SHATTERING THE DARKNESS

A detailed Summary of SHATTERING THE DARKNESS

In the poem "As I Grew Older " by Langston Hughes, a young man is thinking about his goals and that he cannot achieve them because of racial prejudice. The theme of the poem is that prejudice is used to keep people from accomplishing their dreams. Hughes expresses this idea by using imagery, anaphora, and a symbol.

Imagery helps Hughes to show how prejudice is used to keep people from accomplishing their goals. In the beginning of the poem, Hughes talks about a dream he has had and says, "In front of [Me]/ Bright like the sun/ [My] dream." The sun represents his dream. The image of the bright sun suggests how important and big his dream is. In the middle of the poem, as he grows older, he talks about a wall saying, "And then the wall rose...Dimming, Hiding, The light of my drea

Hughes uses a symbol to show how prejudice is used to keep people from accomplishing their dreams. First, Hughes uses the word "dream" to symbolize his goal. As he is young, he says, "In front of me, /Bright like the sun---/My dream." He is young and ambitious and he is aware of his goals. As he grows older the poet creates another symbol using the word "wall" to mean the prejudice. Then the poet says, "And then the wall rose...Between me and my dream. /Rose slowly, slowly, /Dimming, /Hiding, /the light of my dream." Now, the poet sees this wall there blocking his dream.

Hughes uses anaphora to show that prejudice is used to keep people from accomplishing their dreams. In the beginning of the poem, Hughes talks about the obstacle between him and his dream as he says, "And then the wall rose,/ Rose sl

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Approximate Word count = 548
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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SHATTERING THE DARKNESS

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