Guide compiled by Trish Tillman
MAY 2014
TEACHER’S GUIDE
BY LORRAINE HANSBERRY DIRECTED BY PATRICIA MCGREGOR
Jonathan Moscone Artistic Director Susie Falk Managing Director Clive Worsley Director of Artistic Learning Beverly Sotelo Artistic Learning Programs Manager Whitney Grace Krause Artistic Learning Coordinator
PREP YOUR STUDENTS FOR THE SHOW– Book your pre- or post-show classroom workshop! Contact the Artistic Learning Coordinator, Whitney Grace Krause at 510 548 3422 x105 for more -info. 1 -
IN THIS GUIDE: 1. Cal Shakes Overview a. Cal Shakes’ Mission, Funders, and Partners................................3 b. Artistic Learning Programs at Cal Shakes....................................4 c. A Note to Teachers...................................................................5 2. A Rasin in the Sun Overview..............................................................6 a. Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem”.............................................7 b. Character Family Tree...............................................................8 c. Who’s Who: The Actors and the Characters................................9 d. Plot Summary.........................................................................10 e. Prep for the Play: Before Seeing A Raisin in the Sun....................11 3. A Raisin in the Sun: Dreams Deferred?.................................................12 a. A Brief Biography of Playwright Lorraine Hansberry.....................13 b. “A Dream Deferred: Thoughts on A Raisin in the Sun” by Dramaturg Philippa Kelly.....................................................14 c. History of the Play...................................................................15 d. History of the Time: Mid-Century America’s Struggles with Civil Rights.............................................................................16 4.
Resources.....................................................................................18
a. A Raisin in the Sun on film.......................................................19 b. Additional Resources: Books ....................................................20 c. Additional Resources: Internet ..................................................22 5.
Classroom Activity Guide.................................................................23 a. Dear Diary..............................................................................24 b. Social Networking Character Study: “Facebook”..........................25 c. Raisin Poetry...........................................................................29 d. Tableaux “Blows”.....................................................................31 e. You’re the Critic: Cal Shakes Play Critique (Elementary and Middle School)................................................32 f. You’re the Critic: Cal Shakes Play Critique (Middle and High School)..........................................................34
GUIDE CREDITS Editor: Trish Tillman Copy Editors: Scarlett Hepworth and Clive Worsley Layout & Graphics: Callie Cullum and Katie Lewis
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OUR MISSION With Shakespeare’s depth of humanity as our touchstone, we build character and community through authentic, inclusive, and joyful theater experiences.
OUR FUNDERS AND SPONSORS STUDENT DISCOVERY UNDERWRITERS
Artistic Learning programs are underwritten by generous support from the Dale Family Fund, Dodge & Cox, Walter & Elise Haas Fund, The Thomas J. Long Foundation, The MCJ Amelior Foundation, The David and Maria Waitrovich Fund, Erin Jaeb and Kevin Kelly, and numerous donors to our annual gala Make-a-Difference campaign.
PRESENTING PARTNERS
SEASON PARTNERS
SEASON UNDERWRITERS
California Shakespeare Theater 701 Heinz Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94710 510.548.3422
• www.calshakes.org
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ARTISTIC LEARNING PROGRAMS AT CAL SHAKES The Artistic Learning Department of Cal Shakes has a vision for each young person it encounters: to make each student a thoughtful and engaged Bay Area citizen. Cal Shakes creates a culture of lifelong learning, nourishing young imaginations in preparation for the work of life. Cal Shakes offers a variety of theater programs taught by theater professionals throughout the school year and summer.
IN-SCHOOL ARTIST RESIDENCIES
With an innovative curriculum, Cal Shakes brings working artists into the schools to develop students’ crucial intellectual, social, and problem-solving skills through theater arts. We collaborate with classroom teachers to choose a text —Shakespeare or otherwise —and then align the curriculum and instructional methods to support the classroom teacher’s goals. All residencies consist of 10 –12 hours of instruction over several weeks. Open to all grade levels, from elementary through high school. Funding is available; please inquire.
