is logical to suggest that the core reason for the stories above, written by Chris Crutcher and Langston Hughes respectively, are aimed to demonstrate that courage against impediments can turn the future of one’s journey, as alleged in “A Brief Moment in the Life of Angus Bethune” and “One Friday Morning” where Angus Bethune and Nancy Lee faced challenges

  • Langston Hughes: In the beginning there was language

    1037 Words  | 3 Pages

    determination. The poem “A Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes is an example of just that, a dream that is just simply out of reach. So what happens to a dream deferred? Deferred, defined by The New American Webster Dictionary, means to put off, delay or postpone something to a later date. Poetry is filled with many different aspects of poetic language just a few of them being, connotation, denotation, metaphors, similes and imagery. This poem, by Langston Hughes is one of many thatis filled with these

  • August Wilson's Rose: Surviving the Love and Deception

    1103 Words  | 3 Pages

    somehow relate to this poem? What happens to dream deferred? By Langston Hughes Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore¬¬¬¬¬--- And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over--- Like syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode? Fortunately for Rose, she did not explode. At the end of the play she still has her pride. Works Cited Hughes, Langston. What happens to a dream deferred? Poem, 1951. Nadel, Alan

  • The Importance of Relationships in "A Raisin in the Sun"

    501 Words  | 2 Pages

    the hard times of the 1950’s. Even though they have difficulties, they manage to stick together and help each other. This play is all about dreams. A Raisin in the Sun references to a poem written by Langston Hughes. Dreams that are set aside or lost in time, this is what he wrote about. Langston question on what ever happen to those dreams. Did they shrivel up “like a raisin in the sun?” Everyone has dreams especially in this play...

  • Does It Dry Up Like A Raisin In The Sun?

    792 Words  | 2 Pages

    Have you ever dreamed as a young kid that you would become a professional athlete? Dreams like those over time can sometimes become unrealistic, or unreachable. We sometimes need to change our dream to something more realistic, or you need to work hard in order to accomplish those dreams. “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?”(Hughes, line 2-3) This quote is very vital to the poem because it is saying if your dream that is full of life, dry and shrivel up in the sun and fades away. The grape

  • Comparing A Raisin In The Sun And Harlem By Langston Hughes

    735 Words  | 2 Pages

    by Langston Hughes talk about dreams deferred. It shows a African American family struggling to make their dreams a reality. Although Walter, Ruth, Mama, and Beneatha live in the same house, their dreams are all different from each other. Walter Younger is a dreamer. He dreams of owning his own business. When that dream falls apart, Walter's dream can be compared to Langston Hughes's poem "A Dream Deferred." according to arthur, “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” Langston Hughes

  • The Poetic Devices of Langston Hughes

    1396 Words  | 3 Pages

    whole scene in just one line of a stanza. It has the ability to offer hope from a painful experience and is something that a person can identify with; almost as if the poet and the reader become one. In his two poems, “Mother to Son” and “Harlem”, Langston Hughes, shines light on the life and struggles of African-Americans (“The Poetry”). While the theme of both poems is centered on perseverance, Hughes skillfully uses figurative language, tone, and form and structure differently in each poem to depict

  • Pushing Through Tough Times: Life is Fine

    1175 Words  | 3 Pages

    When analyzing the poem, “Life is Fine” by Langston Hughes, at first glance it may seem like a short and simple poem about life. The poem is much more complex. The poem is about the obstacles that some people face in life and how to find the strength to persevere. This poem helps the reader appreciate life and encourages us to triumph over the most emotionally challenging obstacles rather than considering death as a solution. The character in the poem, although weak and confused at first, finds

  • Langston Hughes' Dream Deferred

    542 Words  | 2 Pages

    langston huges - dream defered After the Civil War won the black people their freedom, it seemed as though their dreams of great opportunities were finally going to come true. However, they were met by even more obstacles, which left the blacks to wonder if their dreams had any chance of occurring, or if they should just give up. In his poem, “Harlem,” Langston Hughes used increasingly destructive imagery to present his warning of what will happen if you delay working towards your goal. Hughes’

  • Langston Hughes' Salvation

    656 Words  | 2 Pages

    Langston Hughes' Salvation In most people's lives, there comes a point in time where their perception changes abruptly; a single moment in their life when they come to a sudden realization. In Langston Hughes' 'Salvation', contrary to all expectations, a young Hughes is not saved by Jesus, but is saved from his own innocence. 'Salvation' is the story of a young boy who has an experience of revelation. While attending a church revival, he comes to the sudden realization that Jesus will not

  • Theme Of Dreams By Langston Hughes

    761 Words  | 2 Pages

    James Mercer Langston Hughes was a poet and a novelist from the mid -1900s who began writing poems throughout his high school career. His poems are mainly affiliated with the tough life he had been through as racism reached its peak. In his poems, Langston Hughes discusses his hardships dealing with all the racist people in his schools and the ones around him. And how the experience of life was for someone who was black. He was known as the most versatile writer of the Harlem Renaissance, a time

  • Langston Hughes And Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

    802 Words  | 2 Pages

    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. Langston Hughes’s poem, Harlem, inspired the title of A Raisin in The Sun for it’s close relation with the theme of dreams. His poem can also connect back with Disney’s quote; Disney states that anyone’s dream can

  • What Is The Difference Between Langston Hughes And Emily Dickinson

    540 Words  | 2 Pages

    Comparing Dickinson and Hughes After reading both "Tell All the Truth but Tell It Slant" by Emily Dickinson and "Harlem" by Langston Hughes, I determined that the main difference between the two poems is both poets' use of diction. Dickinson makes use of abstract diction in her poem, using words like bright, delight, superb, and dazzle. Using the word "truth" in itself is an enormous abstraction. Hughes, however, uses more concrete diction, with words such as raisin, fester, sore, meat, and

  • A Dream Deterred In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

    927 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hansberry dramatizes the emotional impact of a “dream deferred,” relying on Langston Hughes’ famous poem, which she uses as an epigraph. In the poem, Hughes believes a dream deferred is a dream that a person has had since he/she was young but never could accomplish because life got in the way. In the play, Walter and Mamma suffer pain and frustration as they see their dreams of a happy and safe life being deferred. In Langston Hughes’ poem he speaks of life as if it were “a raisin in the sun”. Hughes

  • Dreams Deferred in William Faulkner´s The Sound and the Fury and Sandra Sineros The House on Mango Street

    582 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dreams Deferred Tragedy is an ever present part of life, whether it be illness, inability, death or anything else, it takes its toll on everyone. A very common tragedy found in literature and daily life is the loss of dreams, in Langston Hughes’s poem “A Dream Deferred” Hughes poses the question of what truly happens to a deferred dream: “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up… Or fester like a sore… Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over...Or does it explode?” The outcome

  • Analysis of Harlem by Langston Hughes

    618 Words  | 2 Pages

    Analysis of Harlem by Langston Hughes Through the turbulent decades of the 1920's through the 1960's many of the black Americans went through difficult hardships and found comfort only in dreaming. Those especially who lived in the ghettos' of Harlem would dream about a better place for them, their families, and their futures. Langston Hughes discusses dreams and what they could do in one of his poems, "Harlem." Hughes poem begins: "What happens to a dream deferred..." Hughes is asking what

  • Power of Langston Hughes' Harlem (A Dream Deferred)

    670 Words  | 2 Pages

    Power of Langston Hughes' Harlem (A Dream Deferred) 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