A Raisin in the Sun
Name__________________#__
By Lorraine Hansberry
Study Guide
Answer the following questions using adequate details.
ASPIRATIONS
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What do you imagine when people today say they want the American Dream? Describe.
What do people need, in general, in order to be able to reach the American Dream? What
are your dreams? Why are dreams important? What must you do to achieve dreams?
What social tensions existed in America in the 1950’s? Do they still exist today? Explain.
How does family support affect an individual? How does family support affect a family?
What creates a “home”? What does “home” mean to you? How does “home” affect who
you are? (Does the environment you grow up in affect who you are?)
Themes to look for: (mark these in your book and write down page #s here)
Dreams & Dreams
Deferred
Conflict between
expectations
Changes in characters
Pride & Love
Cultural Struggle
Stereotyping & Prejudice
Role of Women
The Strength of Family
Influences of environment
or home life
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1.
Who/What are the biggest influences in your life? Why?
2.
How does this relationship/aspect influence your life?
3.
What’s your religion? How does that influence your life/choices?
4.
From what you know right now, how do you think your values –- both religious
and otherwise – compare to your parents?
5.
Who are your allies – the people who stick up for you – and how do they impact your
life?
6.
What do you hope to be when you grow up?
7.
How do you plan to make that goal a reality?
8.
What frustrates you more than anything?
9.
What does “success” mean to you?
2
PARTS TO BE SPOKEN
A Raisin in the Sun
Come prepared ready to read for your part! You will be graded for your reading, so prepare in advance! If you need help pronouncing words, ask!
(See the mini-rubric below.) If you choose to read for Travis, you must sign up more than one time
Act I Scene One:
Narrator:
Ruth:
Walter:
Travis:
Beneatha:
Mama:
Act I Scene Two:
Narrator:
Ruth:
Walter:
Travis:
Beneatha:
Mama:
Asagai:
Act II Scene One:
Narrator:
Ruth:
Walter:
Travis:
Beneatha:
Mama:
George:
Act II Scene Two:
Narrator:
Ruth:
Walter:
Travis:
Beneatha:
Mama:
George:
Johnson:
Act II Scene Three
Narrator:
Ruth:
Walter:
Travis:
Beneatha:
Mama:
Man (Lindner)
Bobo
Act III:
Narrator:
Ruth:
Walter:
Travis:
Beneatha:
Mama:
Man (Lindner)
Asagai:
Grades for reading your part: (3 = great, 2 = average, 1 = poor)
*Grade will go directly into grade book after you read: see me to find out your score.
Fluency
3
2
1
Clarity
3
2
1
Audibility
3
2
1
Pronunciation
3
2
1
Characterization
3
2
1
___/15 points
3
Act I, Scene1
1. What is this play’s setting? (Time, place, and location.)
2. Describe the apartment’s general appearance.
3. Why is Walter so frustrated as a husband and a father?
4. What is Walter’s dream?
5. Why does Walter say, “We one group of men tied to a race of women with small minds”?
6. What check is expected to arrive?
7. Mama has made one decision about the check. What is it?
8. Locate two further references of dreams. Explain the significance of those statements.
(Include page #s)
9. Who is George Murchison? What does Bennie think of him?
Find significant quotes in this scene, and explain why it is an important quote in the play. Also, try to tie
the quote to a theme in the play.
Speaker
“Quote” (page #).
Explanation
4
What is your impression of these characters?
(Use at least 2 quotes for support)
Mama
Beneatha
Walter
Ruth
Travis
5
Act I, Scene 2
10. Who is Joseph Asagai?
11. Why had Ruth fainted at the end of scene one?
12. How does Beneatha react to this news?
13. Who might be the “she” doctor that Ruth had gone to?
14. How does Asagai feel about Beneatha?
15. What is Assimilation? Give some examples.
16. After reading all of Act I, choose one word that best describes Walter. Explain why.
17. Now describe Walter and Ruth’s marriage. Why do you suppose they have problems?
18. What obstacles may keep the Youngers from reaching the American Dream?
Find significant quotes in this scene, and explain why it is an important quote in the play. Also, try to tie
the quote to a theme in the play.
Speaker
“Quote” (page #).
Explanation
6
7
Act II, Scene 1
19.How does Walter behave when he returns home?