STUDENT DISCOVERY MATINEES (Field trips)
Our Student Matinees provide a multi-faceted combination of live events and instructional materials, including this free Teacher’s Guide, optional pre- and post-show classroom visits by teaching artists, lively pre-performance interaction at the theater, and a Q&A session with the actors immediately following the show. Each student’s own experience of a live, world-class theatrical production is enhanced with dynamic presentations by committed teaching artists, providing layered opportunities to develop a lasting appreciation of Shakespeare and other great works of theater. Open to middle through high school students, with some productions appropriate for elementary school. Funding is available; please inquire.
AFTER-SCHOOL CLASSES
Our popular after-school programs offer many aspects of theater, including acting, physical comedy, and improvisation, as well as Shakespeare. Open to all grades, elementary through middle school.
SUMMER SHAKESPEARE CONSERVATORIES
Cal Shakes hosts Summer Shakespeare Conservatories in Orinda, Piedmont, and Oakland in which students study with professional Cal Shakes actors and artists. Students return year after year to experience the joy of intensely focused work on theater fundamentals —acting, improvisation, stage combat, and voice —culminating in a production of a Shakespeare play in its original language. Open to all students entering grades 3 through 12. Scholarships are available; please inquire.
PROFESSIONAL IMMERSION PROGRAM
College-age students interested in arts education and arts administration are encouraged to apply for our three-month long Professional Immersion Program summer internships.
For more information or to register for any of our programs, please call the Artistic Learning Coordinator, Whitney Grace Krause, at 510.548.3422 x133, or email
[email protected].
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A NOTE TO TEACHERS Welcome to California Shakespeare Theater’s production of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun. You may well ask yourself, “Why is a Shakespeare company producing a play by a 20th Century African American woman?” The answer is; in our effort to create productions by Shakespeare and other classic playwrights that are accessible and relevant, we find ourselves looking to more contemporary writers whose stories share the same depth of humanity and insight as our touchstone William Shakespeare. Raisin in the Sun marks the very first time we have offered Student Discovery Matinee performances of work by any playwright other than Shakespeare. We are thrilled to offer you and your students the opportunity to experience the power of one of the most celebrated and poignant pieces of theater in the American canon. This Teacher’s Guide is designed to help you introduce your students to the story, characters and themes inherent in A Raisin in the Sun, and to prepare them for the most successful theater viewing experience possible. With details about the playwright herself, informative historical background related to the setting and action of the play and engaging and fun interactive activities, we hope this guide will be a valuable tool for you and your students. Lorraine Hansberry wrote A Raisin in the Sun in response to very real experiences in her own life growing up in an America that was just beginning to deal with issues of race and segregation. She raised questions about the desire for upward mobility amongst African-Americans and the reactions those aspirations are met with by society at large and within their own communities. She also closely examines the effect of oppression on the individual and the family and we find ourselves asking why these characters behave the way they do. A Raisin in the Sun speaks directly to issues still very much still at play in American society, and we believe your students will glean tremendous benefit from experiencing this poignant, touching and vital work by a true American genius, Lorraine Hansberry. Your partners in education, The Cal Shakes Artistic Learning team, Clive Worsley, Beverly Sotelo and Whitney Grace Krause
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OVERVIEW
“Children see things very well sometimes — and idealists even better” Lorraine Hansberry Photo source: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_foCplGL8KI/UMD50svbtQI/AAAAAAAAAnA/D4en0pTNkDA/s1600/ Slums+Chicago+History+Museum+001.jpg
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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? Source: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/
Lorraine Hansberry chose the title for her play from this poem. See the Activity Guide for “Raisin Poetry” to inspire your own students’ creations.
A Raisin in the Sun OVERVIEW
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CHARACTER FAMILY TREE Lena
Ruth
Walter
Walter Sr.
