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summary of the raisin in the sun by lorraine hansberry
summary of the raisin in the sun by lorraine hansberry
A ‘raisin in the sun’ by Lorraine Hansberry research paper
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Lorraine Hansberry: An Annotated Bibliography
Lorraine Vivian Hansberry was born May 19, 1930 in Chicago and raised in a
middle-class family. When Hansberry was only eight years old she had her first
experience with civil rights. Her father fought a lengthy legal battle in the late 1930’s
against harsh covenants which kept Chicago’s blacks in the ghettos. To make a statement
the family moved into an all white neighborhood which was against the law at that time.
The house was often vandalized and the children were faced with hostility as they walked
to and from school. Hansberry’s father fought the city’s Jim Crow laws all the way to the
Supreme Court and won. This whole experience would later serve as an inspiration for
Lorraine Hansberry’s play “A raisin in the Sun”.
Hansberry attended the University of Wisconsin for two years and then studied
painting in Chicago and Mexico, before she realized she had no talent for it. Moving to
New York in 1950, she held many jobs, while perfecting her skill as a writer. Hansberry
said, “A woman who is willing to be herself and pursue her own potential runs not so
much the risk of loneliness as the challenge of exposure to more interesting men- and
people in general”. She became involved in the civil rights movement and married a
white jewish man; their marriage would only last a few years before Hansberry began
exploring her feelings for women. She joined the Daughter of Blitis, a pioneering lesbian
organization and had two letters published in their journal, “The Ladder”. However, it
was for her play “A Raisin in the Sun”, that she received her praise.
Hansberry was the first black to direct a play on Broadway since 1907. “A Raisin
in the Sun” won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award. Hansberry was also named
Staples and Douglass both feel as though other people in society judged them based on the color of their skin and how they appeared. The people feel as though both the authors are a threat to society. Douglass was judged because he was not white and he was a slave he was stripped of his rights because how he appeared to everyone around him. In the passage Douglass mentions “From this time I was most narrowly watched. If I was in a separate room any considerable length of time, I was sure to be suspected of having a book, and was at once called to give a bank account of myself” (144). Douglass came to conclusions that there was nothing he can do to change what the ones around him think of him and that he would always have restrictions such as not being allowed to read. This shows that society is judging him based on his appearance and it shows that society believes that he has no right. This helps readers see how society treats Douglass and how they feel as though he is a threat it also helps readers infer that if it were to be a white person in his shoes they would not suffer nearly as
A Raisin in the Sun. By Lorraine Hansberry. Dir. Lloyd Richards. Perf. Sidney Poitier. Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York. 11 Mar. 1959.
Lorraine Hansberry was born in Chicago on May 19,1930. She was the youngest child of four and died in 1964 at the age of 34 from pancreatic cancer. She was well known for writing her play A Raisin in the Sun.
She questions “why should I be my aunt / or me, or anyone?” (75-76), perhaps highlighting the notion that women were not as likely to be seen as an induvial at this time in history. Additionally, she questions, almost rhetorically so, if “those awful hanging breasts -- / held us all together / or made us all just one?” (81-83). This conveys the questions of what it means to be a woman: are we simply similar because of “awful hanging breasts” as the speaker of the poem questions, or are we held together by something else, and what is society’s perception on this? It is also interesting to note Bishop’s use of parenthesis around the line “I could read” (15). It may function as an aside for the reader to realize that the six year old girl can in fact read, but also might function as a wink to the misconstrued notion throughout history that women were less educated and didn’t
Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, centers on an African American family in the late 1950s. Hansberry directs her work towards specifically the struggles faced by African Americans during the late 1950s. Through the dialogue and actions of her characters, she encourages not only a sense of pride in heritage, but a national and self-pride in African Americans as well.
Creativity of Hansberry played a crucial role in the development of African-American drama since the Second World War. A Raisin in the Sun was the first play by African-American author which was set on Broadway and was honored by the circle of New York theater critics. Drama of A Raisin in the Sun (1959) brought Hansberry to the Award Society of New York Critics as the best play of the year. A Raisin in the Sun shows the life of an ordinary African-American family which dreams of happiness and their desire to achieve their dream.
Miller, Jordan Y. “Lorraine Hansberry.” The Black American Writer: Poetry and Drama, II. Student Resource Center. Gale Group Databases. Collin County Community College Library, Plano TX. 28 February 2011 .
The play A Raisin in the Sun was written by an African American female by the name of Lorraine Hansberry. It was seen to be the most historically accurate because of its realistic viewpoint of the African American situations of this time. James Baldwin, a friend of Hansberry and a fellow writer, “labeled the play as a “historical achievement” of the greatest importance... the unprecedented way that A Raisin in the Sun brought African Americans into the theater and onto the stage.” (“Chapter 30: Cultural and Historical Context, 1925). Baldwin continued to say “never before, had so much of the truth of black people's lives been on the stage” and “A Raisin in the Sun was a historical achievement precisely because of it's realism and contemporaneity, its truthful depiction of the lives of many ordinary African Americans in the late 1950s. In a sense, the play made history by accurately reflecting a historical and cultural reality previously ignored by dramatists” (1925).
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. The Bedford Introduction to Drama. Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001. 1274 – 1310.
In Lorraine Hansberry “A Raisin in the Sun”, the issues of racial discrimination, the debate of heroism, and criticism is vividly displayed. The play, which was written in the late 1950’s presents itself in a realistic discerning matter that implicates the racial division among the black family and white America. The play insinuates Walters’s heroism as well because of the black family’s struggle not to become discouraged in trying to obtain the world riches and still maintaining human dignity. When Hansberry wrote “A Raisin in the Sun”, many critics questioned the motive behind her play because it showed the America the world wants to grow oblivious to. This presents the reality of racial discrimination and heroism for the black man among
Jimmy Baca’s story “Coming into Language” describes his emotional childhood and what he went through while in prison. At seventeen Baca still didn’t know how to read or write. Throughout the story, he shares his struggle with language and how prison eventually brought himself to learn how to read and write. Jimmy Baca then uses examples in his story explaining how he admired language and used it to free himself from the cruel world he grew up in.
The play "A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry, provides the reader with a clear view on the reality of the struggle for African Americans during the late 1950's. Full of conflict and racial tension, Hansberry creates a strong distinction between her different and unique characters. The main theme of dreams creates conflicts that are evident in the play because the family is aiming for an individual dream that seems to never happen; however, in the end, they get away form the individual dream and finally reach a common ground.
Throughout the novel, Victor Frankenstein strives for a chance to further science by creating a life on his own. Frankenstein 's ambition causes him to passionately work to create the life that brings him power. In the novel, science exists as a powerful entity which shows Frankenstein the dangers it could have if uncontrolled. Using his scientific mind to construct life, Frankenstein immediately gains dominance over the society. By creating life, Frankenstein places the work of God into his own hands and he uses
First, women spend huge amounts of money to improve their looks. So here we are unable to escape the reality that we can never be flawless or blemish free; moreover, as long as women have the belief that all greatness de...
Today, the idea of beauty has been turned into unattainable forms by media, trends, and marketing. To reach the social’s standard of beauty, many people have gone anorexic, bulimic, or have been addicted to plastic surgery. Many people are wasting money on beauty products to make themselves prettier, but they forget that their inner beauty is more important. Inner beauty is an essential key to the overall appearance of someone. Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder and is the combination of inner and outer attractiveness of one