Answer Key
1. Who is the speaker in the poem?
The speaker in the poem is the poet himself, Lanston Hughes, a black
American (or African-American).
2. There are three clear time frames in the poem. What are they? What happens
in each one?
Time frame
The past
The present
The future
What happens
In his youth, the
speaker had a
dream. It was
wonderful,
“bright like the
sun”.
There is a wall
which prevents
the speaker
from achieving
his dream. The
wall is casting a
shadow over the
speaker, making
his life
depressing,
pessimistic.
His future plan is
to fight against the
wall and do
everything he can
to break it down
and fulfill not only
his first dream but
also many others
(a thousand lights
of sun).
3. When the poet says But it was there then in “As I Grew Older,” what do the
words “it” and “then” refer to?
The word “it” refers to the speaker's dream. The word “then” refers to
the speaker's youth, the time before the wall rose.
4. Find the simile in the poem “As I Grew Older” and explain the comparison.
The simile is “bright like the sun”. The speaker is comparing his dream to
the sun. Without the sun, humans as we know them could not exist. In
addition to light, the sun gives us life. Just like the sun, the dream gives
the speaker optimisim (brightness and light). Moreover, his dream gives
him a reason to live.
5. Find an example of each of the following techniques in the poem, and explain
why you think the author used the technique:
rhyme
repetition
imagery
Rhyme:
It is generally agreed that the poem has no traditional rhyming scheme. The
repetition is what creates the rhythm of the poem, the “rhyme”. Examples are:
my dream / bright / light / sun / wall / rose / slowly / shadow / my hands / into
a thousand.
Repetition:
Many words are repeated throughout the poem. Some examples are: It was /
I / me / my dream / then / before / bright / light / sun / wall / rose / slowly /
shadow / only / my hands / this / into a thousand. (Students – suggestion:
choose three significant ones (such as my dream, bright, sun, wall, rose, my
hands) and remember them.) This repetition creates a rhythm.
At the beginning of the poem, lines 1-6, the rhythm is steady, easy. There is no
repetition of words. The speaker is telling a gentle story.
In part two, lines 7-19, there is repetition of words. Also, there are many lines
with only one or two words. The combination of repetition and short lines is like
boxing punches. They come repeat quickly to do their damage, achieve their
goal. In this case, the combination makes the poet's point about how damaging
this was for him.
In the final part, lines 20-29, while there is still repetition, the lines are longer.
Also, there is the use of exclamation points. Both of these create a feeling of
energy and positive action. The speaker has a plan. He knows what he is going
to do and has the motivation to do it.
Imagery:
One example of the poem's imagery is the use of light and dark. The speaker's
dream is “bright like the sun”. The oppressive wall blocks the dream's light and
casts a dark shadow over the speaker. In this poem, light represents hope,
optimisim, and equal opportunities. Darkness sometimes represents racism,
discrimination, and the pessimism which these cause. However, darkness also
represents power because it is the poet's “dark hands” which are going to fight
against the wall. The poet uses the imagery of light and dark to better enable
us feel how he felt. This helps us to understand his poem better.
One example of the poem's imagery is the metaphor of “the wall”. Walls are
significant obstacles. We know that the poet was himself a black American. (or
African-American). Thus, we can infer that the wall represents racism and
descrimination. These are the forces which prevented people like him from
achieving their goals (dreams) in America at that time. The wall is huge. It
blocks the light from his dream and casts a shadow over himself. This wall is
almost undefeatable. The poet uses this metaphor to enable us feel how he
felt. This helps us to understand his poem better.
6. The following objects in the poem also act as symbols. Explain what each
one represents:
The wall
Walls are significant obstacles. The wall in this poem is huge. It blocks the light
from his dream and casts a shadow over himself. This wall is almost
undefeatable. We know that the poet was himself a black American. (or AfricanAmerican). Thus, we can infer that the wall symbolizes racism and
descrimination. These are the forces which prevented people like him from
achieving their goals (dreams) in America at that time.
Shadow
Shadows are caused by objects which block light. That is, the presence of a
shadow means that there is an “evil” object blocking the light. In this poem,
light represents optimism and hope. Thus, we can infer that the shadow
symbolizes pessimism and lack of hope.
Dark hands
The dark hands in the poem symbolize two things. On the one hand, they
represent the reason the speaker is “in the shadow” in the first place; he is a
black American (or African-American). At that time, blacks (or AfricanAmericans) in America were subjected to racism and discrimination. As a
result, they did not have equal opportunity to achieve their dreams. On the
other hand, the dark hands symbolize the speaker's power. He is going to use
his personal strength and motivation to “smash the wall”. That is, to fight
against the forces which are keeping him from achieving his dream.