1. Harlem by Langston Hughes
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?  Or crust and sugar over—  like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags  like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

2. Family lived in a black neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side
Lorraine Hansberry
Childhood
Born May 19, 1930
Family lived in a black neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side
Chicago at this time did not have legal segregation, but there was still wide spread self-segregation
Chicago was divided sharply into white and black neighborhoods

3. Hansberry’s father brought their case all the way to the Supreme Court
Lorraine Hansberry
Family Life
The Hansberry family was one of the first black families to move into a white neighborhood
The Hansberry family faced threats, discrimination, hate and even legal action
Hansberry’s father brought their case all the way to the Supreme Court

4. Hansberry’s writing often is autobiographical in nature
Lorraine Hansberry
Writing Style
Awards
Death
Hansberry’s writing often is autobiographical in nature
She is credited with being one of the first black playwright to create realistic black characters for the stage
A Raisin in the Sun received the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play of the Year
Hansberry was the youngest playwright, fifth woman and first black writer to win the award
Hansberry died at the age of 44 from cancer in 1965

5. Background for A Raisin in the Sun Cultural Influence
Diverse Characters
Diverse Issues
Bridged the radical changes in thought from the 1950s to 1960s
African-American theatrical roles were unusually small, comedic, and made up of a stereotypes
A Raisin in the Sun features three-dimensional, serious portrayals of black characters
The play also deals with serious issues directly tied to the black experience of living in America, such as:
poverty
discrimination
Segregation
racial identity

6. Background for A Raisin in the Sun
The Black Community
The Female Community
Beyond issues of black vs. white the play is also very introspective: looking at the black community views itself and how it should respond to hostility
Looking at women’s issues such as the female role in the house and in society, such as working for a living vs. staying in the home

7. Poverty, Segregation, Racism Literary Focus
1959
Realist Drama
Chicago
Walter Lee Younger
Poverty, Segregation, Racism
Literary Focus
Publication
Genre
Setting (Time)
Setting (Place)
Protagonist
Antagonist

8. “Harlem” was written 20 years after the Great Depression
Literary Terms
Allusion
The title of the play is an allusion to Langston Hughes’s famous 1951 poem “Harlem”
“Harlem” was written 20 years after the Great Depression
It focused on the phrase a “dream deferred” and asked readers to consider how long black society would put up with having their dreams put on hold
Dreams are described in the poem as withering up “like a raisin in the sun”

9. What happens to a dream deferred?
Harlem by Langston Hughes
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?  Or crust and sugar over—  like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags  like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

10. Literary Focus Setting
The play takes place in a segregated Chicago neighborhood, in the late 1950s.
The play occurs during the late 1940s or the 1950s, a time when some racial questions were beginning to be raised, but before the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.
Literary Focus
Setting

11. Racial Discrimination Civil Rights American Dream
Literary Focus
Topics and Conflicts
Value of Dreams
Dream Deferred
Racial Discrimination
Civil Rights
American Dream
Woman’s Place in Society
Defiance and Strength
Family

12. Overview: A Raisin in the Sun
Focuses on the Youngers, an African-American family living in Chicago during the 1950s.
The Youngers are about to receive an insurance check for $10,000
Each of the Youngers want to use the money for different purposes
Mama wants a house
Walter wants a liquor store
Beneatha wants to become a doctor

13. The Younger Family

14. Walter Younger
The protagonist of the play
Walter is a dreamer who longs for a quick solution to his family’s problems.
Well intended, but his plans often are not as well-thought out as they need to be

15. Lena (Mama) Younger
The matriarch of the Younger family.
Religious, moral, and maternal
Dreams of buying a house with a backyard

16. Ruth Younger
Walter’s wife
Troubled marriage
Poverty and domestic troubles have made her weary of Walter’s dreams
Walter thinks she is keeping him down

17. Beneatha (Bennie) Younger
Mama’s daughter and Walter’s sister
intellectual college student
more educated than the rest of her family
dreams of being a doctor

18. Travis Younger
Walter and Ruth’s sheltered young son
Travis’ part is small, but he has symbolic value as the hope for a new generation