My favorite
writing piece would have to be the poem “A Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes.
Langston Hughes was a writer and activist during the Harlem Renaissance, a time
in which African Americans were overcoming oppression. The poem is one I always
go back to during trying times in my life. I like to reflect on the history and
how far I have come since my first time reading it in the 8th grade.
I’ve used it as motivation to prevent procrastination and self-defeat. I don’t
enjoy reading long drawn out poems and novels. I’d much rather read short
stories and poems like “A Dream Deferred” because they are short and sweet yet
have a huge message that can relate to almost anyone.
The tone of
the poem seems relaxed almost as if the author was able to read your thoughts
and place it on paper for you to read and analyze. The style and questions
expressed throughout the poem allows the reader to really consider what it is
they are doing by not acting on a dream. I love the imagery used in every line.
“Does it stink like rotten meat?” (Hughes, line 3). Everyone can imagine what
rotten meat smells like, so this quote draws in the reader and plays with his
or her sense of smell. Hughes does a great job at expressing the physical effects
of pushing off dreams that one should strive to achieve.
A Dream
Deferred
by
Langston Hughes
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?
Cswnet.com. 2014. A Dream Deferred (by Langston Hughes).
[online] Available at: http://www.cswnet.com/~menamc/langston.htm [Accessed: 1 Feb
2014].
Good job. 10/10
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