Langston Hughes was part of the Harlem Renaissance and was known as "the poet laureate of Harlem." His poems tell of the joys and miseries of the ordinary black man in America. In Hughes' poem "Dream Deferred" he uses figures of speech, tone, and a unifying theme to show how black people's dreams were delayed. Hughes uses similes and metaphors--figures of speech--to portray that often times their dreams never came true. He asks if they "…showed first 75 words of 311 total…

…showed last 75 words of 311 total…poem could be used as a form of encouragement to some readers. After reading this poem they could become determined to not let their dreams become "deferred." The theme "dream deferred" is the unifying component of this poem. It keeps Hughes' central ideas together. Not only that, but it also keeps it as the reader's main focus. That way they will leave questioning themselves as to what they do with their dreams that are delayed.