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Lesson 1:

Who was Langston Hughes? What was / is the American Dream? What relevance does this all have to

the play we are going to read ‘A Raisin in the Sun’?

Why did Lorraine Hansberry choose to use the poem as an epigraph to her play and name the play after a part of the poem?

Do it nowWhat does it mean to defer something?

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Write two sentences below that contain the word ‘defer’ or ‘deferred’ in them.

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New knowledgeWho was Langston Hughes?

One of the leading voices of the African American artistic community of the 1920s, Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967) was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form called Jazz poetry and was best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance.”

The Harlem Renaissance was the flowering of art and intellectual life during the 1920s and 1930s in Harlem, the part of New York City in which many African Americans resided.

Hughes authored more than 50 literary works covering all genres: poetry, fiction, autobiography, children’s books, opera, and drama.

In his early years, Hughes was greatly influenced by W. E. B. DuBois and his grandmother’s stories about his grandfather,

who took part in John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry in 1859 to arm the slaves.

He sought to honestly portray the joys and hardships of working-class black lives, avoiding both sentimental idealization and negative stereotypes.

He said his poetry is about ‘workers, roustabouts, and singers, and job hunters on Lenox Avenue in New York, or Seventh Street in Washington or South State in Chicago – people up today and down tomorrow, working this week and fired the next, beaten and baffled, but determined not to be wholly beaten, buying furniture on the instalment plan, filling the house with roomers to help pay the rent, hoping to get a new suit for Easter – and pawning that suit before the Fourth of July.’

Sources:https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/langston-hughes

http://maap.columbia.edu/place/48.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inP76rkYUso

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New knowledgeWhat was The American Dream?

The American Dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class they were born into, can attain their own version of success in a society where upward mobility is possible for everyone.

New knowledge / Pen to paperWhat relevance does this all have to the play we are going to read ‘A Raisin in the

Sun’?

The play begins with an epigraph – a short quotation or saying at the beginning of a book or chapter, intended to suggest its theme.

The epigraph for the play ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ is a poem written by Langston Hughes entitled ‘Harlem’.

HarlemWhat 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?

Key questions:

1. Based upon your reading this lesson, why might a dream be ‘deferred’?

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2. What idea do we get about dreams deferred from the following images?

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.

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3. Whilst most of the images are about decay, explode implies a level of activity. Why do you think Hughes has used the line ‘Or does it explode?’ at the end of the poem?

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New knowledgeWhy did Lorraine Hansberry choose to

use the poem as an epigraph to her play and name the play after a part of the

poem?

Lorraine Vivian Hansberry was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Nannie Louise Hansberry, a teacher, and Carl Hansberry, a real-estate broker. Her progressive parents examined her birth certificate, and after seeing the word "Negro" printed by the hospital, immediately crossed it out and wrote "Black."

The Hansberry family bought a house at 6140 S. Rhodes Ave. in Washington Park—a white, upper-middle-class neighborhood that the playwright later described as “hellishly hostile.” They were violently attacked by their neighbors, who were constantly trying to get

the family to leave the neighborhood. The Hansberrys refused, and agreed to stay in their home at all costs. "I [remember] my desperate and courageous mother, patrolling our house all night with a loaded German Luger, doggedly guarding her four children," Hansberry wrote.

The Hansberrys' white neighbors were so intent on pushing them out of the neighborhood (and the family was so intent on staying) that the Hansberry v. Lee case made it to the Illinois Supreme Court. When the state ruled against the Hansberry family, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the decision, allowing the family to stay in their home. Thanks to the Hansberrys' persistence, it was no longer legal for white residents in the United States to push African Americans out of their neighborhoods.

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While writing for the progressive black newspaper Freedom, Hansberry discovered Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem,” published in his book Montage of a Dream Deferred. “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?”

The young author began working on a play exploring the struggles of a poor, black family living in Chicago, loosely based on her own family’s story. Originally titled The Crystal Stair (a line from the Langston Hughes poem “Mother to Son”), A Raisin in the Sun centers on the Youngers, a lower-class family who is offered a sum of money to stay away from the white neighborhood where they have purchased their dream home.

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A Raisin in the Sun made history, becoming the first play written by a black woman (a 29-year-old, no less) to ever be produced on Broadway. But the journey to the Great White Way wasn’t easy—it took over a year for producer Philip Rose to raise enough funds to bring the play to New York. After short pre-Broadway tryouts in Philadelphia, New Haven and Chicago, A Raisin in the Sun opened on Broadway on March 11, 1959 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, starring Sidney Poitier as Walter Lee Younger, a struggling son with big dreams, Claudia McNeil as his mother Lena and Ruby Dee as his hardworking wife Ruth.

