Poetry Close Reading
“Harlem” by Langston Hughes
Name:
Directions:
1. 1st Reading: Read the poem and, in the boxes provided, write down what each stanza means in your
own words.
2. 2nd Reading: Underline any figurative language (metaphors, similes, personification, symbolism,
hyperbole), identify it in your annotations, and write down what it means.
3. 3rd Reading: Annotate the rhyme scheme if it has one.
4. Analysis Questions: Complete the corresponding questions after you have completed readings 1-3.
“Harlem” 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?
Analysis Questions: Answer on a separate sheet of paper.
1. Define the word deferred. What is a “dream deferred?”
2. Hughes uses 5 similes to describe dreams that have been deferred. Be sure to annotate and explain those
in the poem. What do these similes have in common?
3. Refer to the last line of the poem. Hughes uses an implied metaphor (a comparison of two unlike things
without directly stating what the two things are). What two things are being compared? What does this
metaphor mean?
4. How does the meaning of the poem relate to the first line?
5. What is the theme of the poem? Remember to create a theme statement, not a topic.
6. What is the tone of the poem? Remember that tone is the author’s attitude toward the subject.
a. Author/Speaker =
b. Subject of Poem =
c. Tone =
Multiple Choice Questions
“Harlem” by Langston Hughes
Name:
Choose the best answer for each of the following questions.
1. You can infer that Hughes intended the poem to refer to the experiences of what group of people?
a. Artists
b. African Americans
c. Politicians
d. Native Americans
2. Which word best describes the tone of the poem?
a. Tense and frustrated
b. Spiritual and gentle
c. Humorous and lighthearted
d. Satisfied and calm
3. The title “Harlem” functions as
a. An analogy
b. Irony
c. A simile
d. A symbol
4. Lines 9 and 10 contain what type of imagery?
a. Sight
b. Sound
c. Touch
d. Both a and c
5. The first line is an example of
a. A rhetorical question
b. Symbolism
c. A simile
d. Imagery