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Raisin

Flora
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A dried grape, symbolizing concentration, memory, and deferred dreams in poetic metaphor, famously in Langston Hughes’s “Harlem.”

Detailed Definition
Raisins appear in poetry as potent symbols of time’s passage—grapes shriveled yet intensified. Hughes’s “raisin in the sun” crystallizes the pain of unfulfilled aspiration, linking decay to social injustice. Elsewhere, they evoke preservation, memory, or the distillation of experience. Their humble form carries weighty emotional resonance, turning the ordinary into a vessel for collective longing.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Langston Hughes’s “Harlem,” raisin symbolizes deferred dreams: “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?”; In biblical poetry, it represents abundance: “Raisin cakes for David’s weary soldiers—sweet strength”; Poets use it to explore time: “Raisins are grapes that learned patience—sun and wind their teachers”; In culinary verse, it adds depth: “Raisins plump in oatmeal—tiny bursts of yesterday’s sun.”
Additional Notes
Raisin: Dried grape, typically from Vitis vinifera; in Flora, raisins exemplify preservation and concentration; symbolically, they evoke sun-drenched labor, sweetness through time, or biblical abundance; note Langston Hughes’ “raisin in the sun” as key poetic reference for deferred dreams.
Other Meanings of “Raisin”
Also Known As
Dried grape
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