Gamma Rays Post #4 - "A Dream Deferred" and Gamma Rays
This is the fourth homework blog posting...
Langston Hughes, the poet who wrote "Dreams" from an earlier post, also wrote "A Dream Deferred." In both poems Hughes address the power of dreams. Likewise, Zindel's play The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds deals with the impact dreams have on human beings, both for the power they have to instill hope and the emotional havoc wrought by broken dreams. Now that we've read most of Gamma Rays, read "A Dream Deferred." Which character do you think this poem speaks to the most in the play? Hughes uses several evocative similes. What lines can you connect to incidents and events from the play? Explain your connections.
A Dream Deferred*
What happens to a dream deferred*?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
by Langston Hughes
44 comments:
I think this poem speaks to Beatrice because when she was younger she had many dreams but they are drying up like a raisin in the sun. They are drying up because she not doing any thing for her dreams she is just leting them go to waste. Maybe it just sags like a heavy load because when you're thinking about your dreams they are just sagging in your head, you can't get them out of your head.
I think this poem also relates to Beatrice. She let go of her dreams and put them off to the side. Now she is looking back on them and calling her life now terrible. She pushed her dreams away and now she is regretting it. You can see the regret explode everytime she yells at Tillie or talks about what she should have done. It deffinetley hangs over her shoulders like a heavy load.
Per.4
I think this poem connects to memories that Beatruce has.Beatrice had bad memories when she was a kid because kids made fun of her. Beatrice was also really smart when she was young just like Tillie. Beatrice let go of her dreams and now its haunting her in a way. She never moved on from her bad highschool experience. She never learned to move and that you can only change the future, you can't change what has already happend. You just have to pass through life trying to make the best it can be.
-Liz Pirrone
"A Dream Deferred," written by Langston Hughes, speaks to Beatrice. Beatrice had many dreams that never came true, or as written in the poem, “dry up like a raisin in the sun.” She never held onto her own dreams and now that Tillie has dreams she is feeling proud of her and I don’t think that she wants Tillie to make the same mistakes as she did. Beatrice never held onto her dreams and she just let them go, never gave them a chance.. “Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.” In the story now, you can tell that Beatrice is regretting her mistakes and I’m sure she would do anything to start over. Constantly she is complaining about her life and mainly takes it out on the two girls, but its only her fault. She can’t change the past, only make the future better for her and the girls.
Period 1
in my opinion, this poem referrs to beatrice. she claims to have had all these dreams of being and dancer and all this and all that, and yet none of it happened. maybe it was because she got married and had kids, but maybe it was because she lacked the confidence to truley go after them. perhaps there were never chances, no role calls. But, we can only wonder until the truth comes out.
I think this poem relates to Beatrice. Beatrice had bad experiences growing up with people making fun of her so now she has no dreams and its chasing up with her. "Maybe it just sags like a heavy load." that also relates to Beatrice because she has it sag and hang on her for the rest of her life. She wish's she never gave up those dreams because your dreams come best when your young. She is always Constantly complaining about her life and takes it out on the two girls, but its truly her fault.
I think the poem “A Dream Deferred” speaks the most to Beatrice. Beatrice didn’t follow her dreams. I think she regrets not following her dreams. A line in the poem that stuck out to me was “Maybe it just sags like a heavy lode.” Since Beatrice didn’t follow her dreams she feels a heavy lode is on her from the dreams she didn’t follow. Now that Tillie is following her dreams Beatrice doesn’t want Tillie to make a mistake. For example, Beatrice was very proud to have Tillie be in a science fair. Beatrice constantly thinks of the things that happened in the past, but she can only change the future. The word deferred is in the poem. Deferred is to delay or put off an action. Beatrice deferred her dreams and never followed them. Since she delayed her dreams she regrets it and wants her daughters to follow their dreams.
