An extension of the poem by
Langston Hughes
Adapted from Mensa for Kids by Sherilyn Hansen
 Follow the slides in order at your own pace.
 Read “Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes
 Answer the questions in complete sentences (the
what). Provide details to show evidence of high level
thinking (the how and why). Most answers will be in
the form of a short paragraph.
A phrase connoting hope for prosperity and
happiness, often symbolized by having a house of
one’s own. It was first applied to immigrants, and
now embodies the idea that one’s children’s social
and economic condition will be better than one’s
own.
 utopia: a perfect place
 dystopia: a place of misery
 vice: immoral conduct
 savage: uncivilized or wild
 pastoral: country setting
 consummation: to bring to completion or perfection
 desolation: ruin
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Does it fester like a soreAnd then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar overlike a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it just explode?
This poem was published in 1951. What happened in
America after that year that seems like a fulfillment
of Hughes’ idea?
2. According to the poem, what does timing have to do
with dreams?
3. In what way can the American Dream become
dystopic?
1.
The following series of paintings by Thomas Cole are
based on a poem by Byron. The poem is about the rise
and fall of humanity.
There was the moral of all human tales;
This but the same rehearsal of the past
First Freedom, then Glory: when that fails
Wealth, vice, corruption
4. Paraphrase the poem by Byron.
5. Describe an instance whereby something good
was achieved, only to have it turn into
something bad. You may draw from history or a
personal event.
6. Study the series of paintings that comprise
Thomas Cole’s work, The Course of the Empire.
Answer the questions above each painting; they will
help you with the next section.
Which paintings are utopic? Which are
dystopic?
8. How can the paintings be an appropriate
metaphor for the rise and fall of America?
9. What stage do you think America is in today:
7.
9a. socially?
9b. environmentally?
9c. economically?
9d. politically?
Support each of your answers with reasons as to why
you think this.
10.
Do you think the American Dream exists
today? Defend your answer with sound
reasoning. Revisit Slide #3 if you need to review
what the American Dream is.
11.
Assuming it will be achievable, describe
your vision of the American dream as it
applies to you.
 Proofread your answers. Be sure you wrote paragraphs
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that contain complete sentences.
Staple the pages together.
Write your name and period # on the first page.
Write “Dream Deferred” PowerPoint as the title.
Place your homework in your binder so you can turn it
in on time.
 RI9.1: Cite strong and thorough evidence to support analysis of what
the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
 RI9.2: Determine a central idea and analyze its development over the
course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined
by specific details.
 RI9.3: Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or
events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are
introduced and developed, and connections drawn between them.