Harlem – 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?
1. Underline the similes in this poem. What is their purpose? What are they describing?
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2. Langston Hughes was a writer of the Harlem Renaissance. What do you think he means by “a dream
deferred”?
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3. What do you notice about the structure of this poem that is unusual?
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4. Fill in the following chart with your observations about the six different comparisons (including the last
line) and the way they work with the structure of the poem.
Line #
Simile
What it implies
How it fits in the structure
5. Use your observations to interpret, and apply the poem to the attitudes of African-Americans during the
Harlem Renaissance period (1920’s). (3-4 sentences)
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Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night – DYLAN THOMAS
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
1. Go through and annotate the rhyme scheme and structure of the poem. Note any repeated sections or
parallel phrasing.
2. In the table below, list bits of diction (especially repeated words) that contribute to the tone of the poem.
DICTION
TONE
3. Who is the speaker speaking to? __________________________________________________________
4. What does “that good night” seem to refer to? _______________________________________________
5. The speaker describes how several different people approach “that good night.” What does the repetition
of the poem tell us and/or imply about them?
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6. Use your observations about this poem to analyze and interpret what you think this poem has to say about
death. Be specific and detailed. Write at least 4-6 sentences.
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Death of the Ball Turret Gunner – RANDALL JARRELL
From my mother’s sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.
*Note: "A ball turret was a Plexiglas sphere set into the belly of a B-17 or B-24, and inhabited by two .50 caliber machineguns and one man, a short small man. When this gunner tracked with his machine guns a fighter attacking his bomber from
below, he revolved with the turret; hunched upside-down in his little sphere, he looked like the fetus in the womb. The
fighters which attacked him were armed with cannon firing explosive shells. The hose was a steam hose." -- Jarrell
1. What do you think the following words refer to – mother, state, belly, and fur?
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2. How does the contextual note help the last two lines of the poem to make sense? What is happening in the
last two lines?
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3. What is implied by the length of the poem?
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4. What is the connection between the word “dream” in line 3 and the word “nightmare” in line 4? What
does this metaphor describe? (Also consider the word “woke” in line 4.)
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5. Based on your observations and analysis of the poem, what does this poem seem to say about the value
placed upon an individual’s life during war-time? (3-4 sentences)
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love is more thicker than forget – e.e. cummings
love is more thicker than forget
more thinner than recall
more seldom than a wave is wet
more frequent than to fail
it is most mad and moonly
and less it shall unbe
than all the sea which only
is deeper than the sea
love is less always than to win
less never than alive
less bigger than the least begin
less littler than forgive
it is most sane and sunly
and more it cannot die
than all the sky which only
is higher than the sky
1. Analyze the rhyme scheme of the poem using letters at the ends of each line.
2. In one word, what is the primary topic of this poem? _________________________________________
3. List 7-10 observations about this poem that are unusual or potentially significant to the overall meaning.
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4. List at least four of the abstract statements that the speaker seems to make about love. What do you think
these statements mean?
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5. Using your observations and analysis of the poem, what do you think is the overall statement, feeling, or
idea that this poem conveys? (3-4 sentences)
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