LITERARY ANALYSIS OF "A Raisin in the Sun" A Raisin in the Sun A Raisin in the Sun is essentially about dreams, as the main characters struggle to deal with the oppressive circumstances that rule their lives. The author Lorraine Hansberry was born in Chicago the youngest of four children, got the title of the play from Langston Hughes a poem that he wrote about dreams that were forgotten or put off. He wonders whether those dreams shrivel up "like a raisin in the sun." The Younger family lived on ... died from cancer at the age of thirty-four. Raisin in the Sun was a watershed because it touc...

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• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... in Raisin in the Sun Lorraine Hansberry, the author of A Raisin in the Sun, supports the theme of her play from a montage of, A Dream Deferred, by Langston Hughes. Hughes asks, "What happens to a dream deferred?- He suggests many alternatives to answering the question. That it might "dry up like a raisin in the sun,"" or "fester like a sore."" Yet the play maybe more closely related to Hughes final question of the poem, "Or does it explode?- The ... play is full of bombs that are explosions of emotion set off by the frustration of the Younger family, who are unable to grasp the possible ...

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• Grade Level: High School

The title of the play "A Raisin in the Sun" comes from a line in a Langston Hughes poem: "What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun" (Tackach 5/6)? Lorraine Hansberry's play confronts crucial issues that have faced African Americans: the fragmentation of the family, the black male's quest for manhood, and reflects the circumstances of African Americans in the 1950's, at the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement (Tackach 4/6). Mama (Lena) of the ... Younger family is to receive a ten thousand dollar insurance check after the death ... , hoping to win over her s...

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... Hansberry gives a more complicated look at dreams than John Steinbeck: some come true, while others "dry up like a raisin in the sun." In the play A Raisin in The Sun, she describes how non selfish dreams that effect more than one person come true, while dreams that are only for personal reasons, don't. In the story a lower class African American family tries to get by through everyday life. One day Momma gets a ten ... thousand-dollar check from her insurance company. Each member of the family has his or her own idea of what ... Hansberry creates, learn that not all dreams come true, ...

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• Grade Level: High School

In A Raisin in the Sun, Lorrain Hansberry depicts the Younger family as an ambitious group of people wanting either a little or a lot more for themselves. However small or grand their dreams are, the Youngers are a proud and humble family based on morals enforced by the matriarch of the family. Each of the characters in the play are trying to fulfill a goal in which society may limit their opportunities. However, with struggle comes hope. The Youngers ... ;They want success, respect, and a home. Simply stated, they are in pursuit of the American dream" (Brubaker). In A Raisin in the Sun, it se...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Title: A Raisin in the Sun Author:Lorraine Hansberry Genre and Literary period After the Depression around 1959 Setting Thaction of the play takes place in the poor South side of Chicago, sometime after World War II, probably around 1959. Most of the action takes place in the apartment of the Youngers, especially in the living/dining room and near the bathroom that they share with the Johnson family. Some of the action also takes place in the kitchen and in the two ... . "What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" I like this quote by Langston Hughes which is a...

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• Grade Level: High School

... wove a woeful tale of a family called the Youngers, A poor black family living in a tiny run-down apartment, in her novel A Raisin in the Sun. She based the name on the Langston Hughes poem "Harlem." She found the title appropriate to portray the way of life lived out by the Youngers. The family bonds are tested to great lengths and the family was divided into three parts. The leaders of each section were depicted ... by their attitude towards life and desire to put the family in different positions. ... no one would follow him if he continued to make all these poor investment choices....

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• Grade Level: High School

In A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, each character represents distinct values that help to further the plot and theme of pursuing one's dreams throughout the play. Lena, Walter and Beneatha Younger, George Murchison and Asagai each have individual values but they are united by the intersecting dream of a better tomorrow. Lena Younger, the head of the Younger household, is a strong-willed woman who acts as the family's backbone, values ... them that don't let us understand each other and I don't know what it is. One done almost lost his mind thinking "bout money all the time and the ...

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• Grade Level: High School

"What happens to a dream deferred?," (1) Langston Hughes asked in his 1959 Poem "Harlem: A Dream Deferred." In Lorraine Hansberry's 1959 play "A Raisin in the Sun," she expr In her play, Hansberry described the dreams of the Younger family and how those dreams became "dreams deferred." The family consisted of Mama (Lena Younger), Walter Lee (her son), Ruth (his wife), Travis (their son), and Beneatha (Walter younger sister). They all have a common dream ... of having a better life. Mama Walter wants to get rich quickly by investing the money in a liquor store ... ...

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• Grade Level: High School

Theme: "Dreams" - This play can be summarized by its theme of dreams. Everything and every action were done by the motivation of a better or dream. Everyone in the family, old or young, had their own "dream." The mother wanted a house for the family, the son wanted the insurance money to start his own store, and the girl wanted to attend college. As the matriarch, Mama Younger made the decision and placed a down payment on a nice house for the family in a total-white neighborhood. Because the Youngers were colored folks, they were not invited into the new vicinity. Also, they were convinced by...

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I believe that Lorraine Hansberry is trying say that the African American Women's experience has been tough. Many women living in the United Stated during segregation, mainly African-American had hard times supporting their families. Also I think she is trying to say that they had many unpleasant experiences, but they also had some nice experiences too. Another thing I believe she is trying to say is they are determined. There are three main African-American women in the book who all struggle in different ways to help their family. All three have similar problems and a difficult path to walk. ...

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Set in a cramped apartment in poverty-striken Southside Chicago, Lorraine Hansberry, through slang, accounts the struggles of five black family members battling against racism to attain middle-class acceptance during 1959. After Walter Younger's business "partner" skipped town with a portion of the family's $10,000 inheritance money, the news is broken infront of his family that their hopes for the future have been stolen and their dreams for a better life were destroyed. Trying to get his family to forgive him, Walter refuses to sell-out his race to the prejudiced white Clybourne Park spokes...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

In the play A Raisin in the Sun an African-American family is in a tough situation in which some of the family members can't get their dreams fulfilled. At some points they are forced into situations in which they must use other family members to fulfill their own dream. "You mean your sister's school money you used that too- (Pg129) In situations as those other members were hurt and were left with hatred ... to let Mama's dream be destroyed. Mrs. Johnson, which was one of the neighbors living in the apartments along with the Younger family, came over to the apartment and made fun of the idea...

• Word Count: 1486
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School