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?
--Langston Hughes
- What seems to be the poem's story?
- Why do you think it is written in questions?
- Choose one of the similes in the poem above, and for your simile, explain (a) how a dream could be like this object, and (b) the moment or character in the play that best illustrates this simile.
- How might "dreams deferred" relate to the American Dream?
- Why do you think Hansberry decided to use this line from "Harlem" to title her play, A Raisin in the Sun?