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A RAISIN IN THE SUN

• In your notebooks, prepare to take notes on the information in this presentation. Notebooks will be checked for content and organization throughout this unit.

LORRAINE HANSBERRY’S

A RAISIN IN THE SUN

HANSBERRY’S BACKGROUND

Biography

• Birth: May 19, 1930 in ChicagoBirth: May 19, 1930 in Chicago• Death: January 12, 1965, of pancreatic Death: January 12, 1965, of pancreatic

cancer (age 34)cancer (age 34)• She was raised in a middle-class familyShe was raised in a middle-class family• Her parents were intellectuals and Her parents were intellectuals and

activists activists • She was the youngest of four childrenShe was the youngest of four children• Her father was a prominent real estate Her father was a prominent real estate

brokerbroker• She married Robert Nemiroff, but they She married Robert Nemiroff, but they

divorced after 11 years divorced after 11 years

Education

• University of Wisconsin & Roosevelt University of Wisconsin & Roosevelt UniversityUniversity

• Writing classes at the New School for Writing classes at the New School for Social ResearchSocial Research

• Studies in African Culture and History Studies in African Culture and History with W.E.B. DuBois at Jefferson School for with W.E.B. DuBois at Jefferson School for Social Sciences in New YorkSocial Sciences in New York

• Writer for Paul Robeson’s Writer for Paul Robeson’s Freedom Freedom magazinemagazine

• Inspired by Langston Hughes during this Inspired by Langston Hughes during this time—used the title, A Raisin In the Sun time—used the title, A Raisin In the Sun from one of his poemsfrom one of his poems

A DREAM DEFERRED

by Langston HughesWhat 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?

Inspiration

• When Hansberry was 8, her family When Hansberry was 8, her family moved to a restricted white moved to a restricted white neighborhood to fight segregation.neighborhood to fight segregation.

• Her family had to go to court to be Her family had to go to court to be allowed to stay in their home allowed to stay in their home (Hansberry vs. Lee – supreme court (Hansberry vs. Lee – supreme court case).case).

• A Raisin in the SunA Raisin in the Sun was loosely was loosely inspired by her family’s struggles inspired by her family’s struggles during this time.during this time.

1930-1965

A Raisin…is the 1st play by a black woman to be produced on Broadway

Other Works:

WHAT USE ARE FLOWERS?THE MOVEMENT: DOCUMENTARY OF

A STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITY, THE SIGN IN SIDNEY BRUSTEIN'

WINDOWTO BE YOUNG, GIFTED, AND BLACK:

LES BLANCS: THE COLLECTED LAST PLAYS: The Drinking Gourd / What Use Are Flowers?

SOCIAL BACKGROUND

Published in 1959, four years after Rosa Parks’ was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white person on a bus, sparking the Civil Rights Movement, Hansberry’s play illustrates black America’s struggle to gain equal access to opportunity and expression of cultural identity.

Martin Luther King, Jr.Civil-Rights Leader

1929-1968

I have a dream… a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all

men are created equal.’                                                                       

Sentiments in A Raisin… will be echoed by MLK in later speeches, marches, and rallies

CONT’D DREAMS REPRESENTED IN THE PLAY AND LATER ECHOED BY KING

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream…where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

IN 1956, KING LEADS A BOYCOTT OF THE BUS LAWS.

IN 1954, THE SUPREME COURT FOUND IN FAVOR OF THE PLAINTIFFS IN THE BROWN V. THE BOARD OF EDUCATION CASE. HOWEVER, THE SEGREGATION OF SCHOOLS DIDN’T BEGIN TO TAKE EFFECT UNTIL 1957. MOREOVER, THE CASE’S DECISION DID NOT ABOLISH SEGREGATION IN OTHER PUBLIC AREAS, SUCH AS RESTAURANTS AND RESTROOMS.

A RAISIN IN THE SUN

• Investors doubted that theatergoers would be interested in the struggles of a contemporary African American family

• The plays big break came when film actor Sidney Poitier agreed to play the lead.

• When it opened on Broadway in March 1959, it was a smash hit. It was the longest-running African-American play on Broadway

• It was also the first Broadway play written by an African-American woman and directed by an African-American man.

THE GREAT MIGRATION

• During World War I African American families migrated from the south and went north in search of jobs in defense plants.

• They soon discovered racism and segregation existed in the North as well.

• White northerners reacted with fear and resentment against the large African-American population in their midst, the Klu Klux Klan made inroads in the North.

• Northern cities developed large ghettos such as Harlem in New York and the South Side of Chicago, where African Americans lived in crowded, often filthy slums.

THEMESMANLY PRIDE

THEMESCULTURAL PRIDE

African Americans were beginning to find ways to celebrate their unique identity and their African heritage.

THEMESFAMILY PRIDE AND THE AMERICAN DREAM

LITERARY CONCEPTS

• CHARACTERIZATION REFERS TO THE TECHNIQUES THAT A WRITER USES TO DEVELOP CHARACTERS. IN DRAMA, CHARACTERS ARE REVEALED THROUGH THEIR OWN DIALOGUE AS WELL AS THROUGH THE DIALOGUE OF OTHERS.

• MOOD IS THE FEELING OR ATMOSPHERE THAT A WRITER CREATES FOR THE READER OR, IN THE CASE OF A PLAY, FOR THE AUDIENCE. DESCRIPTIVE WORDS, STAGE DIRECTIONS, AND DIALOGUE ALL CONRIBUTE TO MOOD.

DISCUSSION

What would happen if you got ten thousand dollars in the mail? What would you want to do with it?

What do you think your family would want to do with it?

Do you think you would all agree? Why or why not?

DISCUSSION

Have you ever experienced discrimination? How so? How did you react?

What do you think you would do if someone tried to tell you that you could not live in his or her neighborhood?