Beneatha
Travis Willy
Joseph
George
Bobo “Mama” Lena Younger: Mama is the widowed matriarch of the Younger family. The insurance check is written in her name. Walter Lee Younger: Mama’s oldest child and son. Walter Lee works as a chauffeur for a wealthy white family. Ruth Younger: Walter Lee’s wife. Beneatha Younger: “Bennie” is Walter Lee’s younger sister and Mama’s daughter. She wants to go to medical school and has two suitors, George and Asagai. Travis Younger: Ruth and Walter Lee’s son, 10 years old. Joseph Asagai: Asagai is Beneatha’s suitor from Nigeria, who wants to bring Bennie to Africa with him to practice medicine. George Murchison: Bennie’s African-American suitor who is very rich. Karl Lindner: The white representative from the Clybourne Welcoming Committee. Bobo: Walter Lee’s business partner. — Adapted from the Play Guide to A Raisin in the Sun, presented by Actors Theatre of Louisville.
A Raisin in the Sun OVERVIEW
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WHO’S WHO: THE ACTORS & THE CHARACTERS “Mama” Lena Younger, Margo Hall
Walter Lee Younger, Marcus Henderson
the widowed matriarch of the Younger family
Mama’s oldest child and son
Ruth Younger, Ryan Nicole Peters
Beneatha Younger, Nemuna Ceesay
Walter Lee’s wife
“Bennie,” Walter Lee’s younger sister and Mama’s daughter
George Murchison, York Walker Bennie’s African-American suitor who is very rich
Joseph Asagai, Rotimi Agbabiaka Beneatha’s suitor from Nigeria
Bobo Walter Lee’s business partner
Travis Younger, Zion Richardson (L) Ajani Barrow (R)
Karl Lindner, Liam Vincent
Ruth and Walter Lee’s son, 10 years old
The white representative from the Clybourne Welcoming Committee
Note: Role assignments subject to change. A Raisin in the Sun OVERVIEW
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PLOT SUMMARY:
Set in the self-segregated world of 1950s Chicago, A Raisin in the Sun centers on the Youngers, an African-American family. They are about to receive a check for $10,000, coming from the deceased Mr. Younger’s life insurance policy. Each of the adult family members has plans for the money. The matriarch of the family, Mama (or Lena), wants to buy a house to fulfill a dream she shared with her late husband; but her son, Walter Lee, would rather use the money to invest in a liquor store with his friends, believing this entrepreneurial gamble will solve the family’s financial problems forever. Ruth, Walter’s wife, wants to live in a house with more space and more opportunities for her adolescent son, Travis. Beneatha — Mama’s daughter and Walter’s sister — aspires to medical school and wants to use the money for her tuition. She also wishes her family members were not so interested in joining the white world and more interested in finding their identity in their African past. The Youngers clash over their competing dreams and reveal their hopes and fears for the future. Finally, when Mama puts a deposit on a house in an all-white community, they are visited by a soonto-be-neighbor, a representative of the white homeowners. He offers the family money if they would be willing to stay out of the neighborhood. The Youngers must then decide: do they stay in their old apartment or move? Their decision highlights the tensions between whites and blacks in society, and underscores the strain on a black family trying to make a home while each member achieves his or her own dream.
— From InsideOUT, A Guide to the 2009 Denver Center Theater’s Production of A Raisin in the Sun. Photo source: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_foCplGL8KI/UMD50svbtQI/AAAAAAAAAnA/D4en0pTNkDA/s1600/ Slums+Chicago+History+Museum+001.jpg A Raisin in the Sun OVERVIEW
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PREP FOR THE PLAY:
BEFORE SEEING A RAISIN IN THE SUN BEFORE Viewing the Play Based on the title of this play, A Raisin in the Sun, and the poster for our production that you’ve seen, what do you think this play is going to be about? What mood does the image suggest — a comedy? A drama? Why? If your family was to be paid $10,000, what would you use it for? Remember, the entire family has to agree to spend it together. What would your family members do? (You might want to consider that $10,000 in the time of the play – about mid-century – would be roughly $90,000 today.) Think about the neighborhood you live in, or the school you attend. Do you feel comfortable and safe there? Are people treated fairly and with consideration? What makes a healthy community? What can you do to help make a healthy community? Who else is responsible? Do you think men and women are expected or supposed to play roles in society? Is it true across different cultures? Watch for the expectations that men and women have of each other in this play. Think about how you would answer the question: What is home? Where do I come from? Look for how the characters in the play try to answer those questions for themselves.
