Essay assignment
A Raisin in the Sun
English 9
Ms. Balaschak
Rough draft due date: __________
Final due date: ________________
Assignment: Compare (find the similarities between) A Raisin in the Sun and the
"I Have a Dream" speech.
The play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a
Dream" speech explore the desire to achieve dreams in the face of difficult realities. Although the
play is fiction and the speech is non-fiction, one can find many similarities between the two works.
In many ways, Hansberry's play brings to life some of the points made by Dr. King in his "I Have a
Dream" speech.
Requirements: 5 paragraph essay format
Introductory paragraph: Your introductory paragraph should (duh!) introduce the topic and
state the overall point of comparison of the theme of dreams in the play and the speech. (Hint: This
overall point of comparison is your thesis statement.)
Possible thesis format: (somewhat wordy but unavoidable)
Both A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry and "I Have a Dream" by Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. express the idea that dreams…
Three body paragraphs: Each body paragraph should relate one comparison between the
speech and the play. Each body paragraph should include one quotation from Dr. King's speech and
one quotation from the play A Raisin in the Sun.
Quotations: All quotations should be cited in MLA format for parenthetical documentation. Each
quotation should be followed by the author's last name and page number from the text.
ex: (King 499)
Concluding paragraph: Open up the discussion to give your own perspective on the subject
of dreams as it relates to both of the stories. Use "I," if you wish. Do you relate to any of the
characters in his or her struggle to achieve a dream? Do you think the play or speech is still
relevant today? Why or why not? You need not address all of these topics; instead, let the
conclusion come from you and from your perspective.
Works cited: At the end of your essay (not on a separate page), include a list of the two texts that
you are using for this essay. Here's one of them. You just need to write the entry for the play. See
pp. R33-R34 for information on how to write the works cited entry for the play.
King, Jr., Dr. Martin Luther. "I Have a Dream." Prentice Hall Literature: Grade Nine. Boston:
Penguin, 2007.