A Raisin in the Sun

In on of her most important speeches Mama articulates a crucial difference between being simply materially poor and being

"dead inside"

To secure his stake in the liquor store, Walter Lee hopes to invest

$10,000

Insurance policy

$10,000 check coming to the family because of the death of Walter Senior.

Beneatha

-the character who is described as "slim and intense" with an "almost intellectual face that has a handsomeness of its own" 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.

Willy Harris

A friend of Walter and coordinator of the liquior store plan. Ruth frequently criticizes him.

assimilationist

A member of a minority group who tries to blend in with the majority culture.

Lorraine Hansberry

Author of A Raisin in the Sun.

What was Beneatha's family doing when George came in?

Beneatha was in Nigerian dress. Beneatha and Walter were dancing and singing Nigerian songs. They looked rather crazy, and Walter was quite drunk.

The play is set in

Chicago, at some time following World War II.

Themes

Family Dynamics and love Dreams, Hope, and plans Betrayal, Lies, and Deceit Prejudice Self acceptance and Dignity Money

In Act 2, When Walter is fooling around with Beneatha while she is dressed in the African robe and hat, what does Walter call himself?

Flaming Spear

Insurance check/money

For everyone in the play, money is the symbol of their dreams. All of them believe that money will be the key to their dreams coming true.

Beneatha's attempts to reclaim her heritage are nastily dismissed when that heritage is termed "raggedy-assed spirituals" and "grass huts" by

George Murchison

Why did Mama call Walter a disgrace to his father's memory?

He had become overly concerned with money and had lost his traditional family values, so much so that he didn't try to convince Ruth not to have an abortion.

Walter said, "Damn my eggs . . . damn all the eggs that ever was!" Why?

He has been telling Ruth about his dream and she tells him to eat his eggs. He wants to talk and dream of a better life; she wants him to face reality and deal with his present world. This makes him frustrated, makes him feel like she doesn't support him.

What does Walter's employer call to say?

He hasn't been to work in 3 days.

What news did Bobo bring to Walter?

He tells Walter that Willy took all of the money and left without a trace.

What solution does Walter have to losing the money?

He thinks accepting the money from Lindner will solve their problem

What was Walter's reaction to Lindner?

He told him to get out of their apartment.

Who was Karl Lindner, and why did he visit the Youngers' house?

He was from Clybourne Park Improvement Association. He was calling to ask the Youngers not to move into their white neighborhood. The association members were willing to pay the Youngers not to move in.

According to George Murchison, the heritage of black Americans

Is nothing more than a bunch of spirituals and some grass huts

Who says, "Then isn't there something wrong in a house—in a world—where all dreams, good or bad, must depend on the death of a man?"

Joseph Asaigi

The assessment of Walter Younger, Sr. as "hard-headed, mean, kind of wild with women" is delivered by

Lena

Who is the last to leave the Younger apartment at the end of the play?

Mama

Who says "There is always something left to love. And if you ain't learned that, you ain't learned nothing" in A Raisin in the Sun?

Mama

Who says, "Oh—So now it's life. Money is life. Once upon a time freedom used to be life—now it's money. I guess the world really do change . ."?

Mama

Maid

Mama's job

Joseph Asagai

Nigerian student who is dating Beneatha. Proud of his African heritage, wants Beneatha to return to Nigeria with him.

Mr. Asagi gives Beneatha the nickname "Alaiyo" meaning

One for Whom Bread is Not Enough

Eat your eggs.

Ruth's response when Walter tries to tell her about his dream for a better life.

Why did Beneatha say she wouldn't marry George?

She admitted that he was rich, but she thought he was shallow. She liked him well enough to go out with him, but she didn't love him.

What did Mama do with her money?

She bought (made a down payment on) a home.

What happened to Ruth at the end of Act I Scene One?

She fainted

She is using personification; the furnishings of the house embody the struggle the family is enduring.

She gives him "control" over the money

What presents did Mama get?

She got gardening tools and a hat.

What literary device represents the furniture, carpet, and light from the window? Why?

She is using personification; the furnishings of the house embody the struggle the family is enduring.

What was Beneatha's attitude towards God?

She said she did not accept the idea of God -- "there is only man and it is he who makes miracles."

What fault does Mama find with herself?

She says she aimed too high --had too high dreams

What did Mama for Walter in terms of money?

She turned the remaining money over to him. She said he should use $3,000 for Beneatha's school, and that he could do whatever he wanted with the remainder.

Why didn't Beneatha want to be a doctor anymore?

She used to think that fixing people's ailments was the best thing to do. Now she thinks that physical ailments aren't the problem of society. People's hearts aren't true. She gives up on the human race and calls them "puny, small, and selfish." She sees no human battle worth fighting.

