shows the poem and some of the student’s notes on the poem’s stylistic devices—what he determined to be the key literary element. ANALYSIS LOG 1 What happens Line 1 DICTION: = hope, “dream” to a dream aspiration for the future. deferred? = to delay temporarily, “defer” to give in to someone else. 2 Does it dry up Lines 2–3 SIMILE: Deferred dream shrivels. 3 like a raisin in the sun? Lines 4–5 SIMILE: Deferred dream becomes diseased, infected. 4 Or fester like a sore— Line 6 SIMILE: Deferred dream stinks of decay. 5 And then run? Lines 7–8 SIMILE: Deferred dream is sickeningly sweet. 6 Does it stink like rotten meat? Lines 9–10 SIMILE: Deferred dream is a burden; it weighs the dreamer 7 Or crust and down. sugar over— Line 11 METAPHOR: Deferred dream is a 8 like a syrupy bomb that explodes and sweet? destroys. 9 Maybe it just sags Possible THEME: A dream deferred causes destruction. This is the answer to the 10 like a heavy poem’s question. load. 11 Or does it explode? Practice and #2 Read your poem several times. Create an analysis log. Write Your Thesis Now, summarize your main idea about the poem in a coherent or two The Key Point thesis statement—one sentences that make the focus of your analysis clear to your audience. The student analyzing Dream Deferred” “A wrote the following thesis statement while prewriting. He later fine-tuned it to better fit the introduction to his analysis.
shows the poem and some of the student’s notes on the poem’s stylistic devices—what he determined to be the key literary element. ANALYSIS LOG 1 What happens to a dream deferred? 2 Does it dry up 3 like a raisin in the sun? 4 Or fester like a sore— 5 And then run? 6 Does it stink like rotten meat? 7 Or crust and sugar over— 8 like a syrupy sweet? 9 Maybe it just sags 10 like a heavy load. 11 Or does it explode? Line 1 DICTION: “dream” = hope, aspiration for the future. “defer” = to delay temporarily, to give in to someone else. Lines 2–3 SIMILE: Deferred dream shrivels. Lines 4–5 SIMILE: Deferred dream becomes diseased, infected. Line 6 SIMILE: Deferred dream stinks of decay. Lines 7–8 SIMILE: Deferred dream is sickeningly sweet. Lines 9–10 SIMILE: Deferred dream is a burden; it weighs the dreamer down. Line 11 METAPHOR: Deferred dream is a bomb that explodes and destroys. Possible THEME: A dream deferred causes destruction. This is the answer to the poem’s question. Practice and #2 Read your poem several times. Create an analysis log. Write Your Thesis The Key Point Now, summarize your main idea about the poem in a coherent thesis statement—one or two sentences that make the focus of your analysis clear to your audience. The student analyzing “A Dream Deferred” wrote the following thesis statement while prewriting. He later fine-tuned it to better fit the introduction to his analysis.
writing_poetry_workshop_la.docx