For my fourth quarter exam, I’ve decided to do the unthinkable. I’ve decided to analyze a poem and write about it and its author. During freshman year, I remember learning about Langston Hughes, a poet from the Harlem Renaiss

I decided to go back in time and ended up researching Langston Hughes and his poem “A Dream Deferred.” Hughes was a black poet of the 1920’s whose poetry was greatly influenced by the Harlem Renaissance. Believe it or not, Hughes’s life was actually rather interesting to observe and it was obvious that the mood of Harlem, including the impact jazz music played on people, as well as the trials and tribulations he faced everyday, was highly reflective throughout his writing. During Harlem, African Americans were finally on the verge of spreading their wings in the areas of art, music and literature. They were making their mark in the world, regardless of their acceptance among whites. Jazz was coming of age, and Langston Hughes, as well as other poets of the time including Claude McKay and Zora Neale Hurston, would play jazz music to accompany their poetry. They would play in local clubs and the ironic part of it all was that the audience was predominately white. Whites were falling in love with jazz. They felt that this so-called “black music had a soulful, almost sexual vibe” and they ultimately enjoyed it. The dreams of African Americans were ready to take flight, and could no longer be stifled by white men.

ance. My teacher would talk and talk about him and his poetry, but I never really tuned in to what

Some topics in this essay:
English Science, Harlem Renaissance, Deferred” Hughes, Neale Hurston, Dream Deferred”, African Americans, Believe Hughes’s, Honors English, Langston Hughes, dream deferred”, harlem renaissance, “a dream, “a dream deferred”, , langston hughes, i’ve decided, deferred dream, dream deferred” hughes, jazz music, dreams black, reading analyzing, black dreams,