A 1936 photo of poet Langston Hughes. Photo by: Carl Van Vechten. This work is from the Carl Van Vechten Photographs collection at the Library of Congress. Public Domain
By
Langston Hughes
Text Type
Poem
Words
77
Published
1951
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?
Copyright Credit: Langston Hughes, “Harlem” from The Collected Works of Langston Hughes. Copyright © 2002 by Langston Hughes. Reprinted by permission of Harold Ober Associates, Inc.
Directions: Think back to the photographs we studied in Lesson 1. Choose one image that you think best responds to the prompt below and be ready to share your ideas. Partner A, share your image choice and one detail from the photo. Partner B, listen for the details and then share your own.
Which image best shows dreaming, and what details lead to that inference?
Based on the opening line of “Harlem,” what do you predict this poem will explore?
Poetry Close Read
Directions: You are going to experience this poem three ways: silently on the page, through audio, and through our own voices. Each time, notice something new about how Hughes shapes the idea of a deferred dream.
Read the poem silently once. Then write 2–3 sentences answering the question: What is this poem about?
Directions: Now listen to the audio recording. Pay attention to the reader’s pauses, emphasis, and tone.
What did you notice in the audio version that you did not notice on the page?
What did the reader's voice do that the punctuation or line breaks could not do by themselves?
Directions: Circle every punctuation mark you see in the poem. Then we will stand and read the poem aloud sentence by sentence, paying attention to how the punctuation changes our pace.
What pattern do you notice in the punctuation?
Why might Hughes end with the shortest question, "Or does it explode?"
Comparing Poetic Mediums
What does the page show you that the audio cannot?
How does seeing those choices on the page affect your experience of the poem?
Why do you think Hughes asks a series of questions instead of giving one final answer?
Pulse Check |
|---|
Which feature of the printed poem most strongly builds tension in a way the audio alone cannot fully show? |
A. The poem includes the word dream. B. The final line stands alone after white space. C. The reader pauses between questions. D. The poem is short and compact. |
Directions: Look back at the class-selected photograph and at the poem “Harlem.” Write a short response that answers both parts of this question:
“What dream might this person have? How might it be deferred?” Use at least one specific visual detail from the photograph and one specific detail from the poem to support your opinion.
