Poetic Motifs: Concepts of Dreams Deferred in Langston Hughes' "Harlem" ("Montage of a Dream Deferred") and "A Raisin in the Sun."
Objective: SWBAT analyze the representation of a the concept of dreams in two different artistic mediums: Langston Hughes' "Harlem" and the play, "A Raisin in the Sun."
Big Idea: What happens to a dream deferred; how does the concept of "dreams" develop in "A Raisin in the Sun"? Whose dreams are met; whose are deferred?
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We open today's class with a welcome to National Hamburger Day, and briefly discuss cheeseburgers vs hamburgers. As with all Daily Holidays, my objective is to build a sense of community, class identity, and trust in the classroom.
I note to students that we will be moving quickly between material today as we are coming up to the end of the school year, and I wish to share as wide a variety of material as possible these last few days, in order to provide them with a breadth of cultural literacy.
Langston Hughes' poem, "Harlem (Montage of a Dream Deferred)," opens the play "A Raisin in the Sun", inspires its title, and serves to highlight the driving theme of the play: the dreams of the Younger family and their loss or fulfillment. As we read the poem, students use the Harlem Renaissance Poetry Study Guide they have already received to determine the use of poetic devices and figurative language and their impact on the tone of loss in the poem (RL.9-10.4), and how those images and the tone reflect the characters of "A Raisin in the Sun" (RL.9-10.7).
We also identify how these images develop the theme of dreams set aside and not fulfilled as this theme develops over the poem (RL.9-10.2). Through this analysis, students will also draw comparisons between the representation in two different artistic mediums: the poem and the play, "A Raisin in the Sun" (RL.9-10.7).
We focus on a teacher-led discussion today in order to utilize time as efficiently as possible and to attempt to keep students focused this last week of school.
With two minutes remaining, I provide students with copies of Carl Sandburg's poems, "Chicago" and "Grass", and ask students to read the poems for class tomorrow, responding to the attached questions. Students will be drawing connections and contrasts between the culture of Chicago in "A Raisin in the Sun" and that as portrayed in Sandburg's poem, "Chicago." ("Grass" is used to review and connect with ideas of Naturalism from the start of the semester.) I also offer an opportunity to ask any questions students may have regarding their upcoming final exam.
