Poetry
Analysis of Langston Hughes
“A Dream Deferred”
What are the Elements of
poetry?
Speaker: the voice of the poem
Subject: what the poem is about
Audience: the person the speaker is talking to
Tone: the way the speaker feels about the
subject
Theme: the underlaying message of the poem
Stanza: a group of lines (like paragraphs)
Rhyme scheme: a regular pattern of rhyming
in the poem
What devices do poets use?
Imagery:
descriptive writing that appeals to the senses
Symbolism:
any object that represents or stands for
something else
Repetition:
Simile:
the repeating of words, lines, or phrases
a comparison of two unlike things using like or as
Metaphor:
a comparison of two unlike things without
using like or as
Personification:
to inanimate objects
the giving of human qualities or traits
What devices do poets use?
Alliteration:
the repetition of initial consonant sounds
Onomatopoeia:
Hyperbole:
Irony:
words that represent sounds
a deliberate exaggeration
the difference between what is expected, and what
actually happens
What are the steps to
analyzing a poem?
Read the poem. What is your general
impression? Did you like it – yes or no?
 Identify the tone of the poem – is it happy or sad?
Silly or serious?
Read it again and paraphrase it (put it in your
own words).
 Identify the speaker, audience, subject and theme.
Read it one last time to identify the literary
devices used.
Finally – discuss the poem with a friend!
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?
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—
Tone:
Questioning,
judgmental, warning
Speaker:
Someone who
is bitter about
having his
dreams put off
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?
Audience:
Society
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?
Subject:
A series of rhetorical
questions about living
with disappointment
Themes:
•Having to
postpone one’s
deepest desires
can lead to
destruction or
destructive
behavior
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?
Paraphrase:
What happens to your
dreams when they are put
off?
Do they shrivel and die, or
just eat away at you and
make you sick?
Do they rot away, or do you
try to cover up the loss of
your dreams by convincing
yourself “it’s not so bad”?
Or maybe the burden of your
unrealized dreams drag you
down like an unbearable
load.
Or do they build up until you
can’t take it anymore?
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?
alliteration:
“dream deferred”
similes:
“dry up like a rasin in the sun”
“fester like a sore-”
“stink like rotten meat”
Sugar over-Like a syrupy
sweet?”
“sag like a heavy load”
imagery:
“raisin in the sun”
“fester like a sore”
“stink like rotten meat”
“heavy load”
“explode”
A Dream Deferred
by Langston Hughes
What happens to a dream deferred?
repetition:
“does it”
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?
Rhyme scheme:
“sun-run”
“meat-sweet”
“load-explode”
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
metaphor:
“does it explode?”
Read
Poetry
The end