February 25, 2016 PigLit Mr. Cabat Aim: “My people are poor. And they are tired. And they are determined to live:” An Introduction to Lorraine Hansberry and A Raisin in the Sun

Do Now: “Harlem” If If Hansberry takes the title of her play from Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem”Harlem With a partner, examine the text of the Hughes poem. What do you think is the argument of the poem? What literary elements does Hughes employ to make that argument? Consider the Hughes poem through the lens of America in Whose dreams are being deferred, and how and why does this happen?

A Few Brief Words About Hansberry’s Brief Life…  As you learned from the reading, she was born in Chicago’s South Side to an educated, middle-class family.  Her father was the lead plaintiff in Hansberry v. Lee, a Supreme Court case that challenged the “redlining” of African-Americans into certain neighborhoods (more on redlining later…)  After attending Wisconsin, she moved to New York to be a writer  In 1959, A Raisin in the Sun, her first and only play, became the first play by an African-American female playwright to premiere on Broadway.  She died of pancreatic cancer in 1965 at the age of 35  After her death, her former husband, the publisher Robert Nemiroff, collected some of her unpublished writings into To Be Young, Gifted and Black. The work was also adapted into an Off-Broadway play in the late 1960’s.

The Discussion Question If If What is the difference between being “young, gifted and black” and being young and gifted? Is it proper and just to refer to writers we’ve discussed, like Toni Morrison and Ta- Nehisi Coates, as “African- American writers”? Or are they simply writers?

Looking at Our HW Discussion Board Let’s look at some of the entries in last night’s discussion.  What do you like about some of the entries?  What suggestions might you make to the writers to improve their comments?

Here’s Someone You Really Need to Know About… That would be Nina Simone, the controversial and brilliant singer-songwriter who, in 1958, wrote and recorded a song inspired by Hansberry’s book.song

How Does the Dream Deferred Translate into Art in 2016? Your assignment, either alone or with a partner: find some lyrics from recent songs that express the African-American experience today. Be prepared to share out.

Wait…I Thought We Finished the Race Unit Months Ago… Here’s the thing—as we move forward, we are going to have to consider the interplay among class, gender and, yes, race. A Raisin in the Sun “lives” at the intersection of all three…

Homework  Read the excerpt from Tocqueville’s Democracy in America and address the EQ on the turnitin discussion board.