Webquest to Explore Chicago’s

South Side in the 1950’s

This is a pre-reading activity for
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorrainne
Hansberry
 Introduction
• A Raisin in the Sun took place in the
1950s in Chicago’s south side. In order to
understand the people and issues of this
place and time, we can do some research
ourselves. The more we understand about
the setting of the book, the easier it will be
to understand the way the characters
think, and then understand the book in
general.
 Task
• In groups or pairs, we are to become historians—people
whose job it is to study the past and explain it to people
of today. We are to give a presentation to the class as if
the class is a body of politicians determined to make
decisions about how to make America a better place.
Being a historian is a serious job because the more we
understand what happened in the past the better we can
understand our present time. Historians help us
understand who we are and why the world is as it is
today. Historians help our society by remembering when
mistakes were made so that we will not repeat them.
 Process
Students are to put enough information together to
give a two-five minute presentation.
Some questions to consider:
1) Who lived there?
2) Were these people rich or poor? What kind of
jobs did they do?
3) Were these people white, black, Hispanic, or
other?
4) What challenges do you think these people
faced?
5) What dreams did these people have?
 Links for Research
http://www.roosevelt.edu/chicagohistory/...
http://www.southsideirishparade.org/
http://www.evanston.lib.il.us/library/bi...
http://www.bluesu.com/Tours&Events/Blues...
http://www.chipublib.org/001hwlc/sshchic...
http://www.gaylords712.com/historya1.htm...
http://www.uwec.edu/Geography/Ivogeler/w...
http://www.kentlaw.edu/ilhs/book/bookoth...
http://www.iit.edu/~bronzeville-stories/...
http://faculty.ccc.edu/mcleary/mcleary/s...
 Evaluation
See rubric available in teacher’s section,
lesson 3.
 Conclusion
As we read this play, we will have the ability to
take on the roles of the various characters of the
play. In doing so, we want to remember the reality
these people would have experienced. We want to
understand their feelings as they would have
experienced the issues of the day. We want to
understand the message the author is trying to
give us. Also, we want to learn about ourselves
and become better people for our families and
societies.