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Presentation Overview:
• CONTENT WARNING!
• Setting and Plot
• Historical Context
• Lorraine Hansberry
About the Title
A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun

•
• Theme Subjects
• Key Elements
A Raisin in the Sun • Allusions and References
• Final Task Preparation
By Lorraine Hansberry • Takeaways

Photo by The Huntington Theatre Company

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CONTENT WARNING Setting and Plot

• Abortion • Chicago, 1950s
• Racism and internalized racism
• The “Black Belt” of the city
• Sexism (between 12th and 79th Streets and
Wentworth and Cottage Grove Avenues)
• Alcohol abuse
A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun

• A tenement apartment
• Homophobia
• Religious arguments (atheism) The hard-working Younger family live
in a cramped, shabby apartment. The
• Swearing
family awaits a life insurance payment
• Slurs (including the N-word) following the passing of Big Walter.
• Antiquated terms (negro) Photo by Edwin Rosskam
 Post-War Period
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Historical Context: African Americans, women, and

other minority groups contributed
• Post-War Period mightily during World War II.

• Civil Rights Movement World War II ended in 1945,

A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun

leading to a period of population
• The Women’s Movement growth and prosperity in the
• Housing in Chicago United States.

• Decolonization in Africa The wealth and opportunity of

this period was not shared equally.
Library of Congress

The Civil Rights Movement The Women’s Movement

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1948: Executive Order 9981 ends segregation in the U.S. military. Women gained the right to universal
1954: Brown v. Board of Education ends segregation in public suffrage (voting in every state) with the
schools. ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920.
1955: Emmett Till, a 14-year-old from Chicago, is brutally murdered in
Mississippi for allegedly flirting with a white woman. Lorrain Hansberry wrote A Raisin in the Sun
in what historians call the “second wave” of
A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun

1955: Rosa Parks’ defiance prompts the Montgomery bus boycott.

feminism.
1957: the “Little Rock Nine” fight to integrate Little Rock Central HS.
The second wave responded to the growing
1957: The Civil Rights Act of 1957 helps protect voter rights.
cult of domesticity following WWII.
1959: A Raisin in the Sun debuts on Broadway.
During the second wave, feminists aimed to
1961: “Freedom Riders” protest throughout the South.
overcome societal and cultural expectations
1963: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech. as well as legal and professional limitations.
 Housing in Chicago Decolonization in Africa
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The Great Migration (1916-1970): In 1959, much of Africa was still

More than 6 million African Americans controlled by European nations, but
moved from the the rural South to independence movements were
cities like Chicago. gaining momentum.
Many Chicago neighborhoods formed On March 6, 1957, Ghana (formerly
A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun

“restrictive covenants,” legally binding Gold Coast) became the second sub-
contracts that specified that an owner
Saharan African country to gain its
could not rent or sell to black people.
independence.
Even after these contracts were ruled
illegal, banks, brokers, neighborhood The play explores this topic through a
organizations, and violent racists resisted character named Joseph Asagai, a
integration. college student from Nigeria.
“Chicago’s Black Belt, 1941” by Russell Lee
Africa in 1951 by Francisco Dojenia

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Lorraine Hansberry
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About the Title Harlem

by Langstone Hughes
• May 19, 1930 – January 12, 1965 The play’s title comes from a 1951
• In 1938, her father bought a house in the all-white poem by Langston Hughes. What happens to a dream deferred?
Chicago neighborhood of Washington Park.
Does it dry up
• The Hansberrys were prominent figures in the
African American community and socialized with like a raisin in the sun?
people like W. E. B. DuBois and Langston Hughes. Or fester like a sore—
A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun

• In 1950, Lorraine moved to New York City to And then run?

pursue her career as a writer. Does it stink like rotten meat?
• Hired at the black newspaper Freedom in 1951 Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
• Supported Daughters of Bilitis, a lesbian rights group
• The first African American woman playwright to Maybe it just sags
have a play performed on Broadway
like a heavy load.
• Died at the age of 34 of pancreatic cancer
Or does it explode?
 Photo by The Huntington Theatre Company Photo by The Huntington Theatre Company

Theme Subjects Key Elements

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A theme in literature is the author’s Certain aspects of Hansberry’s craft and

message about life or humanity. A theme structure deserve special attention.
is always a complete sentence. We will be studying…
A Raisin in the Sun Theme Subjects: • Symbolism

A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun

• Money / poverty • Dialogue and dialect

• Hopes and dreams • Character motivation
• Identity
• Word choice
• African heritage
• Effects of structure (such as tension,
• Dignity
mystery, and surprise)
• Sexism
• Theme development
• Racism

Photo by The Huntington Theatre Company

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What Is an Allusion?
Allusions and References: Allusion: A literary device where the author
• What Is an Allusion? creates a subtle connection to a well-known
idea, example, or text. Knowledgeable readers
• The Bible will make the connection.