Taken from http://www.americanchampions365.com/2018/03/11/march-11-1959-lorraine-vivian-hansberry/

Pen to paperSummarise how Langston Hughes’ poem ‘Harlem’ inspired Lorraine Hansberry to write ‘A Raisin in the Sun’.

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ReflectionFinally, let’s look at the trailer for the film adaptation from 2008. What ideas and themes are prevalent in this trailer that help us to predict the nature of the play before we read it.

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Summary of Act One Scene One(Taken from Cliff Notes)

The Younger family lives in a cramped, “furniture crowded” apartment that is clearly too small for its five occupants in one of the poorer sections of Southside Chicago. Walter Lee wants to invest Mama’s $10,000 insurance check in a liquor store venture with two of his friends. Because of her religious convictions against liquor drinking, Mama is uninterested in Walter’s dream of getting rich quickly with this scheme. Ruth, Walter’s wife is so exhausted from overwork that she is unsympathetic to Walter’s obsession with the money. Mama makes it clear that part of the check will go toward Beneatha’s education in medical school. At the beginning of the play, money is the focal point of everyone’s conversation, leading to arguments and creating a mood of conflict. Walter leaves for his chauffeur’s job, and Travis leaves for school. Ruth prepares for her job as a cleaning woman as Mama reprimands Beneatha about her fresh talk. At the end of the scene, Mama discovers that Ruth has fainted and fallen to the floor.

Comprehension questions

Act One Scene OnePage 9

1. What do we learn about the setting of the play?

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Page 101. Identify the names of the characters

present at the start of Act One Scene One.

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2. What details are we given about Ruth? What can we infer about her character as a result?

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Page 111. What impression do we get of the

relationship between Walter and his wife, Ruth?

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1. What news events are shared by Walter and what does this suggest

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potentially about the climate of the time?

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Page 121. What do we learn about their son’s

bedroom?

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2. What do we learn from the quotation ‘It’s gone now – you look like yourself again.’

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Page 131. What does Travis want that his mum

can’t provide?

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Page 141. What does the fact Travis wants to

work tell you about the financial situation of the family?

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2. What can we infer from the line ‘Bout to march out of here with that head looking just like chickens slept in it!’

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Page 151. What can we continue to infer about

the relationship between Travis and his mum?

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Page 161. Why do you think Ruth is so cross with

her husband for giving Travis 50 cents…twice over?

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Page 171. Why is Walter cross with Ruth?

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2. How does Walter view Ruth?

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3. What does the line ‘A man needs for a woman to back him up…’ suggest about the role of men and women in the play?

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4. What does Walter want Ruth to do for him?

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Page 181. What plan does Walter have?

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2. How does he suggest Ruth is attempting to defer his dream?

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3. Why is Ruth attempting to defer his dream?

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4. How do we know Walter is unsatisfied with his current life?

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Page 191. What does Walter mean when he says

‘We one group of men tied to a race of women with small minds’?

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2. What do we learn about Beneatha, Walter’s sister, from the stage directions?

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Page 201. How is Walter and Beneatha reflected

as the typical brother and sister relationship?

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2. What dream does Beneatha have?

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Page 211. What is Beneatha’s attitude towards

the cheque that is supposed to be arriving?

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2. Why is Walter angry at Beneatha?

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Page 221. What does Walter suggest Beneatha

should do?

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2. Who is Walter calling ‘The world’s most backward race of people’?

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3. What can we infer from Beneatha’s response ‘And then there are all those prophets who would lead us out of the wilderness’?

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Page 231. What do we learn about Mama from

the stage directions at the top of page 23?

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2. What example of symbolism is evident here?

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3. How do we know Mama is of the nurturing kind?

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Page 241. What do we learn about the

relationship between Mama and Ruth here?

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Page 251. How does Ruth show her support for

her husband when talking with Mama?

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2. What can we infer from the line ‘We ain’t no business people, Ruth. We just plain working folks’?

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3. Why might Mama be adverse to liquor?

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Page 261. What reference does Mama make to

white people?

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Page 271. What does Ruth think Mama should do

with the money?

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2. What plans does Mama have for the money?

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3. What sense do you get of a ‘dream being deferred’ towards the end of the page?

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Page 281. What disappointments has Mama

suffered in life?