— Added to and adapted from the Play Guide to A Raisin in the Sun, presented by Actors Theatre of Louisville.
A Raisin in the Sun OVERVIEW
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DREAMS DEFERRD?
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A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE PLAYWRIGHT,
LORRAINE HANSBERRY “A woman who is willing to be herself and pursue her own potential runs not so much the risk of loneliness, as the challenge of exposure to more interesting men — and people in general.” Lorraine Hansberry, To Be Young, Gifted, and Black Lorraine Hansberry was born in Chicago on May 19, 1930, the daughter of prominent civil rights activists Carl and Nannie Hansberry. She grew up in the Woodlawn neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. Hansberry and her family moved to a white neighborhood when Hansberry was eight years old, where they were met with violence and hostility from the neighborhood whites. After several attacks, the Hansberrys were almost evicted from their home by the Illinois courts. Hansberry’s father and lawyers from the NAACP brought a civil suit, Hansberry vs. Lee, which eventually reached the Supreme Court, where the eviction was overturned. After seeing Sean O’Casey’s play Juno and the Paycock, Hansberry turned her focus from visual art to writing plays in order to combine the two loves of her life — social activism and artistic expression. She moved to New York City in 1950, and wrote investigative journalism for actor/ activist Paul Robeson’s independent radical black newspaper, Freedom, along with reviews of plays and books by African-American writers. She began writing her first play, A Raisin in the Sun, in 1956. When it was produced in 1959, she became known, at age 28, as one of America’s major dramatists. A Raisin in the Sun was the first Broadway production written by an African-American woman and the first by an African-American to win the New York Drama Critics Circle Award (1959). Lorraine Hansberry’s voice was silenced in 1964 when she died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 34. Her only other completed play is The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window (1964). Another drama, Les Blancs (1970) was adapted after her death by her husband, Broadway producer Robert Nemiroff. He also compiled her writings in To Be Young, Gifted and Black: Lorraine Hansberry in Her Own Words (1969), which was produced as an off-Broadway drama in 1969. Poet Nikki Giovanni says of Hansberry’s legacy, “If you want to tell the truth, you have to pick up your pen and take your chances. She made it possible for all of us to look a little deeper.” — Adapted from A Teachers’ Guide to the Signet and Plume Editions of the Screenplay Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, by Diane Mitchell, Ph.D. and from the Play Guide to A Raisin in the Sun, presented by Actors Theatre of Louisville. Photo source: blogs.democratandchronicle.com/rochesterarts/?p=6271
A Raisin in the Sun: Dreams Deferred
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A DREAM DEFERRED
THOUGHTS ON A RAISIN IN THE SUN BY RESIDENT DRAMATURG PHILIPPA KELLY “What happens to a dream deferred?” asks poet Langston Hughes in the poem “Harlem.” “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” Hughes, an African American, wrote this poem in 1951. Eight years later the poem would be immortalized in the title of the first play written by a black woman to be performed on Broadway. Lorraine Hansberry, who began writing the play when she was just 26 years old, drew on her own family’s experience for the premise of A Raisin in the Sun. In 1938, when she was eight years old, her father, a successful real estate agent, bought a house in the Washington Park Subdivision of Chicago’s South Side, violating a racially restrictive covenant that prevented blacks from purchasing or leasing land in that neighborhood. Despite violent attacks by white neighbors, the Hansberrys refused to move until a court ordered them to do so. The Hansberry’s lawsuit went to the Supreme Court, which handed down a somewhat ambiguous ruling: it allowed the Hansberrys to remain on their property, but granted the citizens of the neighborhood the right to contest the covenant in court again. It’s not just this singular event from Hansberry’s life that provides a fascinating backdrop to A Raisin in the Sun, but also the open-ended mistrust, the lack of certainty that an eight-year-old girl most likely internalized from her family’s experience. They were forced out of a neighborhood, then allowed back in under the looming