--A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry: Work due Monday, September 10

1. Read the biographical information about the author and the play.

2. Read the play and complete the Deferred Dreams Questions

3. Complete the Character Analysis Chart

Lorraine HansberryBiographical Information

American playwright and painter whose A Raisin in the Sunwas the first drama by a black woman to be produced on Broadway. When Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun appeared on Broadway in 1959, the artist became at twenty-nine the youngest American playwright, the fifth woman and the only African American to date to win the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play of the Year. Hansberry's portrayed individuals - not only black - who defend their own and other's dignity. "All art is ultimately social: that which agitates and that which prepares the mind for slumber," she once said.

"... in order for a person to bear his life, he needs a valid re-creation of that life, which is why, as Ray Charles might put it, blacks chose to sing the blues. This is why Raisin in the Sun meant so much to black people - on the stage: the film is another matter. In the theater, a current flowed back and forth between the audience and the actors, flesh and blood corroborating flesh and blood - as we say, testifying... The root argument of the play is really far more subtle than either its detractors or the bulk of its admirers were able to see." (James Baldwin in The Devil Finds Work, 1976)

Lorraine Hansberry was born in Chicago as the daughter of a prominent real-estate broker, Carl Hansberry, and the niece of William Leo Hansberry (1894-1965), a HowardUniversity professor of African history in WashingtonD.C. Hansberry's parents were intellectuals and activists. Her father was an active member of the Republican Party. He won an anti-segregation case before the Illinois Supreme Court, upon which the events in A Raisin in the Sunare loosely based. When Lorraine was eight, her parents bought a house in a white neighborhood, where they were “welcomed” one night by a racist mob. Their experience of discrimination there led to a civil rights case. Hansberry's parents sent her to public schools rather than private ones as a protest against the segregation laws. She studied art at the University of Wisconsin and in Mexico. After attending a school performance of a play by the Irish playwright Sean O'Casey, she decided to become a writer. In 1950 she dropped out of college and moved to New York. She took classes in writing at the NewSchool for Social Research and worked as an associate editor of Paul Robeson's Freedom. During this period she met, among others, the famous writer Langston Hughes.

In 1953 Hansberry married Robert Nemiroff, a Jewish literature student and songwriter, whom she had met on a picket line protesting discrimination at New YorkUniversity. She worked as a waitress and cashier, writing on her spare time. Nemiroff gained success with his hit song, 'Cindy, Oh Cindy', and Hansberry could devote herself entirely to writing.

The working title of A Raisin in the Sun was originally 'The Crystal Stair' after a line in the poem “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes. The new title was also from a Langston Hughes' poem, which asked: "What happens to a dream deferred? / Does it dry up/Like a raisin in the sun?" The play gained a huge success although the producer, Phil Rose, had never produced a play, and large investors were not interested in it. The production was first taken out of New York and played in New Haven, Philadelphia, and Chicago. In all places audiences loved it. Eventually it opened on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, on March 11, 1959. In New York, it ran 530 performances. Sidney Poitier played the role of Walter Lee. The film version of 1961, also starring Sidney Poitier, received a special award at the Cannes festival.

Hansberry’s premature death, at the age of thirty-four, cut short her promising career. Lorraine Hansberry died of cancer on January 12, 1965.

The 2004 revival of Lorraine Hansberry's beloved drama A Raisin in the Sun,which had not been seen on Broadway since its legendary original production, brought four major stars to Broadway. The powerhouse cast included Grammy winning superstar Sean (P. Diddy) Combs, (acclaimed for his work in the film Monster’s Ball) as Walter Lee; three-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald (Ragtime, Master Class, Carousel) as Ruth; celebrated stage and television actress Phylicia Rashad (The Cosby Show) as Mama; and film star Sanaa Lathan (Out of Time, Love & Basketball) as Beneatha. The play was honored with four Tony Award nominations, and Phylicia Rashad and Audra McDonald received the Tony Awards for their individual performances.

A Raisin in the Sun and Deferred Dreams Questions

The title for Lorraine Hansberry’s play comes from a Langston Hughes poem, “Dreams Deferred.” Read the poem below and answer the questions. If you prefer, you may type your responses on a separate sheet or add binder paper if you need more room.

Dreams Deferred

by Langston Hughes

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 sag

Like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

1. What does it mean to “defer” something? How does this idea apply to the play A Raisin in the Sun?

2. What similes (comparisons using like or as) does Hughes use to represent delaying of goals or dreams?

3. The final line is an implied metaphor. What is a deferred dream being compared to in the final line of the poem?

4. Which simile(s) or metaphor from the poem do you think best explain how the characters in the play react to having their dreams deferred? Explain. (Discuss each major character and explain how each selected metaphor or simile from the poem applies to that character.)

A Raisin in the Sun Characterization Chart

For this assignment, you will be evaluating the main characters in the play. Think about whether each character is static or dynamic by evaluating the way the character is portrayed in the beginning of the play versus the end of the play. A static character is one who does not change much during the course of a play. A dynamic character does change in some important way.

Additionally, several of the characters dream of achieving something someday. Discuss what their dreams are and how they think they can achieve those dreams. Finally, identify whether or not the characters have achieved their dreams by the end of the play.

Complete the chart for each character using specific details and quotations from the play to support your ideas. If you prefer, you may type this information, recreating the form or you may continue writing on binder paper if necessary.

Mama – at the beginning / Mama – at the end
What she says: (Provide direct quotes) / What she says: (Provide direct quotes)
What other characters say about her: (Provide direct quotes) / What other characters say about her: (Provide direct quotes)
What the stage directions say about her: (Provide direct quotes) / What the stage directions say about her: (Provide direct quotes)
What she does: (Summarize character’s actions) / What she does: (Summarize character’s actions)
Character / Dream / Method of Achieving Dream / Dream Achieved?
Mama
Walter – at the beginning / Walter – at the end
What he says: (Provide direct quotes) / What he says: (Provide direct quotes)
What other characters say about him: (Provide direct quotes) / What other characters say about him: (Provide direct quotes)
What the stage directions say about him: (Provide direct quotes) / What the stage directions say about him: (Provide direct quotes)
What he does: (Summarize character’s actions) / What he does: (Summarize character’s actions)
Character / Dream / Method of Achieving Dream / Dream Achieved?
Walter
Ruth – at the beginning / Ruth– at the end
What she says: (Provide direct quotes) / What she says: (Provide direct quotes)
What other characters say about her: (Provide direct quotes) / What other characters say about her: (Provide direct quotes)
What the stage directions say about her: (Provide direct quotes) / What the stage directions say about her: (Provide direct quotes)
What she does: (Summarize character’s actions) / What she does: (Summarize character’s actions)
Character / Dream / Method of Achieving Dream / Dream Achieved?
Ruth
Beneatha – at the beginning / Beneatha – at the end
What she says: (Provide direct quotes) / What she says: (Provide direct quotes)
What other characters say about her: (Provide direct quotes) / What other characters say about her: (Provide direct quotes)
What the stage directions say about her: (Provide direct quotes) / What the stage directions say about her: (Provide direct quotes)
What she does: (Summarize character’s actions) / What she does: (Summarize character’s actions)
Character / Dream / Method of Achieving Dream / Dream Achieved?
Beneatha