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2. What can we infer from the line ‘Seem like God didn’t see fit to give the black man nothing but dreams – but He did give us children to make them dreams seem worth while.?

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Page 291. How does the line ‘just couldn’t never

catch up with his dreams, that’s all’ connect to the idea of a dream being deferred?

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2. What two activities are mentioned in relation to Beneatha and why might these be significant?

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Page 301. How do the family react to Beneatha’s

range of chosen activities?

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Page 311. What opinion does Ruth hold about

Beneatha?

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2. What does Beneatha look for in a man? What does she not want?

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Page 321. Why does Beneatha not want to marry

George?

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1. What attitude towards religion is presented in this section and how does Mama respond?

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Page 341. How does Mama take control of the

situation?

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2. What does Mama worry about?

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Page 351. What is significant about Mama’s

description of the plant?

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Summary of Act One Scene Two(Taken from Cliff Notes)

The following morning, Saturday, is the day that the check is expected to arrive. Beneatha and Mama are busy doing weekend housecleaning when Ruth comes in, announcing sadly that she is pregnant. Mama is upset when she realizes that Ruth is contemplating an abortion. Joseph Asagai brings Beneatha a gift of Africa records and some Nigerian robes. After he leaves, Travis brings in the insurance check from the mailbox, and Walter seizes this opportunity to discuss his business plans again. Mama, however, ignores Walter in the same way that Walter earlier ignored Ruth’s attempts to tell him about her pregnancy. Mama eventually has to be the one to tell him about Ruth’s dilemma and is surprised that his desire for the money overshadows his concern for both Ruth and his unborn child.

Comprehension questionsAct One Scene Two

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1. What more do we learn about the family and their living conditions from the stage directions?

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Page 361. What signs are there to suggest the

family are keenly waiting on the check to arrive?

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Page 371. Where has Ruth gone ?

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2. Who does Beneatha invite over ?

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Page 381. How does the dialogue reveal a

tension between Beneatha and Mama?

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Page 391. What news does Ruth have?

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2. Why is this a complication for the family?

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Page 401. How does Ruth respond to Travis and

what does Mama do to step in?

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Page 411. Who arrives to visit Beneatha?

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Page 421. What gift does Asagai bring Beneatha

and how does she respond?

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2. What word does Asagai use to describe Beneatha’s hair and how does she respond?

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Page 431. How did Asagai and Beneatha meet?

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2. What does ‘Assimilationism’ mean?

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3. Where did Asagai get the robes from and what does this suggest about his feelings towards Beneatha?

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Page 441. Why is Beneatha not impressed when

Asagai says ‘Between a man and a woman there need be only one kind of feeling. I have that for you…’?

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Page 451. What stereotypes does Mama hold

which are revealed through the dialogue she has with Asagai?

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Page 461. What does ‘Alaiyo’ mean?

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2. When Asagai has gone, how does Beneatha see herself in the mirror?

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Page 471. How do the family react when the bell

rings?

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Page 481. How do the family react to the check?

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Page 491. How does Mama react to the check?

What is she thinking about?

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Page 501. How do we know Walter only has

money on his mind?

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2. What has he brought home with him?

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3. How does Walter try to guilt Mama?

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Page 511. How does Walter react?

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2. How does Walter speak to Ruth?

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3. How does Mama try to assume control?

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Page 521. How does Mama describe Ruth?

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2. How does Walter feel about his work?

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Page 531. What worries does Walter have?

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2. How does Mama react when Walter says money is life?

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3. What does Mama mean when she says ‘You ain’t satisfied or proud of nothing we done.’

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Page 541. What does Mama tell Walter?

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2. How does Walter react to the news that Ruth is thinking about getting rid of their baby?

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3. What does Ruth say?

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4. Why does Walter say nothing and how does Mama react?

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Summary of Act Two Scene One(Taken from Cliff Notes)

Later that Saturday, dressed in her new Nigerian robes and headdress, Beneatha dances to African music while simultaneously giving Ruth an impromptu lesson in its significance. Walter comes in, after having had a few too many drinks, and joins in Benetha’s ritualistic dance. The doorbell rings suddenly, and George Murchison arrives for his theatre date with Beneatha. He gets into a heated debate with her over the history and heritage of black people, all of which he belittles as insignificant, and then he antagonizes Walter by dismissing Walter’s attempts to discuss his ‘big’ business plans with him.

