1. A Raisin in the Sun By Lorraine Hansberry Important Facts and How to Read a Play

2. Important Facts Produced in 1959 –Foretold the revolution in black consciousness. Consciousness means : –1. A sense of one's personal or collective identity, including the attitudes, beliefs, and sensitivities held by or considered characteristic of an individual or group: Love of freedom runs deep in the national consciousness. –2. Special awareness or sensitivity: class consciousness; race consciousness. –3. Alertness to or concern for a particular issue or situation.

3. …foretold the revolution in women’s consciousness

4. Why do you think this play dealt with these issues?

5. Meet Lorraine Hansberry Born in Chicago, IL Grew up on the south side in Woodlawn, but then family moved to an all-white neighborhood, where they faced discrimination Hansberry’s father engaged in a legal battle against a racially restrictive covenant that attempted to prohibit African- American families from buying homes in the area. (Hansberry v. Lee went to Supreme Court)

6. Important Themes (look for similar issues in other pieces of literature)

7. Value systems within families, particularly the black family

8. Concepts of African American beauty vs. European beauty

9. Concepts of African American identity

10. Class and generational conflicts

11. The relationships of husbands and wives

12. The relationships between men and women

13. Rising feminism

14. The difference between what it means to be African American vs. African

15. A series of FIRSTS The first play brought to Broadway by a black woman (young and unknown) Directed by a young black unknown director (Lloyd Richards) There had never been a serious commercially successful black drama Shown in a theatre with few black audience members… AND IT WAS A HIT!!!

16. Analyzing Literature Look at this book now… What is one of the things we should ask ourselves right now, before we’ve even read the play?

17. The significance of the TITLE From a poem by Langston Hughes. Title: “Harlem” What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up Like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore— And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat… Deferred: To put off; postpone

18. What happens if you DON’T get your DREAM?

19. How to read a play

20. Check the CAST LIST Can you tell anything about the relationship of the characters based on the cast list? Ruth Younger Travis Younger Walter Lee Younger (Brother) Beneatha Younger (Sister) Lena Younger (Mama)

21. Check the SETTING Does the setting give you any clues about the story? Does the time period give you any clues? Over what period of time does the action take place? Set on Chicago’s Southside, sometime between World War I and the present… Why do you think it’s such a wide range of time? See your book…

22. Read the DIRECTOR’S NOTES The italicized parts interspersed throughout the play should not be skipped. They give you IMPORTANT INFORMATION about the set, characters, and movements of characters. They tell you HOW A LINE IS SAID, which gives you more information about the characters

23. STAGE RIGHT, CENTER, LEFT, Proscenium, Leg, Border

24. UP STAGE vs. DOWN STAGE Check your stage knowledge Up stage Down stage Proscenium Stage left Stage right Leg Border