VOCABULARYA RAISIN IN THE SUN

• undistinguished• tyrant• exasperated• mutilated• assimilation• oppressive• indictment• rebuff

IMPORTANT WORDS

“The YOUNGER living room would be a comfortable and well-ordered room if it were not for a number of indestructible contradictions to this state of being. Its furnishings are typical and undistinguished and their primary feature now is that they have clearly had to accommodate the living of too many people for too many years.” –p. 23

UNDISTINGUISHED

• having no distinguishing marks or features• common, nothing special • unnoticed• inconspicuous• not separated or divided.

UNDISTINGUISHED

Undistinguished?

Undistinguished?

“Mama: Now—you say after me, in my mother’s house there is still God…Beneatha: In my mother’s house there is still God…Yes, ma’am…Ruth: You still think you a woman, Bennie…Beneatha: I see. (Quietly) I also see that everybody thinks it’s all right for Mama to be a tyrant.” –p. 52

TYRANT

• a person of authority who uses power unjustly. • absolute ruler, dictator• one who exercises a harsh use of power

TYRANT

Tyrant?

Tyrant?

“Ruth: I don’t care what teacher sat. I ain’t got it. Eat your breakfast, Travis. Travis: I am eating. Ruth: Hush up now and just eat! (The boy gives her an exasperated look for her lack of understanding, and eats grudgingly)” -p. 28

EXASPERATED

• exasperate: to excite the anger of • irritated or annoyed• infuriated or enraged

EXASPERATED

Exasperated?

Exasperated?

“I shall have to teach you how to drape it properly. (He flings the material about her for the moment and stands back to look at her)… You wear it well…very well…mutilated hair and all.” –p. 61

MUTILATED

• mutilate: to cut up or alter radically so as to make imperfect; to destroy a limb• destroyed or ruined• disabled or crippled

MUTILATED

Mutilated?

Mutilated?

Mutilated?

“Asagai: Well…it is true that this is not so much a profile of a Hollywood queen as perhaps a queen of the Nile—But what does it matter? Assimilationism is so popular in your county.Beneatha: I am not an assimilationist!” –p. 63

ASSIMILATION

• assimilate: to conform or adjust to the customs, attitudes, etc. of a particular group or nation. • to cause to resemble, to make similar• absorbed• blended in

ASSIMILATION

Assimilation?

Assimilation?

“It means someone who is willing to give up his own culture and submerge himself completely in the dominant, and in this case oppressive culture!” –p. 81

OPPRESSIVE

• oppress: to crush or burden by abuse of power• unreasonably burdensome or severe• overwhelming or depressing to the spirit• brutal• cruel• inhuman

OPPRESSIVE

Oppressive?

Oppressive?

“The bedroom door at right opens and her husband stands in the doorway in his pajamas, which are rumpled and mismated. He is a lean, intense young man…inclined to quick nervous movements and erratic speech habits—and always in his voice there is a quality of indictment.” –p. 25

INDICTMENT

• indict: to charge with a fault or offense; to accuse; criticize• an expression of STRONG disapproval• complaint• criticism

INDICTMENT

Indictment?

Indictment?

“O.K….O.K., whatever you say…(They both sit on the couch. He tries to kiss her. She moves away)… I want a nice—(Groping)—simple (Thoughtfully)—sophisticated girl…not a poet…(He starts to kiss her, she rebuffs him again and he jumps up)” -p. 96

REBUFFS

• rebuff: to reject or criticize sharply• refused rudely• rejected• snubbed

REBUFFS

Rebuffed?

Rebuffed?

Rebuffed?

GROUP WORK

Creating our own sentences!