possibility that the neighborhood’s racially restrictive covenant might be found legally enforceable again. This sends a very mixed message. How does a child cope with this ambiguity, and the stress it caused to her parents who were told — simultaneously — that they had the right, but perhaps no right, to assume tenancy in the house they legally owned? Nearly twenty years later, she writes a play about it. A Raisin in the Sun is not just about the cruel realities of racial segregation. It’s about the connections we humans make between ourselves and our homes; about money — both a golden key and a mere slip of paper; about manhood, about femininity, and who gets to say what these qualities are; about education and possibility. It’s also about the American Dream, that Post-War fantasy pursued by families half-broken by the Second World War, who thrust forward their children as their dreams. (Arthur Miller unmasked this dream with brutal poignancy in Death of a Salesman, written in 1949, just two years before Hughes wrote “Harlem” and seven years before Hansberry began work on Raisin). And Hansberry’s play is also about the dreams that dry up, perhaps to be replaced by others that relight a sputtering candle of hope. Can the flame stay alive? Can it light the way forward?
A Raisin in the Sun: Dreams Deferred
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HISTORY OF THE PLAY “There is always something left to love. And if you ain’t learned that, you ain’t learned nothing.” Mama from A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry
With a cast in which all but one minor character is African American, A Raisin in the Sun was considered to be a risky investment, and it took over a year for producer Philip Rose to raise enough money to launch the play. After touring to positive reviews, it premiered on Broadway on March 11, 1959. Waiting for the curtain to rise on opening night, Hansberry and producer Phillip Rose did not expect the play to be a success, for it had already received mixed reviews from a preview audience the night before. Though it received popular and critical acclaim, reviewers argued about whether the play was “universal” or particular to African-American experiences. The New York Drama Critics’ Circle named it the best play of 1959, and it ran for nearly two years and was produced on tour. A Raisin in the Sun was the first play written by a black woman to be produced on Broadway, as well as the first play with a black director (Lloyd Richards) on Broadway. Hansberry noted that it introduced details of black life to the overwhelmingly white Broadway audiences, while director Richards observed that it was the first play to which large numbers of blacks were drawn. The New York Times stated that A Raisin in the Sun “changed American theater forever.” In 1960 A Raisin In The Sun was nominated for four Tony Awards:
• • • •
Best Best Best Best
Play - Written by Lorraine Hansberry; produced by Philip Rose, David J. Cogan Actor in Play - Sidney Poitier Actress in a Play - Claudia McNeil Direction of a Play - Lloyd Richards
Since its opening on Broadway, there have been several productions on stages and around the country, but the most lasting have been on film. (See the Resources page.) A second Broadway revival, starring Denzel Washington, is coming to Broadway in April 2014. It will also be presented in the Ethel Barrymore Theater, where the original production was mounted. The play continues to speak to the relevant issues of race, class, and prejudice that still exist in America today.
A Raisin in the Sun: Dreams Deferred
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HISTORY OF THE TIME: MID-CENTURY AMERICA’S STRUGGLES WITH CIVIL RIGHTS “The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife — this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self.” W. E. B. Du Bois. The Souls of Black Folk, 1903.
CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT Significant historical events occurred in the 1950s that would influence the Younger family. For example, the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. Board of Education ruled that the “separate but equal” doctrine regarding school segregation was unconstitutional. In 1955 the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott occurred with blacks and some whites refusing to sit in the back of the bus. In 1958, the public schools in Little Rock, Arkansas, were closed by the governor in defiance of the Supreme Court order. In 1960, “sit-ins” began at a Woolworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina to protest segregated lunch counters.