Period 1
I think the poem, “A Dream Deferred”, by Langston Hughes, relates to Beatrice. I think this because the poem is explaining how a “deferred dream” can affect someone in many ways. In Beatrice’s situation, her “deferred dream” is affecting her in a way that also affects her own daughters. Because Beatrice did not follow her own dreams when she was younger, now that Tillie has dreams of her own, Beatrice is feeling even more regretful about her present life. She shows this by constantly complaining about her life, and putting Tillie down for her actions and perseverance. Deep down, in Beatrice’s eyes, the person that Tillie is becoming is someone whom she wanted to become a long time ago. Now that she is the way she is, she is finding it extremely difficult to change. Deep down inside her I feel that she truly does want herself and her life to change for the better. I think the reason why she is having difficulty doing this is because of her own fear. The lines in the poem that I feel relate most to Beatrice’s situation are, “Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode?” These two lines explain Beatrice’s problem. Because of Beatrice’s regrets, she takes out her anger on her two daughters, when logically; she should be facing the problem head on. She has many regrets from her past, and now, when she sees Tillie believing in herself and starting to follow her own, personal dreams, she has regrets about not doing the same thing.
Period 1
The poem "A Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes speaks the most to Tillie. Tillie has a dream to become an incredible and great scientist. The thing is that she could probably be more advanced in what she is learning about in her science education, but her mother, Beatrice, does not want to be in any part of it. Beatrice dislikes the marigolds that Tillie is growing in their house with cobalt-60. Beatrice always wants Tillie to not go to school and work around the house like picking up the rabbit droppings or taking care of any of the elderly people that live in the extra room they have. When the school calls home, Beatrice has to always be in a negative way with the teachers. She went to the same school and did not enjoy it all. That is why she does not want to do anything with the school or Tillie’s science work. The mother and her other sister are deferring or delaying Tillie’s from coming true. The lines, “Does it stink like rotten meat?” and “Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.” connects to Tillie’s dream of becoming a scientist, because her dream can come true. The thing is it has not and some people know that she can become one. That is why it is stinking and everyone smells or feels that her dream is going to come true, but for now it is awaiting and sitting on her.
I think this poem relates most o Beatrice because she had had many dreams in highschool; and while growing up. "They are all drying up like a raison in the sun." If you think about it it is like having a virus and not doing anything to cure it- so it just gets worse. She just let herself go because in her mind there was and still is nothing she can do to make her dreams of what she wanted to be come true and happen. I think that the reason she is always putting her kids down is because she thinks that since her dreams failed; she thinks that that is what is going to happen to her kids. She doesn't neccessarily thnk that her kids' dreams won't come true, but she is just assuming that history is going to repeat itself.
Some incidents that I can connect from the play are- when Beatrice is trying to convine Tillie to stay home from school just to (basically be like a stepford wife- house wife) and pick up the rabbit droppings. She doesn't want her going to school b/c she thinks that being a house wife is more rewarding to/from her point of view.
(^w/ the above)
I think that this poem speaks to Tillie the most. In the last poem I focused more on Beatrice and her dreams, but I think that this poem connects to Tillie and her dreams. In the story Tillie has dreams of winning a science contest that she had lost in the past. This time she wants to win incredibly badly, and she has made it to the finals. Beatrice isn't supporting her at all, until she decides that maybe she should go because if Tillie wins she will look good. On the way out Ruth calls her by the name she was always teased with when she was in high school, and this triggers her nerves. She then decides not to go to the contest, and tells Ruth to take her place. I think that Beatrice is very self absorbed and is the person that is "drying up" Tillie’s dream of winning the contest by not supporting her with her wishes. Beatrice has dreams of her own, and only cares about those dreams and no others. I think that the line that says, "Maybe it just sags like a heavy load", connects to Tillie's dream because Beatrice is the heavy load sagging behind Tillie's dreams. She isn't there to help support her child, yet she is lagging behind her worried about herself and what others may think.
I think that this peom refurs to Beatrice also, in her life she has made alot of mistakes and i think that all of the similies in this poem refure to her. All her dreams are drying up and she cant do anything about it.
