Prof. Jessica Penner | OL02 | Spring 2021
I enjoy this Poem because it describes how it feels when one doesn’t strive for their dream but rather gives up on it. A postponed dream often makes us feel lifeless like a raisin in the sun.
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?
Professor: Jessica Penner
Email: creative.writing.citytech@gmail.com
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM. I’ll be available through Zoom and will send an invitation via email that you should keep all semester. Try to join my meeting at the start of the hour, not at the end—since I may be talking to other students or have another appointment after the hour is up. If those times don’t work with your schedule, we can schedule a different time. This means you’ll have to schedule an appointment in advance. I suggest you have multiple times in mind, since your schedule may not mesh with mine!
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Feels pretty familiar since I’ve heard this poem in English classes before; there’s definitely an original style here, but I can’t help but remember English class.
I would say the style comes off as shame to people who easily give up without anything that qualifies as a reasonable reason.