CHICAGO Chicago’s racial problems of the 1950s can be traced back to historical and geographical coincidences. The city was incorporated in 1837, forcing out the remaining Native Americans. What followed were several surges of European immigration. First, as a result of the potato famine of 1845, many Irish immigrants settled in Chicago, and their descendants became influential in local politics. After the Civil War, German and Polish immigrants arrived and established their own neighborhoods. During World War I, large numbers of African Americans came to the city to work in the industries created to fill the demands of war. Many of Chicago’s neighborhoods have retained an ethnic flavor, promoting a cultural diversity that can be positive but also can contribute to tension among different groups.
A Raisin in the Sun: Dreams Deferred
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HARLEM RENAISSANCE After Reconstruction (the period after the Civil War when the federal government worked toward resolving the relationship between the North and South), violent racism and Jim Crow laws in the South caused a migration of African Americans to the North, where racial violence was still quite common. Many families and individuals sought out established black communities in the Midwest and Northeastern states. One of these well-known communities was Harlem. The Harlem Renaissance was a result of decades of changing attitudes within black culture. As the 19th Century came to an end, African-American men like W.E.B. DuBois who were born free, highly educated, and successful, began to fight the stereotypes pressed on them by the prevailing racist ideas — that “negroes” were ignorant, unskilled, and inferior. The black community demanded equal status and recognition of their human rights. They also wanted to make it clear that they could not be grouped or stereotyped, since they did not look alike, act alike, live alike, or think alike. Langston Hughes (author of the poem “Harlem” from which A Raisin in the Sun takes its name) became a leading figure of this movement. As the African-American community in Harlem grew, the neighborhood became the center of these changing attitudes and feelings and an example of what the black community could be. A strong sense of racial pride brought about powerful changes that drew educated, creative, and passionate people to the community. There seemed to be an explosion of African-American art, music and literature, including the landmark production of A Raisin in the Sun on Broadway in 1959, bringing Lorraine Hansberry into prominence as one of the most authentic chroniclers of the dilemma of housing, money, identity, and dignity facing African-Americans in urban America. Soon this flood of new art forms began to flow from black communities to all over the country; the United States could no longer ignore the vibrant artistic presence of its African-American populace. — Adapted from: Domina, Lynn. Understanding A Raisin in the Sun. London: Greenwood Press, 1998. Galens, David, ed. Drama for Students, Volume 2. Farmington Hills, MI: The Gale Group, 2002. Play Guide to A Raisin in the Sun, presented by Actors Theatre of Louisville.
A Raisin in the Sun: Dreams Deferred
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RESOURCES
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ON FILM A Raisin in the Sun (1961) 128 min. A substantial insurance payment could mean either financial salvation or personal ruin for a poor black family. Director: Daniel Petrie Writers: Lorraine Hansberry (play), Lorraine Hansberry (screenplay) Stars: Sidney Poitier, Claudia McNeil, Ruby Dee
A Raisin in the Sun (2008) 131 min An African-American family struggles with poverty, racism, and inner conflict as they strive for a better way of life. Based on the play by Lorraine Hansberry. Director: Kenny Leon Writers: Paris Qualles (teleplay), Lorraine Hansberry (play) Stars: Sean Combs, Sanaa Lathan, Audra McDonald
American Playhouse: Season 8, Episode 1 A Raisin in the Sun (1989) 171 min Director: Bill Duke Writer: Lorraine Hansberry (play) Stars: Starletta DuPois, Lou Ferguson, John Fiedler
–– All images and info from imdb.com
RESOURCES
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TEACHING RESOURCES BOOKS RACIAL PREJUDICE NONFICTION Hacker, Andrew. Two Nations: Black and White, Separate, Hostile, Unequal. New York: Scribner’s, 1982. West, Cornel. Race Matters. New York: Random House, 1994. FICTION Carey, Lorene. Black Ice. New York: Random House, 1991. Walter, Mildred. The Girl On the Outside. New York: Lothrop, Lee, and Shepard, 1982. Not Separate, Not Equal. New York: Harper and Row, 1987.
