1. Hilltop High School English 9 PLC
Analyzing Poetry Figures of Speech & Imagery in “A Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes
Hilltop High School English 9 PLC

2. Figures of Speech
Figure of Speech- is always based on a comparison, and it is not literally true.
Simile- two dissimilar things are compared using a word such as like, as, than, or resembles.
For Example: when describing March as “in like a lion, out like a lamb”.

3. Figures of Speech
Metaphor- is a comparison between two unlike things in which one thing becomes another thing without the use of a word such as like or as.
For Example: “life is a roller coaster”.

4. Figures of Speech
Direct Metaphor- directly compares the two things using a verb as is.
For Example: when a sportscaster calls an athlete a “warrior”.

5. Figures of Speech
Implied Metaphor- implies and suggests the comparison between the two things without stating it directly.
For Example: when a sportscaster says that an athlete’s “ability is beginning to blossom”. (the athlete is likened to a flower).

6. Figures of Speech
Personification- is a special kind of metaphor in which human qualities are given to something that is not human- an animal, an object, or even an idea.
For Example: when a weather person describes the sun as “smiling down on us”.

7. Symbol
A symbol is often an ordinary object, event, person, or animal to which we have attached extraordinary meaning and significance.
For example: We use a rectangle of dyed cloth to symbolize a country. We use a picture of a skull and crossbones to stand for poison or danger. We send red roses as a symbol of love.

8. Symbols in literature Why Don’t Writers Just Say What They Mean?
Symbols allow writers to suggest layers and layers of meaning- possibilities that a simple, literal statement could never convey. A symbol is like a pebble cast into the pond: it sends out ever-widening ripples of meaning.

9. Imagery
Imagery- Imagery is one of the elements that give poetry its forcefulness. Images are basically copies of things you can see; but images in poetry can do even more than help us see things.
Image- is a single word or phrase that appeals to one of our senses:

10. Imagery
Our Senses:
Sight
Touch
Taste
Smell
Hear

11. Imagery
Poets emphasize, with words, certain aspects they want their reader to notice. In the following examples two poets describe a house. Each emphasizes a different aspect of the house.

12. Imagery
It is through the imagery in the poem that the reader sees the certain twist or aspect the poet intends the reader to notice. See if you can detect, through the imagery, what the poet wants you to see through each example:

13. Imagery “Through broken walls and gray
The winds blow bleak and shrill;
They are all gone away.”
What aspect of a house does the poet want the reader to notice? How is the house described?

14. Imagery
“There are bees in this wall.” He struck the
clapboards,
Fierce heads looked out; small bodies pivoted.
We rose to go. Sunset blazed on the windows.”
What aspect of a house does the writer want the reader to notice? How is the house described?

15. Imagery
A poet’s style-Imagery is part of a poet’s style. It is the product of the poet’s own way of seeing the world.
Just as we learn to recognize certain painters at once by noticing the colors and shapes that mark their works, we learn to identify poets by paying attention to their imagery.

16. Imagery
Poets who live in cities will usually draw upon street scenes while poets who live far from cities usually draw their images from what they see of country life.

17. Analyzing Poetry
Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri, and graduated from high school in Ohio. His father wanted to discourage his son’s “impractical” dream of being a writer, so he sent him to Columbia University to study engineering. The young writer was not happy, so he left Columbia to travel the world.

18. Langston Hughes
Eventually, he graduated from Lincoln University and worked odd jobs to support his writing. Hughes is known as one of the great original voices in American literature.

19. A Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Does it dry up
Maybe it just sags
like a raisin in the sun?
like a heavy load.
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Or does it explode? 

20. Diction in “Dream Deferred”
“defer”= to delay temporarily, to give in to someone else
What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore— And then run?
“dream”= hope for the future
“fester”= to become infected, to irritate
“sore”=a wound, causing misery

21. Imagery in “Dream Deferred”
What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore— And then run?
sight, touch, taste,
smell
sight, touch
sight,
touch,
smell

22. Does it stink like rotten meat
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?
smell,sight
touch,
smell,
sight,
taste
touch, sight
touch, sight, hearing

23. Figurative Language in “Dream Deferred”
Simile: Deferred dream shrivels like a raisin
What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore— And then run?
Simile: Deferred dream becomes diseased, infected like a sore

24. Simile: Deferred dream stinks of decay like rotten meat
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?
Simile: Deferred dream stinks of decay like crusty syrup
Simile: deferred dream is a burden; it weighs the dreamer down

25. Does it stink like rotten meat
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?
Metaphor: deferred dream is a bomb that explodes and destroys.
Possible Theme: a deferred dream causes destruction. This is the answer to the poem’s question.