Responding to Deferred Dreams – Lesson

Posted: October 14, 2016

Langston Hughes’ 11 lines of his poem “Harlem” teach a powerful lesson about the varied responses a person can have to a dream that has been denied, or pushed away. And though this poem was written over sixty years ago, the life skills lesson this poem presents is all too relevant to our students’ lives today.

We have created an English / Life Skills lesson that can be used in grades 8 – 10 and teaches students to analyze both poetry and their personal responses to deferred dreams. In this lesson, students analyze the effect of Hughes’ use of imagery and similes/metaphor in each line in order to understand the real implications behind Hughes’ words. Students then internally reflect on their reaction to a deferred dream of their own to determine whether they reacted with a positive or negative response. The final activity in the lesson guides students to use their deferred dream as a catalyst to create a positive change.

Click here here to access this lesson.