FAMILY STRENGTH Comer, James P. Maggie’s American Dream. New York, NAL, 1989. Haley, Alex. Roots. Garden City: Doubleday, 1976. Taylor, Mildred. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. New York: Puffin Books, 1991. Let the Circle Be Unbroken. New York: Dial Press, 1981.
RESOURCES
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TEACHING RESOURCES BOOKS (CONT.) DREAMS DEFERRED NONFICTION Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. New York: Random House, 1970. Gather Together in My Name. New York: Random House, 1974. Hansberry, Lorraine. To Be Young, Gifted, and Black: Lorraine Hansberry in Her Own Words. New York: NAL: Dutton, 1970. FICTION Lipsyte, Robert. The Contender. New York: Harper and Row, 1967. Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1982. DRAMA Branch, William B., editor. Black Thunder: An Anthology of Contemporary African American Drama. New York: NAL, 1992. Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. New York: Random House, 1959. To Be Young, Gifted, and Black (video). PBS Great Performances, 1972. Miller, Arthur. The Death of a Salesman. New York: Viking, 1949. Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. New York: NAL, 1990. Wilson, August. The Piano Lesson. New York: NAL, 1990. — Adapted from A Teachers’ Guide to the Signet and Plume Editions of the Screenplay Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, by Diane Mitchell, Ph.D.
RESOURCES
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TEACHING RESOURCES THE INTERNET There is a very large body of work on Lorraine Hansberry and A Raisin in the Sun available on the Internet, including many guides to particular productions of the play around the country in recent years. These guides tend to be grade-level specific, have wonderfully engaging activities listed for a variety of learning styles, and contain complete units on various historical and cultural aspects of study that the play may inspire for your classroom. Here are a few to start you off: A Teachers’ Guide to the Signet and Plume Editions of the Screenplay Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, by Diane Mitchell, Ph.D: http://www.us.penguingroup.com/static/pdf/ teachersguides/raisinsun.pdf Play Guide to A Raisin in the Sun, presented by Actors Theatre of Louisville: http://actorstheatre. org/wpcontent/uploads/2010/10/PlayGuide_RaisinintheSun.pdf InsideOUT, a guide to the 2009 Denver Center Theater’s production of A Raisin in the Sun: http://www.denvercenter.org/Libraries/Study_Guides/A_Raising_in_the_Sun_Study_Guide.sflb.ashx Center Theater Group Educator Resources for the Ebony Repertory Theater’s 2012 production of A Raisin in the Sun: https://www.centertheatregroup.org/uploadedFiles/raisin_DG.pdf A Raisin in the Sun, full script: http://www.myteacherpages.com/webpages/tpalacios/files/ ela11araisininthesun.pdf
RESOURCES
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CLASSROOM ACTIVITY GUIDE
Jonathan Moscone Artistic Director Susie Falk Managing Director Clive Worsley Director of Artistic Learning Beverly Sotelo Artistic Learning Programs Manager Whitney Grace Krause Artistic Learning Coordinator
MAY 2014
BY LORRAINE HANSBERRY DIRECTED BY PATRICIA MCGREGOR
“Never be afraid to sit a while and think.” Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun
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DEAR DIARY Activity 1. Ask the students to write a diary, blog, or journal entry from the point of view of a character in A Raisin in the Sun, describing a moment when that character is not seen onstage. 2. Ask the students to choose a character and a moment to write about. Examples: The moment when Mama is out buying a house in Clybourne Park; when Walter Lee is out drinking; when Beneatha is dressing to go out with George to the theater. Think about: What is happening when the character is in this offstage situation? What is the character thinking and feeling?