What is Mama's motive for buying a house in the all-white community of Clybourne Park?

She wants to obtain the best home for the least amount of money.

Why did Walter ask Ruth what was wrong with her in Act I?

She was kind-of crabby and tired-looking.

What did Ruth find out at the doctor's office?

She was pregnant

Where did Ruth actually go instead of the doctor's office?

She went to see a woman about having an abortion.

time period

Sometime after WWII

sunlight vs. darkness

Sunlight represents goodness and darkness represents evil. The sun nourishes and allows everything to grow and develop. All that darkness nourishes is dark thoughts; plants and people wither in darkness.

Asagain's Nigerian robes

Symbolizes African heritage and the fight for freedom from colonial rule and their importance to Beneatha to find her roots.

Lena's plant

Symbolizes her perpetual hope for a better life. By constantly caring for the plant, however feeble it becomes, she shows the audience that she is keeping her hope alive

George Murchison's white shoes

Symbolizes the discrepancy between the Younger's poor lives versus George's privileged life. Rich blacks worked very hard to separate themselves from poor blacks as represented by his dress.

Mama's plant as a symbol

Symbolizes the unhealthy state of Mama's family, because they live in such a bad environment

Mr. Karl Lindner

The only white character in the play. Tries to pay the Youngers NOT to move into an all white neighborhood.

Chicago

The setting for A Raisin in the Sun. Specifically, the southside.

Clybourne Park

The white neighborhood where Mama plans to buy a house.

Who are Willy and Bobo?

They are two "friends" of Walter's who want him to go in partners with them in a liquor store.

Why was Ruth upset when Walter gave Travis 50 cents?

They don't have money to spare. Also, Walter needed that money to get to work and had to get another 50 cents from Ruth.

Did the Youngers stay or move?

They moved

Who says, "We have decided to move into our house because my father—my father—he earned it for us brick by brick"?

Walter

chauffer

Walter Lee's job

Mama

Walter and Beneatha's mother. She wants to use the insurance money to get a house in a better neighborhood. She worries about her family falling apart.

Travis

Walter and Ruth's young son. Eager to help his family. Plays outside with the rats. Sleeps on the sofa because there is no room.

Why didn't Walter take the money Lindner offered?

Walter is a good, decent man underneath. His conscience and moral upbringing wouldn't let him ruin his family's pride.

What was Walter's reaction to Mama's purchase? Ruth's reaction?

Walter was very disappointed. Ruth was elated

Ruth

Walter's wife and Travis's mother. She is caught in the middle of the fight over the money. Discovers she is going to have a baby and considers an abortion.

George Murchison

Wealthy African-American man who courts Beneatha. He ignores his African culture and is becoming absorbed into the white culture, which makes him an assimilationist. He and Beneatha argue about this.

Major conflict

What part of the plot? Bobo tells the Youngers that Willy has run off with all of Walter's invested insurance money; Asagai makes Beneatha realize that she is not as independent as she thinks.

Beneatha's hair

When Beneatha cuts her straight hair, she is rejecting the social norms of the time.

At what point does Mama say that Walter has finally achieved his "manhood"

When he tells Mr. Lindner that they will move to Clybourne Park no matter what

Near the end of the play, what does Asagai leave Beneatha to think about?

Whether she will marry him and move to Africa

What happens to the money that Walter invests in the liquor store?

Willy Harris runs off with the $6,500.00

A Raisin in the Sun chronicles the lives of the Younger family over the course of...

a few weeks

Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun takes the title of the play from...

a poem by Langston Hughes

When Beneatha addresses Walter Lee as "Symbol of the Rising Class! Entrepreneur! Titan of the system," her tone can best be described as

bitingly ironic

To Mama, for Walter Lee to truly be his father's son, he must

insist that Ruth not end her pregnancy.

What does it mean when a dream is deferred?

it is put off

When Walter decides to move the family to the new house by turning down Lindner's offer, and when Beneatha explains to Asagai that the apartment doesn't always look so messy, these are examples of which theme?

pride

Genre

realist drama

When Walter explains his plans to own a liquor store and Beneatha stands her ground about becoming a doctor, these characters are supporting which prominent theme in the play?

the American Dream

A Raisin in the Sun

the first play on Broadway that was written by an African-American woman

Walter Lee

the flawed protagonist/main character. Wants to use the insurance money to open a liquor store

When Mama buys the house for the family and when Mama walks back into the apartment to grab her plant before the closing curtain, which theme does this represent?

the importance of family

When mama talks about her ancestors and Beneath talks about the accomplishments of different African tribes, which theme from the play are they exalting?

the importance of heritage

Mr. Asagai metaphorically claims that he and Beneatha can engage with their people's painful past by alluding to

the middle passage

Where do Ruth and Walter go when they are becoming more hopeful about the future?

the movies