Lesson Plan – Summer 2018
Grades 9-12
Gordon Parks
High School
Don Allen, M.A. Ed./MAT
(651) 744-5415
Reeves, Frederick L
Reeves, Frederick L
Introduction and Deep-Dig into: A Raisin in the Sun
Play by Lorraine Hansberry (1958)
A Raisin in the Sun is a play by Lorraine
Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The title comes from the poem "Harlem" (also known
as "A Dream Deferred") by Langston
Hughes. The story tells of a black
family's experiences in the Washington
Park Subdivision of Chicago's Woodlawn
neighborhood as they attempt to
"better" themselves with an insurance payout following the
death of the father. The New
York Drama Critics' Circle named
it the best play of 1959 (Wikipedia).
As a class, we
will dig into this text via the book, movie clips, and audio to discover common
day parallels that you can relate, compare, and contrast in your live, current
events and predictions for the future.
Assignments and Expectations
Mini-Assignments - Final – Critical Essay
via the Literary Lens of your choice.
Please write a 1-2 page analysis of act one, scene one of Raisin in the Sun.
Please write a 1-2 page analysis of act one, scene one of Raisin in the Sun.
Monday, June 18, 2018
Read: “Harlem” - By Langston Hughes
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?
###
Writing Prompts
A. Have you ever had a plan or wanted something bad but
could not convince your parents, family, or friends to go along with it?
B. What does it mean: “A dream deferred?”
Discussion Questions –
Critical Essay Leads
1. In literature, as in life, a character may search for
a better way of life. Show how two characters from A Raisin in the Sun are searching for a better
way of life. Explain what each character is hoping to gain through this search
and discuss the ways in which each character attempts to bring about a change
in his or her life.
2. Discuss the ways in which the setting of Raisin has
a profound effect upon two of the characters.
3. If people can
be divided into three groups — those who make things happen, those who watch
things happen, and those who wonder what happened — apply each of these to the
three characters in Raisin who respectively prove that
this is so.
4. Often,
pressure from other people or from outside forces might compel a person to take
an action that he or she might not have taken ordinarily. Discuss a character
from Raisin who
was pressured into taking an action that he or she might not have taken on his
or her own.
5. Show how Raisin deals
with the generation gap — the problems that the older generation has in dealing
with the younger generation and vice versa.
6. Discuss the
ways in which two characters in Raisin have made adjustments to
negative aspects of their environment. These adjustments might be to the
character's physical surroundings, to other people, or to the customs and
traditions of the society in which they live.
7. Sometimes
something as seemingly trivial as a meeting or a conversation between two
people can have a lasting effect upon the life of one or even of both of them.
Discuss how either a seemingly unimportant meeting or a casual conversation
brings about a significant change in the life of one of the characters in Raisin.
8. Sometimes in
one work of literature, we might find two characters who contrast markedly from
one another. Discuss two characters from Raisin who are the opposite of each
other in their views, beliefs, and philosophy of life.
9. In
literature, as in life, a character might feel trapped. Discuss a character
from Raisin who
feels trapped and give examples of the ways in which this character chooses to
deal with those feelings.
10. Discuss a
character from Raisin who changes significantly,
telling specifically of the forces that bring about this change. How does this
character relate to the other characters before the change and how does this
character relate to the other characters after the change.
11. Most people
define loneliness as being alone, but a person might experience loneliness even
when surrounded by other people. A person can be lonely if his/her ideas,
feelings, or circumstances are different from those around them. Discuss a
character from Raisin who experiences loneliness
because of the differences in his/her ideas, feelings, or circumstances.
12. Often, in
life, a situation may reach a "point of no return" — the point after
which the life of a person can never be the same. Describe such a turning point
for a character in Raisin.
13. Add another
ending to the already existing ending of Raisin. Describe what you think happens
next — after the Youngers have left their Southside Chicago apartment and have
moved into their new house. You might write a composition or you may wish to
continue in Hansberry's genre, using the dialogue of the characters to show
your plot.
14. Noting
Lorraine Hansberry's unique writing style, compare Walter Lee's imitation of a
subservient, stereotypical begging "darky," (the heartbreaking speech
he plans to deliver to Lindner in order to regain the lost money) with the
speech that Walter Lee actually gives when Lindner arrives. How are they
different in language? What is Hansberry's point in having Walter Lee practice
one speech and then say something completely different?
15. After reading
a full-length biography of Langston Hughes, show how he might have had a
profound effect on Lorraine Hansberry's writing of A Raisin in the Sun.
16. After reading
a full-length biography of Lorraine Hansberry, discuss the ways in which events
of her own life are interwoven into her play A Raisin in the Sun.
17. Research the
following events of 1955 and tell how each might have contributed to Lorraine
Hansberry's political philosophy: the arrest of Rosa Parks; Brown v. Board of
Education of Topeka; and the murder of Emmett Till.
18. To be more
aware of the historical events surrounding the opening of Raisin on Broadway,
summarize the headlines of The New York Times for March 11, 1959 (the date
Raisin opened on Broadway); also summarize a full-length article from Life magazine
for that week; and summarize an article from Ebony magazine for that month.
