Montage to a Dream Deferred
Langston Hughes

[ Read silently, then aloud]  

I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the	“Harlem”
kitchen
When company comes,	What happens to a dream
But I laugh,	deferred?
And eat well,
And grow strong.	Does it dry up
	Like a raisin in the sun?
Tom orrow,	Or fester like a sore—
I’ll be at the table	And then run?
When company comes.	Does it stink like rotten
Nobody’ll dare	meat?
Say to me	Or crust and sugar over –
“Eat in the kitchen,	like a syrupy sweet?
Then.
	Maybe it just sags
Besides,	like a heavy load.
They’ll see how beautiful I
am	Or does it explode?
And be ashamed --
	[1951]
I, too am America.
	[1925]

[ Discussion:

1. Why do you think Hansberry chose this poem as her preface?
2. Place the definitions on the screen with projector: defer, fester, Montage.
3. What central question does the poem ask?
4. Rather than present his audience with the answer to the poem’s central question, Hughes develops the poem using a series of questions. Analyze the similes and metaphors using Figurative Language Chart. Discuss responses.
5. Although the poem is phrased as a list of questions, Hughes is making a statement.

• What is Hughes’ message about dreams deferred?
• How do “dreams deferred” relate to the American Dream?]