A Raisin the Sun IntroductionUse the PowerPoint Presentation to fill in these guided notes. This goes in the Raisin in the Sun Section of your binder.

LORRAINE HANSBERRY BACKGROUND

-Lorraine Hansberry was born in _______________ and was the __________________ of ___________ children.

-She lived in __________________________________and grew up knowing some of the greatest African Americans of their time, like _____________________________, Duke Ellington, Joe Lewis, and her mentor,

_____________________________________.

-In 1938, Hansberry’s father, ____________________, challenged the _______________________________

housing pattern in Chicago when he purchased a house in an ________________________________________.

-The family was __________________________________________________and forced to leave by a court order.

-Carl Hansberry took the case to the ___________________________________________ where he won a favorable judgment.

-Despite the victory, the experience left Carl Hansberry _______________________ and ________________________________, something Lorraine Hansberry would not forget.

-As a child, Hansberry learned to love books, especially works of __________________________and _______________________________.

-Hansberry felt inspired by early activists and abolitionists, such as ___________________________________.

-Hansberry attended the University of ______________________ and the

_____________________________________________ where she fell in love with theater and playwriting.

-Hansberry also had an early fascination with ______________. She later spent a year studying there with

____________________, ______________________ and _____________________ W.E.B. Du bois.

-Another literary influence and family friend was ___________________________________. Hansberry took

a line from one of Hughes’s __________________________and gave it to a play she was working on.

-In 1957, _______________________________________________was completed and gained critical attention, not only for its content, but also for the fact that it was written by a

_____________________________________________________________.

-After successful runs in __________________________, ___________________________, and New York, A

Raisin in the Sun opened on _________________________________on March 11, 1959, and critics raved.

-Hansberry’s play crossed social lines with powerful grace, appealing to ___________________,

______________________, __________________________ and ________________________________. It shed more light on the civil rights movement.

-The play won the _______________________________________________________ that year, a first for any African American.

-Hansberry wrote several other plays, including _______________________________________________, and Les Blanc.

-In _______________, Lorraine Hansberry died an early death from _____________________________.

-Although her life and career were cut short, an informal autobiography by her ex-husband was put together. It was called _________________________________________________________. It is a tribute to Hansberry’s literary, social and personal vision.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

-The play A Raisin in the Sun is set during the _______________. This was a pivotal time during the

_________________________________________________ and changes in history.

-During this time period, it was legal to discriminate against people based on _______________ or

__________________, in terms of employment, education, and public accommodations.

-Many African Americans continued to move to ________________________________cities from the South.

-_______________________________ was on of the cities that grew most from southern black immigration.

-Between 1940 and 1950, the number of African Americans living in Chicago grew by _______________. The number of whites grew by ______________.

-Many of the African-Americans living in Chicago were living in run-down neighborhoods which became

___________________________________________________________.

-Most units were overcrowded and shared ________________________________________________ between multiple families.

-__________________ were increasingly hard to find for both black men and women after___________.

Many women worked as ____________________________ and the men were working in ________________.

HISTORICAL DATES OF THE 1950’S

1954- Brown v. Board of Education outlawed___________________________________________; however, it was left to local officials to decide when they’d like to start desegregating.

1955-1956-_________________________________________________________

1956-Congressman from Confederate States called on their states to refuse to comply with Brown v. Board.

__________________________________________________ also opposes Brown v. Board.

1957-The governor of ____________________________ refused to let __________________ black students enter a local high school. The U.S. Army is called to escort and protect the eight students. The governor closed high schools for the following year so they wouldn’t have to ________________________.

1957-Martin Luther King forms the __________________________________________________________.

1959-A Raisin in the Sun opens on Broadway and forever changes the American stage.

PLOT AND SETTING

-A Raisin in the Sun is set in ____________________________________in the early 1950’s.

-On stage we see the ______________________apartment, clean but clearly demonstrating “_________________________________________

_________________________________________________.”

-The plot unfolds __________________________________________________.

-It builds on the promise of a _________________________________, symbolized by the __________________________________________

____________________________________________held by the family’s late father.

-As the Youngers discuss the money, ______________________________________.

-Conflicts _________________________________add to the tension and underscore the state of _________________________________in the world.

-The climax is ______________________________________________________.

-The ____________________________________ reveals both the _______________________ of the family and the _____________________ that comes when a person who feels beaten by life rejects the temptation to despair.

MAJOR CHARACTERS

-___________________________________- is a recent ___________________________, and years of hard work are catching up with her. She

worries about her family and wrestles with decisions about ___________________________________.

-____________________________________-Mama’s thirty-five-year-old son, works as a _______________________________ but dreams of

owning his____________________________. He neglects his marriage, drinks to excess and betrays his mother.

-____________________________________ -is Walter’s wife and the mother of their son, _____________________________.

She is desperate to see her family _______________________________________________________. Ruth is torn between her disgust with Walter’s present behavior and her love for the man he once was.

-____________________________________-Mama’s ___________________________________, dreams of becoming a _________________but

pursues other interests as well. She is attracted to both ________________________________, and ________________________________.

George Murchison: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Joseph Asagai

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Mr. Johnson

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Karl Linder

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Bobo & Willy

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

THEMES

-_______________________________________________-the play’s introduction asks, “What happens to a dream deferred?” That establishes the major theme. For the most part, the dreams of the major characters have been put ___________________________________________, but,

ironically, when the chance for their dreams to come true does arrive, it creates _______________________________. Ultimately the characters

do find out that dreams can come true, ______________________________________.

-__________________________________________________-Set before the rise of the _____________________________________________,

A Raisin in the Sun reveals a social undercurrent of ________________________________. The Youngers know discrimination; in large part it is

the reason their dreams have been ___________________________. Prejudice in an all-white community helps drive the play to its __________,

and at the play’s _____________________________ the Youngers seem likely to face ___________________________ again.

-________________________________________________-Years of “doing without” have taken their toll on the Youngers, but the insurance

money seems to be the key to __________________________. The family also accomplishes a moral victory at the end that empowers the

_____________________________________.

Sunlight versus Darkness- sunlight represents ______________________ and darkness

represents ______________________. The sun nourishes and allows everything to grow

and develop. All that darkness nourishes is dark thoughts; plants and people wither in

darkness.

Lena’s Plant- symbolizes her perpetual ____________________________________________.

By constantly caring for the plant, however feeble it becomes, she shows the audience that she

is keeping her hope alive.

Beneatha’s Hair-when Beneatha cuts her ______________________, she is rejecting

the social norms of the time.

Insurance Check/Money- for everyone in the play, money is the symbol of their

______________________,. All of them believe that money will be the key to their

dreams coming true.

George Murchison’s White Shoes-symbolizes the ______________________ between

the Younger’s poor lives versus George’s ______________________. Rich blacks

worked very hard to separate themselves from poor blacks as represented by his dress.

Asagai’s Nigerian Robes-symbol of ______________________, and the fight for

freedom from colonial rule, and their importance to Beneatha to find her roots.