A Raisin in

the Sun Background

Information

“Harlem”

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 sags like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

- Langston Hughes

“Mother to Son”

Well, son, I’ll tell you: Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

It’s had tacks in it, And splinters,

And boards torn up, And places with no carpet on the floor –

Bare. But all the time.

I’se been a-climbin’ on. And reachin’ landin’s, And turnin’ corners,

And sometimes goin’ in the dark Where there ain’t been no light.

So boy, don’t you turn back. Don’t you set down on the steps ‘Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.

Don’t you fall now – For I’se still goin’, honey,

I’se still climbin’, And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

Lorraine Hansberry • Born May 19, 1930 in

Chicago

• Died of cancer at the age of 34

• Daughter of a prominent real-estate broker and the niece of a Harvard University professor of African history

• Major Works: – A Raisin in the Sun - first play

– To Be Young, Gifted, and Black - based on her life

A Raisin in the Sun - History • Title is taken from “Harlem”/”Dream

Deferred,” but it was originally titled A

Crystal Stair from “Mother to Son”

• First produced in 1959 – known as

the “movin’ on up” morality play of

the 1960s

• First Broadway production written by

an African-American woman and first

by an African-American to win the

New York Drama Critics Circle Award

• Made into a film (1961), a musical

(1973), a PBS television production

(1989), and a TV film (2008)

A Raisin in the Sun - Content

• Explores the struggles of ordinary people to achieve their desires

• Story of the Youngers, a Southside Chicago family trying to survive in cramped quarters in the 1950s.

Let’s Refresh Our Memories…

• What are some of

the unique aspects

of drama as a

genre?

• What must we do

differently when we

read drama? How

must we analyze it?

What to Analyze and Annotate

• Symbols – What is the significance of

each symbol, and how to they

contribute to theme?

• Characters – What is each character’s

role, and how does each character work

to shape the play and develop theme?

Where are there parallels among

characters? What is each character’s

dream/desire?

What to Analyze and Annotate

• Allusions – How are allusions used,

especially to develop character?

• Stage Directions – How does

Hansberry use stage directions to

shape meaning in the play?

• Thematic Concepts – What message

is conveyed about each of these

concepts?

Thematic Concepts • Family value systems

• The concepts of beauty and identity

• The relationships of and conflict between men and

women, husbands and wives, the old and the young

• Feminism

• The concepts of value and money

• Racism, judgment, and prejudice

• The importance of dreams

• The American Dream

What is the American Dream? • “That dream of a land in which life should be better

and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for

each according to ability or achievement… a dream

of social order in which each man and each woman

shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which

they are innately capable, and be recognized by

others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous

circumstances of birth or position.” – James Truslow

Adams

• Where have we seen evidence of the American

Dream?

• What obstacles might prevent achievement of the

Dream?