American Literature

1. American Literature Ms. Wrenn and Ms. Julious

2. A raisin in the sun • In your notebooks, prepare to take notes on the information in this presentation. Notebooks will be checked for content and organization throughout this unit.

3. Lorraine Hansberry’sA Raisin in the Sun

4. Hansberry’s Background

5. Biography • Birth: May 19, 1930 in Chicago • Death: January 12, 1965, of pancreatic cancer (age 34) • She was raised in a middle-class family • Her parents were intellectuals and activists • She was the youngest of four children • Her father was a prominent real estate broker • She married Robert Nemiroff, but they divorced after 11 years

6. Education • University of Wisconsin & Roosevelt University • Writing classes at the New School for Social Research • Studies in African Culture and History with W.E.B. DuBois at Jefferson School for Social Sciences in New York • Writer for Paul Robeson’s Freedom magazine • Inspired by Langston Hughes during this time—used the title, A Raisin In the Sun from one of his poems

7. A Dream Deferred • by Langston Hughes • 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?

8. Inspiration • When Hansberry was 8, her family moved to a restricted white neighborhood to fight segregation. • Her family had to go to court to be allowed to stay in their home (Hansberry vs. Lee – supreme court case). • A Raisin in the Sun was loosely inspired by her family’s struggles during this time.

9. 1930-1965 • A Raisin…is the 1st play by a black woman to be produced on Broadway Other Works: • WHAT USE ARE FLOWERS? • THE MOVEMENT: DOCUMENTARY OF A STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITY, • THE SIGN IN SIDNEY BRUSTEIN' WINDOWTO BE YOUNG, GIFTED, AND BLACK: • LES BLANCS: THE COLLECTED LAST PLAYS: The Drinking Gourd / What Use Are Flowers?

10. Social Background • Published in 1959, four years after Rosa Parks’ was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white person on a bus, sparking the Civil Rights Movement, Hansberry’s play illustrates black America’s struggle to gain equal access to opportunity and expression of cultural identity.

11. Sentiments in A Raisin… will be echoed by MLK in later speeches, marches, and rallies Martin Luther King, Jr.Civil-Rights Leader 1929-1968 I have a dream… a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’

12. Cont’d dreams represented in the play and later echoed by King • I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. • I have a dream…where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

13. In 1956, King leads a boycott of the bus laws.

14. In 1954, the Supreme Court found in favor of the plaintiffs in the Brown v. The Board of Education case. However, the segregation of schools didn’t begin to take effect until 1957. Moreover, the case’s decision did not abolish segregation in other public areas, such as restaurants and restrooms.

15. A Raisin In The sun • Investors doubted that theatergoers would be interested in the struggles of a contemporary African American family • The plays big break came when film actor Sidney Poitier agreed to play the lead. • When it opened on Broadway in March 1959, it was a smash hit. It was the longest-running African-American play on Broadway • It was also the first Broadway play written by an African-American woman and directed by an African-American man.

16. The Great migration • During World War I African American families migrated from the south and went north in search of jobs in defense plants. • They soon discovered racism and segregation existed in the North as well. • White northerners reacted with fear and resentment against the large African-American population in their midst, the Klu Klux Klan made inroads in the North. • Northern cities developed large ghettos such as Harlem in New York and the South Side of Chicago, where African Americans lived in crowded, often filthy slums.

17. Themes Manly Pride

18. Themes Cultural Pride African Americans were beginning to find ways to celebrate their unique identity and their African heritage.

19. Themes Family Pride and the American dream

20. Literary concepts • CHARACTERIZATION REFERS TO THE TECHNIQUES THAT A WRITER USES TO DEVELOP CHARACTERS. IN DRAMA, CHARACTERS ARE REVEALED THROUGH THEIR OWN DIALOGUE AS WELL AS THROUGH THE DIALOGUE OF OTHERS. • MOOD IS THE FEELING OR ATMOSPHERE THAT A WRITER CREATES FOR THE READER OR, IN THE CASE OF A PLAY, FOR THE AUDIENCE. DESCRIPTIVE WORDS, STAGE DIRECTIONS, AND DIALOGUE ALL CONRIBUTE TO MOOD.

21. Discussion • What would happen if you got ten thousand dollars in the mail? What would you want to do with it? • What do you think your family would want to do with it? • Do you think you would all agree? Why or why not?

22. Discussion • Have you ever experienced discrimination? How so? How did you react? • What do you think you would do if someone tried to tell you that you could not live in his or her neighborhood?