I think that this poem relates most to Beatrice. Beatrice has many dreams like writing a book and starting a tea shop, but none of them ever happen. Beatrice never does anything to make the dreams hBeatrice. What Happens to the dreams she has. Why doesnt she ever do anything to make them happen. The dreams just sit in her mind and rot away. Her dreams never go anywhere. The poem is saying that no one knows what happens to dreams that people have. No one knows what happens to Beatrice's dreams
I think a the poem of “deferred dreams” is mostly about Beatrice. She has lost all hope, she has nothing to look forward to in her life. She lost her dreams and she’s like a “fester like a sore”. Her lose of dreams and lose of ever living up to what she hoped is gone, so what does she have know nothing? And she’s bitter for letting this happen to her and she. Until finally like the poem says she’ll explode. She will always be unhappy and she cant blame anyone but herself.
As did the poem before, I feel that "A Dream Defered" also relates to Beatrice the most in the story. The dreams that Beatrice had and eventually let go can be describe like the poem states, "Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore--And then run?." Along with relateing a character from the story to the poem, there are events that can also be compared to the events that happened in the play. An example of this would be from the line in the poem that says,"Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load." This can be related to the story beacuse in one part, Beatrice compares her kids to two stone around her neck meaning it restrains her from doing things that people without kids can do. This realtes to the heavy load as the poem states to Beatrice calling her two kids two stones around her neck.
-Period 6
I think A dream deffered most relates to Beatrice. In a way Beatrice may or may not had dreams when she was younger I am sure she wanted to do things when she was older but she never had the chance to. So I think that Beatrice is taking her kids dreams and almost throwing them away. But at the same time she wants her kids to have her dreams come true. In the poem it says Does it dry up like a rasin in the sun or Crust and sugar over like a syrupy sweet. It compares to Beatrice because she dosnet know how to act with her kids dreams, wether to help them with their dreams or to just be jealous that her dreams may not have come true. Defered to me i think means to be pushed away to almost be avoided. So i think A Dream Defered is a dream that someone does not know how to act on. Beatrice can relate to this because Tillie has dreams in the science and school but her mother almost dosen't know how to act on her dreams. Beatrice is a mother who dosen't seem to have much experience in dreaming or making her dreams come true so she is confused on how to handle or help her kids follow their dreams.
I think that the poem , " A dream Deferred" relates the most to Beatrice, because she is the one in the story whose dream was kind of deferred, and it affected her whole life. I'm not really sure what dreams she did have, but she isn't happy with the way her life turned out and she resents that she is poor and has kids. The line " Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?" represents Beatrice's dreams, that went no where. Beatrice regrets letting go of her own dreams, but she is proud of Tillie, because she isn't making the same mistake. The line "Or does it explode?" can be related to how Beatrice sometimes treats her children-badly and says hurtful things. This could be because she's unhappy with her own life and takes it out on her kids.
I feel that this poem speaks to Tillie the most. Her dreams are being crushed by her mother, and the poem describes what Tillie’s choices are if she stops striving for her dreams. “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” Are Tillie’s dreams to become a scientist going to disappear, and become just a memory of what could’ve happened? Or could Tillie’s dreams grow like how a grape could be grown into a new plant? “Or crust and sugar over—like a syrupy sweet?” Is Tillie going to repress her dreams, and let everyone think that there’s nothing wrong with her life and that everything is fine? “Maybe it just sags like a heavy load”. Maybe Tillie’s dreams wouldn’t become what she wants and strives for. She might never accomplish it, and it haunts her and it’s dragged around with her like a heavy load. ‘A Dream Deferred’ describes what could happen to Tillie’s dreams. “Or does it explode?” Do Tillie’s dreams explode and become what she wants them to be, or do they become like what the similes described above?
I believe that this poem relates the most to Beatrice. She used to have dreams, big dreams for herself but something happened. She stopped dreaming. "Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode?" I think that this fits Beatrice perfectly. She is just there in her house sagging around. Also I feel that she explodes at her children. She takes her feeling and regrets for not being able to fulfill her dreams. In a way I don’t think she wants her children to fulfill theirs.
