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  1. The poem revolves around the themes of denial and racism. The poet talks about the dreams and ambitions that African Americans have. These dreams are never realized because of the racial discrimination they have to face. They are denied these dreams because of the color of their skin. The society prRead more

    The poem revolves around the themes of denial and racism. The poet talks about the dreams and ambitions that African Americans have. These dreams are never realized because of the racial discrimination they have to face. They are denied these dreams because of the color of their skin. The society practices racism and builds walls around the African Americans which stops them from achieving their dreams. The walls of fear, racism and inequality stopped the poet from ever realizing his dreams.

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  1. The central idea of the poem is the impact of denial and racism on the dreams of African Americans. It explores the unfulfilled aspirations and ambitions faced by this community due to racial discrimination. The poet vividly highlights how societal racism creates obstacles and barriers, symbolized aRead more

    The central idea of the poem is the impact of denial and racism on the dreams of African Americans. It explores the unfulfilled aspirations and ambitions faced by this community due to racial discrimination. The poet vividly highlights how societal racism creates obstacles and barriers, symbolized as walls, preventing African Americans from realizing their ambitions. These walls, composed of fear and inequality, obstruct the path to achieving dreams and represent the profound challenges imposed by systemic racism.

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  1. Hyperbole- hyperbole is the use of exaggeration in a poem. In this poem, the poet exaggerates in the lines “Rose until it touched the sky—”, “Into a thousand lights of sun” and “Into a thousand whirling dreams/ Of sun!” Alliteration - Alliteration is repetition of the same letter or sound in a line.Read more

    • Hyperbole- hyperbole is the use of exaggeration in a poem. In this poem, the poet exaggerates in the lines “Rose until it touched the sky—”, “Into a thousand lights of sun” and “Into a thousand whirling dreams/ Of sun!”
    • Alliteration – Alliteration is repetition of the same letter or sound in a line. In the poem the poet uses alliteration in the lines “there then”, “rose/ Rose”, “me and my”.
    • Simile- simile is used when the poet directly compares one thing to another by using the words “as” or “like”. In this poem, the poet uses a simile and compares his dream to the brightness of the sun in the line ”Bright like the sun”.
    • Irony – irony is used when what the poet says is in contradiction to what they actually mean. In this poem, the poet uses irony when he talks about the racial discrimination faced by his community in the lines “I am Black” “I lie down in the shadow”.
    • Symbolism- symbolism is when the poet uses words to symbolize a concept, person or idea in a poem. In this poem, “Sun” is used as the symbol for hope and dreams of the African American community.
    • Repetition- Repetition is a literary device in which a word, phrase, or line is repeated for emphasis or effect. The words “dream”, “hands”, “sun”, “wall” and “shadow” are repeated.
    • Metaphor- metaphor is used when the poet makes an undercut comparison between two things without using the words “like” or “as”. In the, the poet compares the wall in the poem to the racism and oppression the peot has to face from society.

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