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6.5: "Harlem" and "Dreams" -- Langston Hughes

  • Page ID
    152061
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    "The key to Langston Hughes … was the poet’s deceptive and profound simplicity. Profound because it was both  willed and ineffable, because some intuitive sense even at the beginning of his adulthood taught him that humanity was of the essence and that it existed undiminished in all shapes, sizes, colors and conditions.” 

    –Hoyt W. Fuller

    Langston Hughes was an influential author during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, writing short stories, poems, plays, and novels through which he “sought to honestly portray the joys and hardships of working-class black lives, avoiding both sentimental idealization and negative stereotypes” (Poetry Foundation, 2022). At a time when literary critics claimed that most poets were writing increasingly obscure, inward-looking texts, Hughes was doing just the opposite; that is, he was turning outward and attempting to connect with audiences, especially Black readers, through his topics, themes, language use, etc. Hughes wanted to “tell the stories of his people in ways that reflected their actual culture, including their love of music, laughter, and language itself alongside their suffering” (Academy of American Poets, 2022). Despite Hughes’ goal of portraying Black experiences and connecting with readers, he did occlude differences and nuances; rather, he embraced multiplicity on many levels, especially through his own varied work experiences, which included  truck farmer, cook, waiter, college graduate, sailor, and doorman at a nightclub in Paris, as well as his travel history, comprised of Mexico, West Africa, the Azores, the Canary Islands, Holland, France, and Italy. Possibly, these experiences factored into his appreciation for all of humanity’s shapes, sizes, colors, and conditions, as indicated by the quote above from Hoyt Fuller. 

     

    “Harlem” by Langston Hughes 

     

                 

    Exercise: Before Reading

    Before reading the next poem entitled “Harlem,” take a look at the images featured here. Below, make note of your observations about the images.  

    1.What do you think those details might suggest about the poem? How do those observations shape your predictions about the text?

    2.How would you describe the setting of the image and why might Hughes’ poem be used in the situation that is occurring?

     

     

                                                  “Harlem”  

        What happens to a dream deferred?

        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 a syrupy sweet?

     

        Maybe it just sags

        like a heavy load.

     

        Or does it explode?

     

    Exercise: After Reading

    After reading Hughes’ poems, take some time to reflect on the questions and quotes below. We also encourage you to discuss your thoughts with classmates or others.

    1.What do you think happens to “a dream deferred”?

    2.As we read about in Pádraig Ó Tuama’s reflection on Yusef Komunyakaa’s poem “Praising Dark Places,” one of this goals is for people to be able to hold ambivalences and ambiguities –to look at things from a different point of view and accept not being sure of things. Are there any ambiguities or uncertainties that you experience within the poem?

    3.Which words from this text can be explored for deeper understanding?

     

    “Dreams” by Langston Hughes

     

     

    Exercise: Before Reading

    Before reading Hughes’ poem, note your thoughts in response to these questions below:

    1.Think about something in your life that you consider to be a dream. What purposes do dreams serve?

    2.Dreams can be both individual and shared. Can you think of any shared dreams that both you and others hold?

    3.What makes dreams so powerful?

     

                                                                        “Dreams”

                                                    

                                                            Hold fast to dreams 

                                                            For if dreams die

                                                            Life is a broken-winged bird

                                                            That cannot fly.

     

                                                            Hold fast to dreams

                                                            For when dreams go

                                                            Life is a barren field

                                                            Frozen with snow.

     

    After Reading Exercise 

    After Reading: Multiple Perspectives on Dreams

     

    Both of these Langston Hughes’ poems– “Harlem” and “Dreams”--address similar topics and issues. How can we strategically put these poems in conversation with one another? One of the ways to put texts in dialogue with one another is to first analyze them individually according to salient elements and then compare and contrast your analysis. The chart below will help guide you towards that process. Take notes on both poems in regard to the elements listed in the left column and note any significant points of overlap in the middle.

     

    “Harlem”

    Both

    “Dreams”

    Message: What do these poems say about dreams?

     

     
     

    Language: How do these poems talk about dreams?

         

    Literary Devices:

    Which metaphors and similes do these poems include?

         

    Purpose: Why do you think the message of these poems was conveyed?

         

    Effect on Reader: What effect did each poem have on you?

         

     

    Once you’ve completed your analysis, consider the following questions:

    1.Together, how do these texts offer you a deeper understanding than any one of them could have yielded alone?

    2.After putting the texts in dialogue with one another, what did you notice that you might have missed?

    3.In your opinion, what is the value of having multiple texts that represent different perspectives or realities? 

    4.Can you think of any other texts in this book that might be paired or situated in relation to one another?



     


    6.5: "Harlem" and "Dreams" -- Langston Hughes is shared under a CC BY-NC license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.