Danielle
Period 1
The poem “A Dream Deferred”, really talks about when you postpone, or delay on your dreams. What happens to it exactly? Doe sit dry up like a raisin in the sun? Does it stink like rotten meat? And Langston Hughes uses a bunch of other evocative similes. The poem seems to speak not so much to, but about Beatrice. Like it’s telling how Beatrice must think of her dreams now that she is too old to change. She had dreams just like Tillie but she never came through with them. She never kept on with her dreams, it sounds like she sort-of put them aside or said she can do it later in the future but time caught up with her and now she is a single mother with two kids and she stays home taking care of an elder woman. She probably thinks now that all of her dreams have dried up, like a raisin. Or sag, like a heavy load.
nicole t.
period 1
I believe that Langston Hughes’, “A Dream Deferred,” can specifically be directed towards Beatrice. Hughes’ poem generally uses symbolic examples that elaborate on what can possibly happen to a dream that is not acted upon. Obviously, Beatrice is not so happy about where she is in life. She always seems to tell her children about outrageously bold career choices and paths in life that she herself could not make a reality. “Like a raisin in the sun,” I suppose that Beatrice’s dreams “dried up.” However, if her dreams did this, then they would have most likely stopped troubling her years ago; the type of anxiety that Beatrice experiences seems to be lingering on from a past occurrence. Instead of “drying up” perhaps her dreams are still possibilities in her mind. In this case, her dreams might be compared to a “heavy load.” This constant weight on Beatrice’s shoulders might be the unfortunate reason why she treats her children and friends the way that she does.
matt r / period 1
I think this poem relates to Beatrice the most out of all the characters. The poem talks about a dream that was never acted on and pushed aside. When Beatrice was little she probably had dreams to make a lot of money, get a nice house and have a perfect family. For some reason she didn’t try too hard to make them come true and now she is stuck in her life wishing she had acted on her dreams. I think a line that I can connect to incidents in the story the best is “maybe it just sags like a heavy load, or does it explode?” In the story Beatrice seems to have a chip on her shoulders like she is trying to prove something or accomplish something. Also she explodes on Tillie and Ruth all the time when she yells at them and treats them like dirt.
i think the poam, " A dream Deferred" relates the most to Beatrice, because she had dream that were cropited that make her sade.i think the reason she put her kids down is becasue she feel pain becasue she didnt go though with her dreams. to the mom she think dream never come ture just to give up.
piriod 4
I think this poem connects to Beatrice because she had bad memories when she was a kid because she was mad fun of constantly. Beatrice knows that Tillie is smart like she was and she knows what kind of hurtful things are said to smarter kids. Beatrice didn‘t follow her dreams and now they are catching up to her and making her realize she should have. Beatrice’s High school experience still haunts her. She now also realizes that she cant change the past so she wants to change the present to change the future. This teaches you to never end a experience with the question “what if?” because u don’t want to live with the wrong decision for the rest of your life.
I believe that the poem "A Dream Deferred" can mostly be related to Beatrice. Her dreams were shattered, crushed, and destroyed due to constantly being made fun of by her peers in school. As she stated, she would have no intentions of going back to her old school if it hadn't been for Tillie's Science Presentation/Contest. The line in the poem that reads "Maybe it just sags like a heavy load" can be related to Beatrice's situation because not keeping her dreams has caused her past hope to dwell over her aged soul. Also, the line "Or does it explode?" can deeply relate to Beatrice. She "explodes" constantly on her children and causes outbursts towards them for little or no reason. This is because losing her dreams had caused her to not know how to properly enable her children's future to be positive and beneficial. She doesn't know how to deal with Tillie's talents positively, so she puts her down to make herself (Beatrice) feel better. Letting go of her dreams has caused her a life of guilt and misunderstanding.
