Monday, September 23, 2013

Use Hughes's poem "Dreams" as model to write your own poem. Begin your poem: Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Then create your own...

As you know, we cannot write your assignment for you, but I can help you. This is a poem by Langston Hughes, so I have moved your question to that group. If you read this short poem, you will see that the author uses similes and metaphors to compare to broken dreams - "a broken winged bird that cannot fly" - "a field frozen with snow" so you must do the same. The poem emphasizes that it is important to have dreams, to not let them go - hold fast to them. You could also write about lost dreams.


Think about a dream that you once had that did not materialize. How did you feel? What images came to mind? If you have not experienced this, then you will have to make something up. Think about something that someone your age would possibly really dream about - getting into a good post-secondary school, having a boyfriend/girlfriend, getting a spiffy new Apple iPad, or it can be something loftier like world peace, the end to the war on terrorism. Once you come up with the basic idea of the unrealized dream, then you can conjure up some images for what it represents to you. Once you get your mind working about dreams, you will come up with some images. Think about dreams and how important it is to have them, whether or not they can always be realized, how you feel when they are not realized, is it worth having them? Are they realistic? Does it matter if they are realistic? Can it be hurtful to have them?


You can make it funny as well, although this poem is not funny -- I'm not sure if this will be OK with your teacher, but you will know this. Also, do you have to follow the rhyme scheme of the poem? You will know this as well.


So for example:



Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die


Life is a storm cloud high in the sky


Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams fade


Life is a sugarless, tart lemonade



OK, I know this is totally LAME -- but you can do much better. I just wanted to give you an example that you would not be tempted to "borrow" since it is so lame.

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