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Dreams, Hopes, and Plans Videos 18 videos
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Dream Deferred (Hughes) 23155 Views
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Description:
Imagine if dreams really could come true. This is the question that Langston Hughes ponders in his poem "Dream Deferred."
Transcript
- 00:08
Dream Deferred, a la Shmoop. Everyone has dreams.
- 00:13
Okay, some have a better chance of coming true. . .
- 00:16
. . .than others. . .
- 00:17
. . .but it doesn’t stop us from dreaming. However… what happens when you have to put
- 00:23
those dreams on hold? Langston Hughes . . .
Full Transcript
- 00:27
. . .obviously thought it was an important question.
- 00:30
. So, let’s think about it. . .
- 00:33
. . .what does happen to a postponed dream?
- 00:36
Does it get stashed away in the “things I meant to do but never got around to” box.
- 00:43
. .
- 00:43
. . .forgotten like… yesterday’s homework? When you grow up and have to concentrate on
- 00:48
other stuff. . .
- 00:49
. . .there’s a distinct possibility. . .
- 00:50
. . .that a dream or two will bite the dust. But maybe dreams are never forgotten. . .
- 00:57
. . . instead, maybe they “dry up like a raisin in the sun” . . .
- 01:00
. . .leaving us frustrated thinking about what might have been.
- 01:04
Langston Hughes used that analogy in his poem. . .
- 01:06
. . .and Lorraine Hansberry liked it enough to “borrow” it for the title of her play.
- 01:11
. .
- 01:11
. . .about the broken dreams of a black family in the ‘50s.
- 01:18
So is that dried up piece of fruit supposed to be a stand-in for unrealized dreams. . .
- 01:23
. . . that leave you empty and hopeless?
- 01:25
Or maybe the poem’s last line. . .
- 01:26
. . .holds a clue about what really happens to unfulfilled dreams.
- 01:31
Maybe Hughes is suggesting that they could actually be dangerous . . .
- 01:33
. . .leading to social unrest and revolution. So, what’s your verdict?
- 01:39
Are deferred dreams forgotten when the real world gets a hold of us. . .
- 01:42
. . .do they shrivel up and make us bitter. . .
- 01:44
. . .or will they eventually blow up in our faces?
- 01:50
Shmoop amongst yourselves.
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