by: Lorraine Hansberry
A Raisin in the Sun is story about an African American family living in the Chicago during the 1950's. It gives the reader an idea of what life was like for African American families during this time. Each character in the Youngster's home has different dreams, goals, and personalities. Mama is the head of the household who encourages her family to take pride in their dreams. Her children are very important to her, which is seen as she disproves of Walter spending the money on a liquor investment, but allows it anyway. She is very religious and caring for her family is more important to her than wealth. Walter is the man of the house who is stubborn about his investment ideas. He wants his wife Ruth and his family to support his dreams. He believes that money will solve all their problems, but when his investment fails he realizes there are other ways to unite his family. Ruth works hard for her family and focuses on the present, since she doesn't see her life changing. She doesn't have much hope left for her dreams. Beneatha is an independent, college student who has goals to become a doctor. She believes it is up to herself to accomplish them. These characters represent the theme of the story, the American dream. This dream is that everyone has an equal opportunity to achieve success through hard work and determination. The characters all have their own idea of the American dream and focus their life on trying to achieve it. I chose this play as an option to teach ninth graders because it teaches students the struggle that African Americans had during that time period to be accepted into society and accomplish their goals. Like many other Americans they had many obstacles to overcome. It is a good introduction to teaching students about the Jim Crow laws, Brown vs. Board of Education, Rosa Parks, and Little Rock Nine. Students will have a better understanding to the importance of these events if they can make a personal connection to characters. A discussion that should take place when reading this play is about what racial issues are happening today. It will teach them that this is not just a problem that happened in the past. They need to be aware of how they are treating others and that everyone should have equal opportunities to achieve their dreams.
Problems that may come up When Teaching
A Raisin in the Sun brings about serious issues such as racism and includes swearing. The play includes adult topics such as abuse, alcoholism, and pregnancy. Some parents may not want their children to be exposed to some of the topics. They may not feel they are mature enough or ready to hear about them. To handle parental concern, it is important for the teacher to give a list of books that the students will be reading throughout the year. Parents can do research on the literature and decide if they want their child to read it. If a parent does not want their child to be involved in reading a certain story, than teachers should have an alternate assignment available. To deal with students who may act immaturely towards the subjects, it is important for a teacher to establish classroom rules and teach the students to have respect towards each other. She should let the students know that they will be talking about serious issues and they will not tolerate offensive jokes or racist comments.
A Dream Deferred is a poem found at the beginning of the play. It symbolizes what happens to a dream that is put off until later.
A biography of the Author Lorraine Hansberry.
A teacher's guide to teaching A Raisin in the Sun.
No comments:
Post a Comment