1. A Raisin in the Sun By Lorraine Hansberry Important Facts and How to Read a Play

2. Important Facts Produced in 1959 –Foretold the revolution in black consciousness and…

3. …foretold the revolution in womens consciousness

4. Why do you think this play dealt with these issues?

5. Meet Lorraine Hansberry We are things of dry hours and the involuntary plan, Grayed in, and gray. "Dream makes a giddy sound, not strong Like "rent," "feeding a wife," "satisfying a man."

6. Important Themes (look for similar issues in other pieces of literature)

7. Value systems within families, particularly the black family

8. Concepts of African American beauty vs. European beauty

9. Concepts of African American identity

10. Class and generational conflicts

11. The relationships of husbands and wives

12. The relationships between men and women

13. Rising feminism

14. The difference between what it means to be African American vs. African

15. A series of FIRSTS The first play brought to Broadway by a black woman (young and unknown) Directed by a young black unknown director (Lloyd Richards) There had never been a serious commercially successful black drama Shown in a theatre with few black audience members… AND IT WAS A HIT!!!

16. Analyzing Literature Look at the book now… What is one of the things we should ask ourselves right now, before weve even read the play?

17. The significance of the TITLE From a poem by Langston Hughes. Title: Harlem 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…

18. What happens if you DONT get your DREAM?

19. How to read a play

20. Check the CAST LIST Can you tell anything about the relationship of the characters based on the cast list? Ruth Younger Travis Younger Walter Lee Younger (Brother) Beneatha Younger (Sister) Lena Younger (Mama)

21. Check the SETTING Does the setting give you any clues about the story? Does the time period give you any clues? Over what period of time does the action take place? Set on Chicagos Southside, sometime between World War I and the present… Why do you think its such a wide range of time? See your book…

22. Read the DIRECTORS NOTES The italicized parts interspersed throughout the play They give you IMPORTANT INFORMATION about the set, characters, and movements of characters. They tell you HOW A LINE IS SAID, which gives you more information about the characters

23. STAGE RIGHT, CENTER, LEFT, Proscenium, Leg, Border

24. UP STAGE vs. DOWN STAGE Check your stage knowledge Up stage Down stage Proscenium Stage left Stage right Leg Border

25. Youre ready to read!!!