A Raisin in the Sun
Reading Packet
Raisin Vocabulary
Define each of the following words using the context of the play to help you.
Act I, Scene i
1. exasperated –
2. furtively –
3. futile -
4. permeated -
5. pretenses -
6. raucous -
7. vindicated -
Act I, Scene ii
8. bastion -
9. forlornly -
10. haphazardly -
11. indignantly -
12. insinuatingly -
13. quizzical -
14. suppress -
Act II, Scene i
15. cliché -
16. imploring -
17. incredulity -
18. plaintively -
19. menacingly -
20. scrutinizing Act II, Scenes ii & iii
21. agitation -
22. amiably -
23. deplore -
24. enunciating -
25. facetiousness -
26. gall -
27. ludicrous -
28. nonplussed -
29. strident -
30. undaunted Act III
31. despair -
32. epitaph -
33. flippancy -
34. mirage -
35. ominous -
36. plunder -
37. precariously -
38. retrogression -
39. reverie -
40. wrought -
Raisin Discussion Questions
Act I, Scene i
Answer all of the following with thoughtful responses. Make sure you answer all parts of the question!
1. The living room setting seems overtaken by weariness. Name two details that suggest a dismal mood.
2. According to his mother, why is Travis getting so little sleep?
3. What is the plan Walter, Willy Harris, and Bobo have been figuring out?
4. Why is Walter upset with his wife’s reaction? What does he want from Ruth?
5. What is Walter’s job? Why might he be unhappy with it?
6. Why is Walter upset with Beneatha’s plan to go to medical school?
7. What does Walter tell Beneatha she should do with her life? In reality, he has a deeper, underlying conflict.
What is Walter’s hidden fear?
8. How does Beneatha feel about the liquor store? Why?
9. Do you think Walter will get the liquor store he wants? Why or why not?
10. Mama says that her late husband once grieved deeply. What event led to Big Walter’s grief?
11. What is Mama’ theory about what finally killed her husband? Do you think this is possible?
12. What’s with Mama’s plant? How do you think that might symbolize what the family is going through?
13. If your family suddenly inherited a large amount of money, do you think everyone would agree as to what
should be done with it? What do you think each of your family members would want to do with it? What would
you want? Who do you think would end up getting his/her way, if anyone? Why? Please respond in a wellwritten paragraph at least 8 sentences long.
Act I, Scene ii
Answer all of the following with thoughtful responses. Make sure you answer all parts of the question!
1. What is the family doing at the start of Act I, Scene Two? Name one detail of their routine that clearly illustrates
the living conditions of this family.
2. Why is Ruth upset when she returns home? Why do you suppose she is so unhappy about this?
3. What is Travis "playing" with his friends? Why does this add to Ruth's distress?
4. Who is Joseph Asagai?
5. What does Asagai give to Beneatha as a gift? Why is Beneatha pleased with it?
6. What stereotypes about women does Asagai reveal? What is Beneatha's opinion about a relationship with
Asagai?
7. What is Asagai's Nigerian name for Beneatha? What does the name mean in English?
8. Why is Beneatha particularly touched by this nickname?
9. When the postman brings the check for $10,000, Mama is overjoyed, but also sad and worried. Explain her
conflicting feelings.
10. What concern does Mama have about Walter's frequent times away from home?
11. How does Walter explain his discontent about his job and his future?
12. Why does Walter crumple his papers, make an angry speech, and head out of the apartment?
13. What is Walter's initial reaction to the news that Ruth is pregnant? To what does Mama refer when she says,
"You are a disgrace to the memory of your father."?
14. Which of Mama's values are revealed in Act I?
15. What negative situations in the Youngers' lives are making their conflicts worse? What positive aspects may
help them resolve their problems?
Act II, Scene i
Answer all of the following with thoughtful responses. Make sure you answer all parts of the question!
1. What is George's reaction to Walter and Beneatha performing their African dance?
2. George says, "We're going to the theatre - we're not going to be in it." What does he mean?
3. Explain three differences between George Murchison and Joseph Asagai.
a.
b.
c.
4. What is Beneatha's definition of assimilationism? How does this definition present conflict for Beneatha?
5. What does Walter say about George's father? Why does Walter feel that he and George's father have much in
common? Does George agree?
6. What news does Mama bring home? Why do Ruth and Walter react as they do? Explain why this is both good
news and bad news?
7. Do you think Walter's closing comments to Mama beginning "What do you need me…" (78) are justified?
Explain.
Act II, Scene ii
Answer all of the following with thoughtful responses. Make sure you answer all parts of the question!
1. Explain the disagreement between Beneatha and George regarding studying or education. How does this
argument end?
2. Beneatha thanks her mother for understanding her. Specifically, what understanding does Beneatha mean?
3. When Walter returns, what does Mama learn?
4. What does Mama do after she hears about Walter's three days?
5. Explain what Mama means when she talks to Walter about dreams again.
6. Walter says, "You trust me like that?" To what is he referring?
7. What evidence is there that Walter may not fulfill her trust?
Act II, Scene iii
Answer all of the following with thoughtful responses. Make sure you answer all parts of the question!
1. What is the atmosphere at the opening of this scene?
2. Explain the irony in Beneatha's statement: "This, friends, is the Welcoming Committee!"
3. Where is the irony in Lindner's statement? "People can get awful worked up when they feel that their whole
way of life and everything they've ever worked for is threatened."
4. Why does Lindner claim not to want them to live there?
5. When she is asked about her plant, Mama replies, "It expresses me." Explain the significance of the wording she
chooses. Also, explain the symbolism in what she states; in other words, how is this plant a symbol of who she
is?
6. What does Mama receive from her family after she returns home?
7. How is the gift to Mama appropriate?
8. What news does Bobo bring to Walter?
9. Why does Walter say, "That money is made out of my father's flesh"?
10. Besides the money, what else will the loss mean for the family?
Act III
Answer all of the following with thoughtful responses. Make sure you answer all parts of the question!
1. Why is the lighting in Act III different from the lighting in Act I? What do you think that symbolizes?
2. On page 114, Beneatha explains her motivation for becoming a doctor. Describe this incident.
3. What realization does Beneatha come to during her conversation with Asagai that makes her no longer care
about making the world a better place? (Hint: think about the metaphor of the “circle” that she uses – what
does she mean?)
4. What does Ruth say to Mama when Mama starts talking about calling to cancel the moving van?
5. Mama replies that she "sees things differently now" than she used to. Explain what she means.
6. Walter comes in and says that he called "the man." What does Walter say that he has learned? Why did he call
Lindner?
7. What is subtext? Write the definition below.
8. List three stage directions that provide subtext to Walter's speech.
a.
b.
c.
9. What does this subtext tell us about how Walter really feels about taking Lindner’s money?
10. Why does Beneatha say, "He's no brother of mine"?
11. In Mama's speech on pages 126-127, she tries to teach a universal truth to Beneatha. What is this truth?
12. When Lindner arrives, what does Walter tell him?
13. What causes Walter to change his mind about blackmailing Lindner?
14. At the end of Act III, Mama says, "He finally come into his manhood today, didn't he? Kind of like a rainbow
after rain"? What does she mean by this? What literary device is used in this line?