Harlem

by Langston Hughes

Genres: Poetry, Classics, School, African American

Unknown Binding

About the author

Through poetry, prose, and drama, American writer James Langston Hughes made important contributions to the Harlem renaissance; his best-known works include Weary Blues (1926) and The Ways of White Folks (1934).

People best know this social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist James Mercer Langston Hughes, one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry, for his famous written work about the period, when "Harlem was in vogue."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langsto...

Reviews

[Sadia Mansoor · Rating 5 out of 5]

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?

[Maya Elkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was introduced to Langston Hughes by my 7th grade English teacher. She had me memorize one of his poems and recite it for the class. Since then, I’ve always loved to re-read his work. I love the metaphors he uses. It being Black History Month, I’ve been making an effort this month to incorporate starters in my classes each day that relate to Black History. This week in my advisory class we watched a video about Langston Hughes and listened to a poem. Then we wrote a quick response to it. We shared what we felt the meaning of the poem was and how it related to the time in which it was written. I’m grateful for a wonderful teacher in 7th grade who inspired me to pass on an impactful lesson to my 7th grade students.

[Madelyn Stroud · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⭐

This poem, though extremely short, was also extremely powerful. I loved the progression of the darker and darker imagery and rhetorical questions, and it lent itself to a sense that the tensions were building and bursting at the seams, threatening to break loose and erupt. Each question becomes more and more intense, from a seemingly harmless raisin in the sun, to a painful, rotting sore, to a burdensome load that is nearly too much to carry.

The poem ends with an extremely threatening question: "Or does it explode?" This refers to what will inevitably happen should African Americans' promised rights and dreams continue to be deferred. There would be an explosion of anger and pain, which could manifest in riots and rebellions across the country. There's a threat and a warning in this line, and by ending this poem with this questioning, warning line, Hughes builds the idea that by deferring their dreams and their hopes and never following through on any promises, the result will be nothing less than an explosion.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

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?

so cool

[Max Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

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?

[Alberto · Rating 3 out of 5]

EL '17.

[Maryam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I will 5 star anything Dr. Dalia teaches.

[Dinah Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do understand that everyone has this question but I don't understand is what does the title got to with it

[J9 · Rating 3 out of 5]

What happens to a dream deferred? The older we get, the more we know, or don't know. Short and sweet, but deep.