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A Raisin in the Sun
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A Raisin in the Sun
Pre-Reading &
Background
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Author
Lorraine Hansberry
5
A
- Born on May 19, 1930, in Chicago, Illinois.
- Hansberry was the first black playwright and the youngest American to win a New York Critics’ Circle award.
- Throughout her life she was heavily involved in civil rights. She died at 34 of pancreatic cancer.
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Works
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- The film version of A Raisin in the Sun was completed in 1961
- Starred Sidney Poitier
- The play opened in 1959 and was a great success
- Had 530 performances
- Was the first play produced on Broadway by an African-American woman.
Works
The Crystal Stair
- a play about a struggling black family in Chicago
- Later renamed A Raisin in the Sun, a line from a Langston Hughes poem
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Outside Influences
Outside
Influences
Langston Hughes
1.
Was an American poet, novelist, and playwright
2.
Famous for his African-American themes
3.
Was a primary contributor to the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s
O
Own life experiences
1. One of the central conflicts of A Raisin in the Sun was loosely based on an event from Hansberry's own childhood.
2. In 1938, her family bought a house in a white neighborhood, in violation of a restrictive covenant – which was legal at the time – prohibiting a black buyer from purchasing the house.
3. The fight that ensued, against both the legal system and the hostile neighbors, deeply affected young Hansberry.
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Background
B
Family is composed of:
Walter Lee Younger - The protagonist of the play.
Beneatha Younger (“Bennie”) - Mama’s daughter and Walter’s sister.
Lena Younger (“Mama”) - Walter and Beneatha’s mother.
Ruth Younger - Walter’s wife and Travis’s mother.
Travis Younger - Walter and Ruth’s sheltered young son.
Joseph Asagai - A Nigerian student in love with Beneatha.
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Context
A Timeline
h
e
C
1941
The United States enters World War II.
1947
Jackie Robinson joins the Brooklyn Dodgers and becomes first African American to play major league baseball in the 20th century.
1954
The U.S. Supreme Court finds segregated schools unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education.
1955
Rosa Parks is arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger, sparking a bus boycott.
1960
Hansberry writes two screenplays of A Raisin in the Sun, both of which are rejected by Columbia Pictures; her third, least controversial screenplay is accepted.
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e
4
Q
Quotes
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Themes
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W
Dreams
Discrimination
Family/Home
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Things to know
A
- ARITS is a PLAY
- Stage Directions
- Theater norms
- Elements of drama and characterization
- Scenes VS Acts
- Scripts