A Raisin In the Sun

Booker T Washington allusion

"Education has spoiled many a good plow hand."

Beneatha - Biblical Allusion to Adam Eve

"I wouldn't marry him if he was Adam and I was Eve!" She wouldn't marry him, even if he was the last man on Earth.

Monologue

(n.) a speech by one actor; a long talk by one person

What year was A Raisin in the sun based on?

1950's

how many similes are in the poem, "Harlem" by Langston Hughes

5

Langston Hughes

A leading poet of the Harlem Renaissance. He wrote "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" and "My People"

Dialect

A regional variety of a language distinguished by vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation.

Setting of A Raisin in the Sun

A small apartment in Chicago's South Side in the 1950's

symbols - Beneatha's hair

A symbol of her anti assimilation beliefs and her desire to shape her identity to her African roots.

Karl Lidner

A weak and ineffectual middle-aged white man, Lindner is the spokesman for the white community into which the Youngers plan to move. He has been sent to persuade the Youngers not to move into the white neighborhood. In fact, he has been authorized by the white community to offer the Youngers a monetary incentive not to move in.

Who said this: "It isn't a circle- it is simply a long line- as in geometry, you know - one that reaches into infinity. And because we cannot see the end, we cannot see how it changes,"

Asagai

Asagai - Historical Allusion to maiden

Asagai says he wants to sweep the maiden (Beneatha) back across the middle passage. This alludes to the slaves brought here from Africa. It means that Asagai is proposing to Beneatha

Who says, "this friends is the Welcoming Committee!"

Beneatha

Beneatha - historical

Beneatha alludes to the KKK when Ms. Johnson is racist towards their own kind. She means that black people have to face discrimination everywhere, even in their own community.

Beneatha - literary allusion Tarzan

Beneatha says that all anyone seems to know about Africa is Tarzan. This means that African Americans are ignorant about Africa

Beneatha - Biblical (W) allusion to Moses

Beneatha tells Walter Lee he is a prophet leading them out of the wilderness. Alludes to Moses, who led his people out of the wilderness to the Promised Land. It means that Beneatha has no faith in Walter Lee's Leadership

Who says, "Well- we are dead now. All the talk about dreams and sunlight that goes on in this house. Its all dead now."

Bennie

What news does Bobo bring to Walter?

Bobo tells Walter that Willy Harris, who they trusted with the money, had run off with all of it

Where is the house?

Clybourne Park- an all white neighborhood

George - Literary allusion to Prometheus

George says, "Goodnight, Prometheus!" to Walter Lee. Alludes to Greek mythology when Prometheus took fire from the gods and shared it with people. It means that George thinks Walter Lee is trying to take money from the rich, superior people to share it with the poor, inferior ones. Also, embarrasses Walter Lee because he is uneducated and doesn't understand the allusion.

Act 3 summary

Karl Lidner tries to bribe the family not to move into the house. The family stands up and buys it anyways.

Lena - Historical allusion to Napoleon

Lena says she saw a cockroach like Napoleon. This alludes to Napoleon Bonaparte, the French emperor who tried to take over Europe. This means that the cockroaches are practically taking over the apartment

Author of A Raisin in the Sun

Lorraine Hansberry (1959) characters inspired by her family, written inspired by her life

Who said this "There is always something left to love."

Mama

Act 1 summary

Mama receives a life insurance check after the death of her husband. The family debates on what to do with the money.

Who said this: "Like this little old plant that ain't never had enough sunshine or nothing"

Mama speaking; symbolism; Comparing the old plant that is spirited regardless of the sunshine or water that it gets to Beneatha and Walter

Why does Mama keep Travis in the room? What is Hanbserry's intention in having Travis present for this scene?

Mama wants Travis to learn from this experience, whether right now or in the future. In addition, she is hoping to shame Walter into changing his opinion.

Beneatha Younger

Mama's daughter and Walter's sister. In college, and better educated than the rest of her family. She wants to be a doctor. She has had many hobbies; Afrocentrism is her latest cause.

Mrs. Johnson - historical allusion to Emmett Till

Mrs. Johnson says white folks in Chicago are acting like the ones in Mississippi. This alludes to Emmett Till. It means that the white people in Chicago are being violent towards African Americans

Walter v Beneatha

Much of the conflict between Beneatha and Walter revolves around Walter's chauvinistic view of Beneatha. When Walter complains that Beneatha's medical schooling will cost more than the family can afford, he bases his argument on the fact that since Beneatha is a woman, she should not even want to become a doctor.

