Analysis of Langston Hughes Harlem (Dream Deferred) :: Hughes Harlem Dream Deferred Essays

Analysis of Harlem (Dream Deferred) Langston Hughes's poem "Dream Deferred" is basically about what happens to dreams when they are put on hold. Hughes probably intended for the poem to focus on the dreams of African-Americans in particular because he originally entitled the poem "Harlem," which is the capital of African American life in the United States; however, it is just as easy to read the poem as being about dreams in general and what happens when people postpone making them come true. Ultimately, Hughes uses a carefully arranged series of images that also function as figures of speech to suggest that people should not delay their dreams because the more they postpone them, the more the dreams will change and the less likely they will come true. In the opening of the poem the speaker uses a visual image that is also a simile to compare a dream deferred to a raisin. The speaker asks the question, "Does it [the dream] dry up / Like a raisin in the sun?" (2-3). Here we can see the raisin, which used to be a moist, taut, healthy-looking grape, has shriveled up to become a raisin. The speaker does not emphasize the appearance of the raisin, so the description isn't as significant as an image as it is as a simile. Why compare a dream deferred to a raisin? Like a raisin, a dream deferred shrivels up and turns dark because the sun has baked it. The emphasis on the sun is important because it stresses time-we measure time by the sun's movement. Like the raisin, the dream has been on hold for a long time-consequently, it has transformed into something very different than it once was. Because they look so different, few people would believe that raisins were once grapes unless they had been told. Similarly, a dream that contin ues to be postponed will go through an evolution as well-it won't be the same as the original.

Breathing Underwater

Breathing Underwater is an interesting story of a young boy’s self discovery. Nick’s journey towards self discovery is somewhat forced upon him when he assaults his girl friend Caitlin. The judge sentences Nick to six months of counseling that involve dealing with anger issues. In addition, due to the fact that nick claims that he doesn’t know how he got into this mess, the judge assigns Nick to write in a journal daily 500 words about what happened in his and Caitlin’s relationship (Finn, 2001). The question of this book is if Nick will lean anything about himself and what he does about it.In addition, it is important to understand that this book is about not judging people’s lives just by looking at them. This book, at first glace has a very odd title; however very early on we get a glimpse at what breathing underwater might mean. The day of the first class, Mario asks all the students if they ever feel like they are breathing underwater and life is coming at you too fast (Finn, 2001, 20). It seems like breathing underwater means that we all are actors in our lives; we try to show people that we are brave when we are actually afraid.Moreover, we are forever trying to show others that we in control of ourselves when in fact we feel completely out of control. Nick hits Caitlin because he feels that he and his life are out of control. However, when he goes to class, he feels as if he doesn’t need anger counseling. In addition, nobody in the class thinks they need to be there. Moreover, when one of the classmates ends up killing is girlfriend and himself, Nick sees that he needs counseling and how anger can and does destroy lives. The end of the book deals with Nick trying to take back his life.He tries to apologize to Caitlin for hitting her and he tells her that he loved her, he and Tom rekindle their friendship, and Nick stands up to his dad. Nick says that he is tired of breathing underwater and by the end of the book he has stopped himself from drowning in his anger. I think this book shows us that there are times when we feel as if we are breathing underwater. It also shows us that there are better ways to manage our anger such as writing about it in a journal. Works Cited Flinn, A. (2001). Breathing Underwater. New York: Harper Collins

Effects of Globalization in Oman Essay

Many new international features are appeared in the world nowadays. Globalization, which is â€Å"The trend toward that increases connectedness across international borders,† as Frisch, M. (2002, P. 2) claims, is one of these features. It effects negatively on the social, economic and politic sides in Oman. To start with, the social side in Oman is affected negatively by the globalization. While communicating with people from all over the world, Omani people lose their identities. For instance, they change their customs and behaviours by imitating people from different cultures and acting like them and according to their strange religious ideas. Furthermore, globalization effects on Omani economic side badly. Statistics shows that Omani economy is in reduce in the farming and fishing parts. That happens because of the globalization which let people leave their simple jobs like fishing and farming and go to work in factories which are built by the big countries in the world that appear the globalization. Therefore, the vegetables and fish are reduced in Oman. Finally, politic side in Oman is affected negatively by the globalization. His Majesty (2002, P. ) said to people that did not let that new movement, globalization, to effect on their personalities because when it happened, it would be easy for the enemies to control their country. In another word, because of the imitation, people become useless and the country becomes which makes it easy to fall in the enemies’ hands. In conclusion, the effects of globalization in Oman are appeared in three sides, in the social, economic and in the politic side. By communicating with people from different countries, imitating and behaving like them, Omani people lose their identity and this leads later on to the weakness of the Omani society.