Analysis Of The Poem Harlem - 1303 Words

James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet; a Joplin, Missouri native and an active, versatile writer, earning acclaim as a poet, novelist, playwright and columnist. He was one of the first poets to explore an innovative sing-songy, stylized delivery called jazz poetry. As an African-American, his point of view, collectively synergized with this then-new literary art, catapulted his writings between the 1930s - 1960s. He is often credited as the leader of the Harlem Renaissance, and â€Å"famously wrote about the period that ‘the negro was in vogue.’† (Langston). Throughout his body of work, Hughes spoke eloquently to the full spectrum of dreams - both their inspirational power and their heavy burden, if not fully realized. His famed†¦show more content†¦In his 1951 poem, the title alone, â€Å"Harlem (Dream Deferred) makes the reader immediately conscious of the speaker’s dismissal of ownership.The piece examines, upon deferral, what happens to a dream - â€Å"Does it dry up / like a raisin the sun?† Hughes later deduces â€Å"Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.† There, with its indication of weight, the reader draws comparison to a dream being a burden - an unbearable, unattainable measuring stick in the speaker’s life, or in this piece’s case, America’s life. Hughes, now older, having seen â€Å"more of the world† is grappling with the injustices of equality and equity. Can an African-American attain his/her dream without it wilting under the prejudices of an unfair America? He saw the dreams of many residents of Harlem, New York disintegrate in the wake of World War II. Some read this poem as a warning, believing that the speaker â€Å"argues that deferred dreams will lead to social unrest. Notably, Lorraine Hansberry chose a line from this poem as the title of her famous play, A Raisin in the Sun, which explores the idea of delayed dreams in the world of a black family living in the South Side of Chicago during the 1950s. Both the play and Hughes s poem champion the power of pursuing dreams, and both comment on the state of civil rights in America.(Shmoop)† This work seems to continually call for theShow MoreRelated Harlem, An Analysis of a Langston Hughes Poem Essay1405 Words   |  6 PagesHarlem, An Analysis of a Langston Hughes Poem The short but inspirational poem Harlem by Langston Hughes addresses what happens to aspirations that are postponed or lost. The brief, mind provoking questions posed throughout the poem allow the readers to reflect--on the effects of delaying our dreams. In addition, the questions give indications about Hughes views on deferred dreams. Harlem is an open form poem. The poem consists of three stanzas that do not have a regularRead MoreAn Analysis of Langston Hughes Poem Harlem1520 Words   |  6 PagesPoems Harlem by Langston Hughes Thesis statement: Hughes wrote this when Jim Crow laws were still imposing an bitter segregated society in the South. There were still lynchings of innocent African Americans, there was no Civil Rights Movement, there was no Civil Rights legislation yet, and Blacks couldnt eat at lunch counters in the South. Harlem, however, was not at all like the South in terms of blatant, legal segregation. However, racism was very much in place in many places in America. BlacksRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem Harlem By Langston Hughes2117 Words   |  9 Pages In the poem â€Å"Harlem† by Langston Hughes, Hughes discusses the fate of the American dream and more specifically, he questions us about the destiny of the dream that never gets realized. He wonders whether it explodes violently or if it just dries up. Forty years later, Tony Kushner explored the fate of the suppressed, exploding dream in â€Å"Angels in America† through the character of Joseph Porter Pitt as he struggles to cope with his own repressed, but surfacing homosexuality, while also balancingRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem Sonnet And The Negro Harlem Essay1830 Words   |  8 PagesUnit 3: Short Answer Response Danticat s Krik? Krak! best emulates the poem Sonnet to a Negro in Harlem by Helene Johnson. Danticat’s work shows a Haitian immigrant following her mother around New York and observing her behaviors and activities while Johnson’s tells the story of a black man walking down the streets with a narrator talking about his features. 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The style of the poems and length of the poems are the other topics thatRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem The Weary Blues Essay1299 Words   |  6 PagesHughes’s poetry during the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance is a time in American history, in the cities where African Americans were concentrated like Harlem, many master pieces of art, music and literature were created. Blues was much enjoyed during the period; people listened to it and loved it. In the poem of The Weary Blues, people alive through music, and the strong power of music supported the suffering of the black people in that time period. The poem describes the speaker listeningRead MoreLiterary Analysis of Langston Hughess A Dream Deferred1028 Words   |  4 Pages After poetry is written, published, and circulated, analysis of the poem must take place. It unveils and discusses the themes, figures of speech, word placement, and flow of the piece, and A Dream Deferred, is no exception. 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