W.E.B. DuBois

Opposed Booker T. Washington. Wanted social and political integration as well as higher education for 10% of African Americans-what he called a "Talented Tenth". Founder of the Niagara Movement which led to the creation of the NAACP.

What is Walter's dream?

Own liquor store

Walter's idea about being a man

Providing, leading

Who said this: "Sometimes it is like I can see the future stretched out in front of me, just plain as day, just tell me, where you going to get the money to do all these things."

Ruth

Who says this: "Eat your eggs, they gonna be cold."

Ruth

Why is Ruth upset when she returns home? Why do you suppose this makes her so unhappy?

She is pregnant. The family cannot afford another child.

What does Mama do with the money?

She uses it to make a down payment on the house in Clybourne Park and gives Walter the rest of the down payment.

Why does Beneatha want to be a doctor?

She witnessed a child split his head open and get fixed up by doctors. She wants to be someone who fixes people.

Promethius

Stole fire from mount olympus; punished by having a vulture eat his liver every day and then it grew back the next day.

symbols- the check

Symbolizes Big Walter and the family's opportunity for a better life.

Theme: Racism & discrimination

The Younger family is asked to not move into the white neighborhood by bribes from Mr. Lidner

Theme: American Dream

The Younger family strives to improve their lives and achieve a better future despite the obstacles of racism and poverty.

Theme: Family and gender roles

The play challenges gender roles and emphasizes the importance of family unity and support in overcoming adversity

Theme: sacrifice and selflessness

The play shows how characters are willing to give up their own desires and aspirations for the sake of their family, often at a great personal cost.

Walter Lee Younger

The protagonist of the play. Walter is a dreamer. He wants to be rich and devises plans to acquire wealth with his friends, particularly Willy Harris. When the play opens, he wants to invest his father's insurance money in a new liquor store venture. He spends the rest of the play endlessly preoccupied with discovering a quick solution to his family's various problems.

What decision does Walter make in the end?

To keep the house, and save his pride and self respect.

Who said this: ."... but you wouldn't do nothing to help, would you? You couldn't be on my side that long for nothing, could you?"

Walter

Who said this : "Mama, you know it's all divided up. Life is. Sure enough. Between the takers and the token."

Walter Lee

Who said this: "that money is made out of my fathers flesh."

Walter Lee

Walter vs Mama

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.

Lena Younger (Mama)

Walter and Beneatha's mother. The matriarch of the family, Mama is religious, moral, and maternal. She wants to use her husband's insurance money as a down payment on a house with a backyard to fulfill her dream for her family to move up in the world.

Travis Younger

Walter and Ruth's sheltered young son. Travis earns some money by carrying grocery bags and likes to play outside with other neighborhood children, but he has no bedroom and sleeps on the living-room sofa.

Act 2 summary

Walter invests the money in a liquor store with his friends, but the deal falls through. Mama uses the money to buy a house Clybourne Park, a white neighborhood.

Who says, "Man, I'm a volcano. Bitter? Here I am a giant - surrounded by ants! Ants who can't even understand what it is the giant is talking about."

Walter says this to George

does Ruth want to keep the baby?

Yes and no. She wants it, but is afraid she cannot afford it.

stage directions

an instruction in the text of a play, especially one indicating the movement, position, or tone of an actor, or the sound effects and lighting.

cynical

doubtful or distrustful of the goodness or sincerity of human motives

what gift does the family give to Mama?

gardening tools

why does Walter Lee want to own a liquor store?

it is an opportunity to escape his job as a chauffeur.

Restrictive Covenants

provision in a property deed preventing sale to a person of a particular race or religion; loan discrimination; ruled unconstitutional

Idealism

pursuit of noble goals, even when they're not necessarily realistic

what does mama tell Walter to do with the money?

put some in the bank for bennie

symbols - mama's plant

represents both Mama's care and her dream for her family. In her first appearance onstage, she moves directly toward the plant to take care of it.

Walter and Ruth's relationship

struggling; money has put a strain on the relationship.

Symbols- the house

symbolizes the desire for a better future

Realism

the attribute of accepting the facts of life and favoring practicality and literal truth

Theme: pride and dignity

the characters struggle with self respect and recognition in a society that devalues them. The play shows how the characters pride and dignity are often at odds with their practical needs and desires, leading to sacrifices/

Historical context

the play was written during the civil rights movement, a time of great social and political change in the United States.

Assimilation

the social process of absorbing one cultural group into harmony with another

What dream did Big Walter and Mama have?

to buy a house in Morgan park

Uncle Tom's Cabin

written by harriet beecher stowe in 1853 that highly influenced england's view on the American Deep South and slavery. a novel promoting abolition. intensified sectional conflict.