I believe this poem mostly relates to Beatrice. She is the one that at one time had dreams, but now, she no longer has them. Why? She now has two kids to take care of and Nanny. Possibly if she didn’t get married and instead followed her dream, maybe then she could have gotten her dreams to come true. "Or fester like a sore- And then run?" I believe this line very closely relates to Beatrice. In her older age, she is bitter and mean. Also, at the point when she is about to go to Tillie’s science fair, and Ruth calls her Betty the Loon, she decides to stay home. I find that like running away from her problems. Lastly, I think it could end up happening to Ruth as well because she almost seems to be following in the same steps as her mother Beatrice.
Mike
Period 6
In the play, this peom by Langston Hughes speaks mostly to Beatrice. Throughout the play she tells of the dreams that she gave up when she has two children who she so motherly refers to as, "twp stones tied around my neck." She had dreams of finishing beauty school and of being a bussiness women. Also, she recently talked of running a tea house outside of the garage of the huge house she dreams of having. She dreams dreams that she has never let go of. This connects to the poem where it reads, "What happens to deams deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore?" This means that some dreams just float out of your mind or they stick to you and ache you like a sore. It is obvious that in the play, Beatrices dreams are like sores to her and she wants so badly to heal. But she doesnt understand that she is the only one who has prevented her dreams from coming true. An example from the play is when she says that she had dreams until she was stuck with a husband and two stones around her neck.
i think that the peom by "langstan Haughes best tells about the Tillie's mom 'Breatrice' because she had some dreams which didn't came true due to the reponsiblity and take caring of the old people. Although she is ready to go for the science project presentation at the same school where she had been made fun of, she is little upset and unsupportive to her daughter. In the poem " or does it explode" make little connection to her. She had been made fun by the students at the school and one of the students is the teacher. So Breatrice may be afraid to face the same school. So I think it the poem connects Breatrice.
I think this poem is talking about Beatrice because it tells about broken dreams and how dreams can escape you. It could also talk about Tillie and her dreams and how they exploded, but in a good way. She got right back up in front of the school and presented her exparament. She even won the contest and
I think this poem is more about Beatrice.Her Dreams where schredert and didn't come true.She tries to destroys others people dreams(like Tillies) because hers didn't come true.
I can't find more why!!!sry.
I think this poem relates to Beatrice. As is said in the story Beatrice had a delayed dream. When she was young she wanted to be a great dancer and live a great life. She also mentioned opening up a tea shop. Her dreams of being a dancer got crushed because of her problems with her legs. Beatrice had a delayed dream with her tea shop. When she got divorced and had two kids she thought that now she could go nowhere in life. She stated that she had a rope around her neck with two stones at each end, meaning her kids were holding her down. In the poem it says:
What happens to a dream deferred?
“Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
In the story Beatrice is like a dried up raisin. She is a very cruel and unemotional person. Her past was not a good one and she is still living in the past with all of her dreams still behind her. This is why I think this poem relates to Beatrice the most.
I think that the poem is mostly about Beatrice because she had dreams that would have been great if they came true, but they did not. They didn't come true because it was her own fault, and she just blames everyone else about it. Beatrice still lives in the past, but still is trying to open up her tea shop. However, she is willing to try and open it up, but not change her personality to do so.
I think that this poem refers to Beatrice. She had a dream to become a wonderful dancer and live a better life than she is now. She thought she was going to be famous. After many years of dancing she started to have problems with her legs. Beatrice married a man and had two children. This was the end of her dream of becoming a dancer. She never knew thought that she would live like she was now when she was younger. The poem states:
"Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load."
I think this refers to when she said that her dream was ruined by marrying the wrong man and getting stuck with two stones who tied her down. The two stones, meaning her children. Beatrice makes her children feel like she does not want them, and that they just get in the way of her life.
Beatrice also wanted to open up a tea shop in her house. The dream of opening a tea shop was delayed because she couldn't have Nanny living in the house and open up a tea shop at the same time.
I believe the poem "Dreams Deferred" by Langston Hughes refers to Beatrice in the play The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds. Beatrice seems to put her dreams aside, such as the teashop she was supposed to open. The line in the poem "Maybe it just sags like a heavy load" reminds me of Beatrice's dream because she just puts it off and doesn't even try to make it true. The only reasons she cannot open the store are her children, nanny, and the death of her ex-husband. Although in my opinion, she is just making that an excuse so she cannot do it.
