USA HISTORY

THE ROARING 20S 1920 1929

ART AND CULTURE OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
In “Harlem, “ line 2 asks, “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” This is an example of the figurative language technique ____
A
onomatopoeia
B
simile
C
personification
D
alliteration
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -Simile: It is a figure of speech used to compare something with something else to make the meanings clear to the readers. For example, “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?”, “Does it stink like rotten meat” and “like a syrupy sweet.” Here are the broken dreams are compared to decaying food items.

Detailed explanation-2: -Written in 1951, Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem” (also known as “A Dream Deferred”) uses figurative language, primarily similes and imagery, to create a powerful image of what happens when a wish is left unfulfilled.

Detailed explanation-3: -A Dried Raisin This use of figurative language is a simile, a type of figurative language that uses “like” or “as” to compare unlike things. The raisin simile is a brilliant and compelling one, because everyone can relate to it.

Detailed explanation-4: -There are three more similes in the second stanza of the poem: “like a sore, ” “like rotten meat, ” and “like a syrupy sweet.” The last simile in the poem is in the third stanza: “like a heavy load.” The poem ends with the line: “Or does it explode?"

Detailed explanation-5: -In the poem “Harlem” by Langston Hughes, several similes are used to portray the reality of dreams. Hughes employs effective metaphors, inviting us to visualize a dream and what may happen to it after it passes from conscious thought. Could a dream dry up like a raisin in the sun?

There is 1 question to complete.