20.Compare and contrast… Use specific examples and/or quotes in your comparison
Joseph Asagai
Similarities
George Murchison
21. Explain George’s sarcastic allusion to Prometheus
22. What has Mama done with part of the money? Why is this both good news and bad news?
23. Refer to the poem which precedes the play. Which description of a dream deferred best describes
Walter’s dream? Defend your answer.
Act II, Scene 2
24. Where has Walter been during his three day “vacation” from work?
25. Explain how the money is to be divided. What is significant about Mama giving part to Walter?
26. What is Walter’s fantasy (that he describes to Travis)?
Act II, Scene 3
27. What day is it at the start of this scene? How much time has passed?
28. Describe Lindner. Why is he there?
29. How do Walter, Ruth, and Beneath react to him?
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30. What is the significance of Mama’s gifts?
31. Identify Bobo. Why has he arrived?
32. Do you feel Mama was foolish for putting trust in Walter? Explain.
Questions to consider after Act 2 and Chapter 2 of There are No Children Here
1. So far, how does LaJoe in There are no Children Here compare to Mama in Raisin in the Sun?
Cite specifics!
LaJoe
Mama
Questions to consider after Act 2 and Chapter 2 of There are No Children Here
2. What makes Ruth different from other women of her race and day? Cite specifics! (Find at least two
quotes that OTHER characters say about her in addition to 1 example of her own words or actions.)
3. What do you think the significance of “the plant” is? Find one quote and explain what you think the
plant means to Mama… what does it symbolize or represent?
4. How does the family feel about Big Walter? (Mama’s late husband) Find quote(s) to support your
answer. What kind of man does he seem like to you?
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5. Mama says to Walter, “Something been eating you up like a crazy man. Something more than me not
giving you this money. The past few years I been watching it happen to you” (72). What does mama
mean by this? What IS eating at Walter Lee?
6. What makes Mama so happy about the purchased house? (Check pages 91-94) Does her
dream/rationale remind you of anyone else’s? (Think Of Mice and Men…your family, There are no Children)
7. Why isn’t Walter happy by his mother’s purchasing of a home? What does it mean to him?
Questions to consider after Act 2 and Chapter 2 + 3 (8-25) of There are No Children Here
8. Describe Mrs. Johnson. (What do you think of her? What does she say that is most outrageous to
you? Choose at least one quote that captures her character) Do you know anyone like her? (100-103)
9. Mama says, “I been wrong, son. That I been doing to you what the rest of the world been doing to
you.” What does she mean? Do you agree?
10. Walter changes a LOT over the course of the play. Try to trace his “changes” over the course of Act
I and II. How does he start out? Then what? Etc… (Perhaps Plot them on a graph using page numbers!)
What causes these changes?
11. How do you think everyone will respond to the fact that Walter Lee lost ALL the money? Predict
what will happen next! How are you feeling about Walter Lee right now? (Do you think he was right or
wrong for giving the money to Willy?)
10
Act III
Why didn't Beneatha want to be a doctor anymore?
How did Asagai define "idealists" and "realists"?
idealists
realists
What does Asagai ask Beneatha to do?
What fault does Mama find with herself?
What solution does Walter have?
Why didn't Walter take the money Lindner offered?
Did the Youngers stay or move?
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Chapter 2
Chapter 9
____________________Demise
____________________Solemnly
____________________Ogle
____________________Liability
____________________Luster
____________________Prolonged
____________________Proximity
____________________Incapacitated
____________________Exacerbating
____________________Connoisseur
____________________Fend Off
____________________Surreptitiously
____________________Philandering
____________________Foundered
Chapter 3
____________________Concedes
____________________Public Housing
____________________Riveted
____________________Ominous
____________________Sullen
____________________Petty
____________________Vindictiveness
Chapter 10
____________________Cathartic
____________________Curtly
____________________Resigned
____________________Rebuke
____________________Mitigate
____________________Chagrined
____________________Attributed
____________________Resolve
____________________Sought
____________________Solace
____________________Subsidize (Rents)
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Comparisons: Cite SPECIFIC examples
The Raisin in the Sun and There are No Children Here
The Raisin in the Sun Living
Conditions/ communities
The Raisin in the Sun Frustrations
Similarities
Similarities
There are no Children Here Living
Conditions/communities
There are no Children Here
Frustrations
13
Comparisons: Cite SPECIFIC examples
The Raisin in the Sun and There are No Children Here
The Raisin in the Sun Dreams
for the future
Similarities
There are no Children Here
dreams for the future
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