A Raisin In The Sun Compare And Contrast Essay

In today's curriculum teachers are expected to cover a large area of content in a short amount of time. In that short amount of time it is vital students receive the best learning experience. In class both the movie, A Raisin in the sun, and the play were shown and read to students. The play is a drama written by Lorraine Hansberry. The movie is directed by Kenny Leon and produced by Bad Boy Films. The play and movie feature an African American family in the south side of Chicago in the 1950s. The family consists of: Walter, Mama, Beneatha, Travis, and Ruth. They have many dreams. Some of those dreams become true while others do not. Although there are some similarities and differences between the play and the movie, the differences far outweigh the similarities. It is essential that teachers show both the play and movie to the students to provide a better understanding of the content.

To begin, there are several similarities between the play and movie.

Similarities are essential to the understanding of the audience. The similarities reinforce ideas in both the play and movie. The play corresponds to the movie by having the notion of dreams. In the play and in the movie, there were several dreams. Mama has her dream of owning her own house. Congruently, Walter has his dream of owning and operating a liquor store. In the play Beneatha also has her dream of becoming a doctor. Similarly in the movie she has the same dream to be a doctor. These dreams emphasis the importance of then and the characters. Another similarity is the plot. In the play, Mama buys her house.Similarly, in the movie Mama also purchases her house in the white community. Walter’s money got stolen which is alike the movie where Bobo also informs Walter his money is gone. Although the similarities refresh and reinforce information from both the play and movie, they are not as important as the

differences.
Most importantly, there are a few differences between the movie and play. One difference is added scenes. In the movie Mama is seen at the store. She has conversations with another woman and a store worker. The employee shows much disrespect towards Mama. The disrespect helps to show how times were back in the fifties. Unlike the movie, in the play Mama never is never seen outside of the house, so she never had that conversation. Another difference is Beneatha is seen at school with Asagai, yet this action never occurred in the play. Beneatha and Asagai were only ever seen in the apartment. This addition allows for readers to understand how their relationship started. Additionally, the family never visits the house to check it out; however, in the movie they visit the house. This action shows the audience what Mama spent the money on. It also shows the white neighbors looking out their windows. They showed much disgust to the fact the Youngers were moving in. Another difference is with characters. In the play there was a one scene character. Her name was Mrs. Johnson. In contrast, there was no Mrs. Johnson. Without this character it is important to see how the movie develops. Obviously, the differences far outweigh the similarities. They provide background information and further understanding.
To conclude, it is essential that teachers show both the play and movie to the students to provide a better understanding of the content. Instructing with both medias allows students to see a lot more than was read in the play. The movie expands on detail from the play and allows reinforcement on important aspects. It is a teacher’s job to give the best possible education to students. In order to accomplish that task, they must introduce students to the play and movie.