• African Civilizations and Cultures For example, if an author names a character

A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun

Ophelia, it might allude to Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

• Prometheus
If the connection is directly stated, it is usually
• Booker T. Washington called a reference.

• Movies and Performers Do you think the title of the play

is an allusion or a reference?
Benin mask, 16th century
 Photo by The Huntington Theatre Company Photo by The Huntington Theatre Company

The Bible African History / Culture

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References include…
Christianity plays an important role in the
lives of the Youngers. • The Benin, Ashanti, Ethiopian, and Songhay
civilizations
Pay special attention when characters
make allusions or references to the Bible. • Shaka Zulu: a king who re-organized the
Zulu military and developed a spear known
A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun

• “And then there are all those prophets as the assegai.
who would lead us out of the
• "Owimoweh" is the title of an African chant,
wilderness…”
referring to the waking of the lion.
• “Thirty pieces and not a coin less!”
• Jomo Kenyatta: anti-colonial activist who
• “THAT MONEY IS MADE OUT OF became prime minister of an independent
MY FATHER'S FLESH!”
Kenya in 1964.
Benin mask, 16th century

Photo by The Huntington Theatre Company Photo by The Huntington Theatre Company

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Prometheus 20
Booker T. Washington
• One of the Titans in Greek religion
April 5, 1856 – November 14, 1915
and a god of fire
American educator, author, orator, and
• Prometheus means “fore-thinker,”
advisor to several presidents of the
and he is a mental giant (literally).
United States
A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun

• Creates the first humans out of clay

Washington advocated African American
• Defies the gods by stealing fire and progress through economic success and
giving it to humanity entrepreneurship rather than direct
challenges to Jim Crow segregation.
• The gods punish him by chaining
him to a rock where an eagle eats (We will study his ideas in his own words
his regenerating liver every day. later in the unit.)
Benin mask, 16th century Benin mask, 16th century
 Photo by The Huntington Theatre Company Photo by The Huntington Theatre Company
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Movies and Performers 22

• Greta Garbo: Swedish-American actress known for

portraying tragic, melodramatic characters.

• Pearl Bailey: American actress and singer. After Final Task:

appearing in vaudeville, she made her Broadway debut
in St. Louis Woman in 1946.
• What is Symbolism?
A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun

• Mrs. Miniver: A 1942 film starring Greer Garson as Mrs. • Symbol Analysis
Miniver, an English middle-class housewife who keeps
her hopes (and her roses) alive during WWII.
• Symbol Hunting
• Scarlett O'Hara: The over-the-top southern belle from
Gone with the Wind.

(These references meant more in 1959.) Pearl

Benin Mae
mask,Bailey
16th in 1946
century

Photo by The Huntington Theatre Company Photo by The Huntington Theatre Company

What is Symbolism? Symbol Analysis

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Symbols are items, events, places, or even

At the end of our study of
people that represent something more.
A Raisin in the Sun, you will present analysis
Example: The classic film Citizen Kane uses of Hansberry’s use of symbolism. You will
a cheap, child’s sled (named “Rosebud”) to focus on ONE symbol from the play.
symbolize the main character’s grief, lost
A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun

• How does she add layers of meaning to

childhood, and loving mother. A “Rosebud
the object, event, or person?
moment” is now shorthand for a moment
when childhood ends.
• What connections are created?
Can you think of any literary
• What does the symbolism accomplish?
symbols from famous stories?
Citizen Kane, 1941
Benin mask, 16th century
 Photo by The Huntington Theatre Company

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Symbol Hunting 26

Want an unfair advantage? Choose a symbol in advance and Takeaways::

take notes when your symbol or its associates pop up.
DO NOT PANIC! That was a lot of information in a short time.
Plants – window, sun, raisin, light, yard, garden…
We will study these topics as we move through the play.
Light – window, sun, plant, yard, garden…
Key takeaways:
The check – Big Walter, money, Willie Harris, ledger…

A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun

• The play portrays a regular family in a realistic way, but grapples with
Beneatha’s hair – natural style, unstraightened, heritage, important and complex ideas about society.
mutilation, assimilation…
• The play debuted during the Civil Rights Movement.
Food – bread, eggs, hot oats, Alaiyo, coffee, milk…
• A Raisin in the Sun holds an important place in theatre history and in
Fire – Flaming Spear, volcano, sun, light, Prometheus… American literature.

Rugs / furnishings – doilies, cleaned, worn places, carpet… • Lorraine Hansberry’s use of symbolism deserves special attention.

Mrs. Johnson – cleanser, newspaper, Booker T. Washington…

Benin mask, 16th century