After George’s exit, Walter Lee and Ruth reminisce about their early days together and contrast their early dreams and warm feelings for one another, compared to now, when they seem to be slipping away from one another. Mama returns unexpectedly and announces to Travis especially – and also to Walter and Ruth – that she has put a hefty down payment on a house in an all-white neighbourhood. Ruth cannot contain her happiness at the thought of their finally being able to move out of the overcrowded apartment. Walter, however, is crushed by Mama’s news; to him, Mama has “butchered his dream.”

Comprehension questionsAct Two Scene One

Page 551. What is Beneatha wearing as she

comes out of the bedroom and how does she act?

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Page 561. What state is Walter in when he

appears on stage?

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Page 571. What vision does Walter have of

himself?

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Page 581. What has Beneatha done to her hair

and why?

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Page 591. What is an assimilationist?

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Page 601. What impression do you get of George

from his knowledge of New York theatre?

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Page 611. How does Walter address George?

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2. What proposal does Walter put forward to George?

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Page 621. What is George’s attitude towards

college?

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2. When Walter is challenged and accused of being bitter, how does he respond?

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Page 631. Why does George refer to

Prometheus?

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Page 64

1. According to Walter, where has he been?

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2. What is preventing Walter from going into the banking business?

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Page 651. How would you describe the

relationship between Walter and Ruth at this point?

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Page 661. What does Ruth want from Walter?

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2. What does Ruth think is starting to slip away?

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Page 671. What has Mama done with the

money?

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1. How does Walter react to the news?

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Page 691. Why is Mama buying a house so

important for the family?

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2. Why is the area the house is in a problem for the family?

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Page 701. How does Ruth feel about the new

house?

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Page 711. How does Mama justify her actions?

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2. How does Walter respond?

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Summary of Act Two Scene Two(Taken from Cliff Notes)

The scene opens a few weeks later, on a Friday night; packing crates fill the Younger apartment in preparation for the move. Beneatha and George come in from their date and after a brief disagreement, George leaves, puzzled. Mama, still smarting over Walter’s previous accusation that she ‘butchered’ hi dream, decides to entrust Walter with the responsibility for the remaining money, stipulating that he first deposit $3,000 for Beneatha’s education. Filled with renewed hope, Walter tells Travis about his dreams for the future and says that he is about to embark on a new venture – a transaction that will change their lives.

In this scene, another character is introduced, a neighbour, Mrs Johnson. When Mrs Johnson enters, she brings the Youngers a newspaper that tells of a bombing of a black family’s home in an all-white neighbourhood. Mrs Johnson’s intent is clearly to belittle the importance of the Youngers’ getting away from the horrid conditions of their cramped apartment. Still, her warning to the Youngers was a reality in 1959, when this play opened, and, unfortunately, in some communities even today.

Comprehension questions

Act Two Scene TwoPage 71

1. Have Beneatha and George had a good evening? How do you know?

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Page 721. What criticism does George make of

Beneatha?

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2. How does Beneatha respond?

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Page 731. How does Mama show her support for

Beneatha?

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Page 741. What do we learn about Mrs Johnson

from the stage directions?

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Page 751. What news does Johnson share with

Mama and Ruth?

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2. What is Johnson’s attitude to what is in the newspaper?

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Page 761. What does Johnson think about

Walter?

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Page 771. What remark does Johnson make

about Beneatha?

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2. What does Mama say about being a chauffeur?

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Page 781. Why does Johnson call the Younger

family ‘a proud-acting bunch of coloured folks’?

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Page 791. Who phones for Walter and why do

they phone?

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2. What does Walter say he has been doing?

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Page 801. What else does Walter say he has

been doing?

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2. What does Mama say to Walter?

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Page 811. What is the most precious thing to

Mama?

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2. What does Mama give Walter?

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3. What immediate transformation do we see in Walter?

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Page 821. What does Walter say in response to

Travis wanting to be a bus driver?

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2. What does Walter say he is going to do?

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3. What vision does Walter start to have?

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Page 831. What further insights are we given into

Walter’s vision?

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Summary of Act Two Scene Three(Taken from Cliff Notes)

This scene begins one week later. Ruth and Beneatha are in good spirits; this is the day that the family will move to their new neighbourhood. Ruth tells Beneatha that on the previous evening, she and Walter had gone on a date to the movies. Walter comes in and is dancing playfully with Ruth when a white man comes to the door, asking for Lena Younger. Walter tries on his new status as ‘head of the household’, telling the stranger that he handles his mother’s ‘business matters.’

