What effect does Hughes achieve by repeating the phrase "does it" in "Harlem"? Short words and hard consonants create a sense of angry uncertainty.
Short words and questions demonstrate Hughes's confidence.
The repetition creates a sense of peace and serenity for the reader.
The repetition highlights Hughes’s feelings of self-respect.

The effect Hughes achieves by repeating the phrase "does it" is:

A. Short words and hard consonants create a sense of angry uncertainty.

Explanation:

Langston Hughes was a poet and an important figure in the Movement known as the Harlem Renaissance, which took place in the 1920s and 1930s. His poem "Harlem", which we are analyzing here, questions the impossibility of realization of the American Dream for African Americans.

To emphasize that question, Hughes repeats the phrase "does it" throughout the poem. He is asking what happens to a dream that cannot come true. Does it dry up? Does it fester? Does it stink? This repetition conveys anger and uncertainty at the same time, which is perfectly understandable. As we know, African Americans were denied several basic rights until a few decades ago in the U.S. Imagine, as a human being, having dreams but having them killed by the very country you live in. Hughes' anger, expressed as the speaker in the poem, is the result from such an injustice.

A) Short words and hard consonants create a sense of angry uncertainty.



question

discuss the two key differences between the prose form of sojourner truth’s speech and the poetic version. use evidence from both texts to support your response.