A Raisin In The Sun By Lorraine Hansberry

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In the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, one of the main characters Beneatha Younger tries to find herself and figure out exactly who she is. She is a twenty year old black woman who attends college in the South Side of Chicago. One of her closest friends, Joseph Asagai, is from Nigeria and he really has Beneatha’s best interests in mind. Nigerian culture is very significant in the play because Asagai tries to teach Nigerian culture to Beneatha, in order for her to discover who she wanted to be. Right when Beneatha first met Asagai she said, "Mr. Asagai — I want very much to talk with you. About Africa. You see, Mr. Asagai, I am looking for my identity" (A Raisin in the Sun). So Asagai began to teach Beneatha African and about Nigerian culture. After visiting his family in Nigeria, Asagai brings back Beneatha Nigerian music, beautiful Nigerian robes and even invites her to come and live …show more content…

Nigerian culture is a key factor in A Raisin in the Sun, and Nigerian music, Nigerian clothing and other aspects of Nigerian culture is very important to Beneatha on her quest to discover who she is. One of Beneatha’s gifts from Asagai was a record of Nigerian music. Nigerian music is a big part of Nigerian culture, and it is so different than most of the music that Americans are used to. The main differences or some key aspects of Nigerian music that differ most forms of American music are the elaborate drumming patterns, the unique instruments and the language. There are different regions of Nigeria, and each region’s style of music is a little bit different. “Two common percussion ensembles found widely today are the dundun and the bata. Other Yoruba percussion instruments include bembe, koso, abinti, shekere and sakara” (The Music of Nigeria). One of the most popular Nigerian styles of music was highlife.

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