The man, Karl Lindner, acting as representative of the Clybourne Park Improvement Association, makes a very generous offer to buy the Youngers’ new home (in order to keep them from moving into Clybourne Park.) At first, Walter listens the tells Lindner to get out. When Lena returns, they each try to shield her from the reality that Lindner represents by giving her the house-warming gifts they’d purchased. Soon afterwards, Bobo arrives to tell Walter that Willy ran off with their money. Both Mama and Walter explode with feelings of loss, anger, helplessness, and grief.

Comprehension questionsAct Two Scene Three

Page 84

1. How do we know Ruth is excited to move?

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Page 851. What has changed in the relationship

between Ruth and Walter?

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Page 861. How does Walter tease Ruth?

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Page 871. Who has come to visit the Younger

family?

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Page 881. According to Lindner, what is the

purpose of the committee?

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Page 891. What solution does Lindner offer to

troubles experienced?

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Page 901. What is the real reason for Lindner’s

visit?

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2. What does he offer the family?

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Page 911. How does Walter react to Lindner?

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2. How does Lindner’s tone change?

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Page 921. How do Walter, Beneatha and Ruth

tease Mama about the welcoming committee?

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Page 931. How do the family twist what Lindner

said?

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Page 941. What gift do the family give Mama?

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Page 951. What gift does Travis give Mama and

how do the family respond?

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Page 961. Who is at the door when the doorbell

rings?

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Page 971. What has Bobo come to tell Walter?

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Page 981. What was the plan and who didn’t turn

up?

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Page 991. How does Walter react to the news?

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Page 1001. What does Walter confess?

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2. How does Mama react?

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Summary of Act Three(Taken from Cliff Notes)

An hour later, having no knowledge of the Youngers’ financial reversals, Asagai drops by the apartment, hoping to help with the packing, but instead he is greeted by a changed Beneatha. Seemingly, she is in shock. Very simply, she states, ‘He gave away the money.’ Her previous positive idealism has been replaced by a loss of faith in humanity. The money that should have financed her medical education is gone.

She wants and expects sympathy from Asagai, but instead, he upbraids her for her materialistic outlook. (Later, in her often quoted ‘measure him right’ speech, Mama too will challenge Beneatha’s egocentric perceptions concerning the loss of the money.) Beneatha listens, then agrees to consider Asagai’s proposal of marriage, along with his invitation that she move to Nigeria to practice medicine.

Later, Walter comes in and begins searching frantically for Lindner’s telephone number while ignoring Beneatha’s insults. Mama suggests that they give up on their dream of moving and that they make themselves satisfied with the apartment in which they are presently living, a suggestion that seems to upset Ruth more than anyone else.

Shortly thereafter, we learn that Walter has decided to accept Lindner’s offer of paying them generously not to move in. Aghast, the three Younger women watch Walter rehearse an exaggerated servility with which he plans to greet Lindner. However, moved by Mama’s word about black pride, Walter changes his mind and disappoints Lindner. He tells him that he and his family have decided to live in Clybourne Park.

Comprehension questionsAct Three

Page 1011. What do we learn about Walter’s state

of mind from the stage directions?

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Page 1021. What do we learn about Beneatha’s

dream?

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Page 1031. How do we know that Beneatha is now

disillusioned with her dream?

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Page 1041. What is the difference between

idealists and realists?

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2. What are Beneatha and Asagai’s conflicting ideas about man?

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3. How does Asagai attack Beneatha’s idea about truth?

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Page 1051. What does Asagai tell Beneatha and

why does he tell her this?

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Page 1061. What does Asagai ask of Beneatha?

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Page 1071. How does Beneatha attack Walter

when he appears?

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Page 1081. What do we learn about Mama and her

plant from the stage directions?

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2. What does Mama say about the removal men and therefore, how does she feel about her dream?

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Page 1091. What is Mama’s new plan?

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Page 1101. What does Walter mean when he says

some men are always ‘tooken’?

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Page 1111. Why has Walter called Lindner?

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2. How does Mama react?

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Page 1121. What do we learn about the

significance of the word ‘man’ from the stage directions?

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2. How does Walter express his plan for Lindner?

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Page 113

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1. How and why does Mama attack Beneatha?

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Page 1141. Who arrives at the door? Why do

these people arrive at the same time?

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Page 1151. Why does Mama want Travis to stay?

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2. What does Walter start to tell Lindner?

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Page 1161. What does Walter tell Lindner?

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2. How does Mama respond?

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Page 1171. How does Mama’s attitude change?

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2. What does Beneatha tell Mama?

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Page 118

1. Why does Mama say Walter suddenly came into his manhood?

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