In Langston Hughes’s poem “I Dream…

English Questions

In Langston Hughes’s poem “I Dream a World,” how does the repetition of the word “dream” emphasize the themes of fantasy versus reality, the pursuit of equality, and the impact of oppression on the realization of dreams?

Answer

The correct answer is the belief that dreams often remain unrealized due to oppression. In the fourth four-line unit, the skepticism becomes apparent as Hughes describes a dream world where misery has been replaced by joy, suggesting that such a reality can only exist in his imagination. In “I Dream a World,” Hughes is the dreamer, and the reader is also invited to share in this dreaming experience, reflecting a collective aspiration. Each four-line unit implicitly addresses the reality that Hughes’s dream aims to remedy, with his contrasting visions of the world articulated throughout the poem.

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