Zack F.
Period 6
English 10
The Poem 'dreams defferred' I think relates to Beatrice. Beatrice had dreams of one day becoming a dancer when she was a kid. Later in life she was faced with various obsticles which prevented her from becoming a dancer. Such as her family. Her husband and kids were to big of a responsibility and she wasn't able to continue with her dream of becoming a dancer. Her dream faded away, similar to this line in the poem, "Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?" Her dream dried up like a raisin in the sun and she was never able to continue with it.
I think that this poem definitely refers to Beatrice the most. We quickly learned from the beginning of this story that Beatrice had many lost dreams. She never finished any type of school, she was stuck with her kids and her husband left her, and now she basically has nothing and rents out to gain her money. Beatrice had dreams but for some reasons just let them go and gave up. I think that Beatrice became “dried up like a raisin in the sun” in the sense that she gave up and just died out. She never worked for anything positive so she never received anything positive so now she’s basically going crazy and “exploding” like the reference in the bottom of the poem.
Shane
Period 1
I think the poem by Langston Hughes refers to Beatrice the most. Beatrice had dreams about herself that she let "dry up like a raisin in the sun." Opening up a tea shop and cleaning up her house and starting over are all dreams of hers that i think she will just let explode.
This poem seems to Relate to Beatrice more than anyone in the story. She had dreams, now she has lost the opportunity to fulfill them, making her bitter towards anyone who has a dream of their own. That, in my opinion, is why she is so mean to Tillie, not supporting her in anything she does, telling her that the world will spit at her at any given moment. She carried the pain of not finishing a single thing other than killing the defensless rabbit. Quite pathetic (as an understatement).
Joe Sierejko
The poem relates to Beatrice and her dreams. Beatrice has proven in the story that dreams do not explode or go away, but they stay with you forever like a wish that your still waiting to happen. She still has that desire to go out and make that dream a reality, but she knows that in reality that's pretty close to impossible given her condition.
"Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load."
I think this line is the most accurate because the dreams we never achieved stay with us as a constant reminder of who we want to be, and who we are.
Brandon
Period 1
I think that this poem speaks about Beatrice. Beatrice has many dreams that she's talked about from the past. She constantly brings up the idea of opening a tea shop or having completed beauty school or the realestate school. She hasn't accomplished any of her former dreams and at the rate she's going, she probably never will. The poem speaks of the idea that if a dream is left behind, what will happen...will it explode? In Beatrice's case I think that after a time her dream of owning a tea shop exploded. All of the sudden, after being reminded of her past by being called,"Betty the Loon" she started pulling off newspaper, putting out table clothes, and kicking out Nannies, to make an attempt at accomplishing her dream. Chances are though, despite this explostion, she never will get to make her dream come true.
Bekah
Period 6
I think that this poem relates the most to the character Beatrice. I think this because Beatrice always talks about her lost dreams. She always dwells on the past. For example, she says that she should have gone to college or that she should have done something to keep her husband from leaving. The lines " Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?", describes what Beatrice has become. She has let her self go and just has lost her personality and gave up all of her self esteem.
jessica period 4
I think that Langston Hughes', "A Dream Deferred," is realy speaking towards Beatrice. This poem talks about how a dream that is not acted upon can "dry up", that if the dream is set aside to be dealt with later it may be "stale" by the time it is acted upon. Beatrice is a mother of two who thinks of them as being more then a burden then anything. She constently tells them about how she used to be a dancer, and how she could have made something with herself. It seems as though Beatrices dreams have "dried up like a raison in the son." I think that Beatrice also relates to this poem because in the poem it refers to the dreams as a heavy load. I think that Beatrice is feeling waighed down by these dreams. If she just accepted her life for how it is and stops thinking so hard on what her life could have been like, I think that she could be living and enjoying a much better life now.
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