Reflection 1. Name one thing you had to imagine about your character that you think is really interesting. 2. Was it easy to imagine beyond the play — for instance, what Walter Lee is thinking and feeling when he decides not to go to his job? Do you feel the play provided you with enough information? Why or why not? 3. How easy was it to decide which character to write an entry for? Are there characters that you think might be more likely to keep a diary or blog?
ACTIVITY GUIDE
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SOCIAL NETWORKING CHARACTER STUDY: “FACEBOOK” Have your students create a “Facebook” profile for a character from the play. Overview: Being able to empathize with fictional characters sheds light on our own personal situations, and recasts the plot of the play in relevant terms. Grade: 6-12 Goal: To bring the characters of A Raisin in the Sun into a real-world context. State Standards: English Literary Response and Analysis 3.0-3.4 Outcomes: Students will be able to use basic facts from the text to imaginatively enter into the thoughts, feelings, and motivations of fictional characters by creating a mock Facebook page.
Activity Familiarize students with the profile layout of a social networking site page, such as Facebook. (See following example.) 1. Ask the students to fill in the profile with: a. vital statistics b. likes and dislikes c. friends Note: Students should use information drawn from their knowledge of the play filled out by their imaginations. 2. Profile photos may be drawn or cut out from magazines, or an actual photo of the student could be used and attached to the page. Remember, many actual Facebook profile pages do not have an actual photo of the person who made them—Facebook members sometimes choose a picture of something they feel represents them, e.g., a tree or a poster they like. 3. Share the pages you have created in student pairs or in a group discussion.
Reflection • Name one thing you had to imagine about your character that you think is really interesting. • W as it easy to imagine beyond the play—for instance, what Beneatha’s activities and interests might be? Or do you feel the play did not provide enough information? How so? • H ow easy was it to decide who your character’s friends are? Would your character ignore a friend request from other characters in the play? Why or why not?
ACTIVITY GUIDE
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SOCIAL NETWORKING CHARACTER STUDY: “FACEBOOK” (CONT.)
Extension exercise in writing dialogue: Note: Require the students to fill out the worksheet manually, rather than actually filling out a public profile online. If you can post their mock profile pages onto your school website or blog for students to fill out within the framework of this project, that would work as well, but false profiles in a public space should be actively discouraged. Student examples should show a deep understanding of the plot and qualities of the character. Some examples follow.
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facebook
A Raisin in the Sun
Beneatha Younger
Trying to find out who I am
Studied Graduated High School Relationship status: It’s complicated
Wall
Write something...
Friends (3) Joseph Asagai
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Beneatha wrote: “I applied for my sixth and final choice of college for a medical degree today.
George Murchison
Almost done with all the scholarship paperwork.”
Ruth Younger
Beneatha posted a photo: “How beautiful!”
Asagai wrote: “See! You could be
here now!”
George wrote: “Sorry I didn’t comment
earlier, I was working. Pic is nice.”
Beneatha searched African-American Ancestors for Younger lineage Invited to Feminists’ Day Out in Chicago
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facebook
A Raisin in the Sun
Studied Relationship status
Wall
Friends ( )
RECENT ACTIVITY
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RAISIN POETRY The title of the play A Raisin in the Sun comes from the following poem by Langston Hughes. Read the poem aloud as a choral read with the class. “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? Source: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/
Discussion What is Langston Hughes writing about? Can dreams really perform these actions? Why? Have you had dreams that haven’t come true? Are you worried some won’t? Why do you think some dreams don’t come true? Can we change the outcome?
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RAISIN POETRY (CONT.)
Activity Use two clean, inexpensive window screens purchased from a hardware store. Ask students to lay one screen on a flat table outside that receives a lot of sunlight. Spread fresh, washed grapes all across the screen. Then cover the grapes with the second screen. During the same class period for an entire week, students should observe how the grapes change each day when exposed to sunlight. In a writing journal, students should complete these three sentence observations on a daily basis: 1. Today, our grapes __________. 2. When I look at them they make me think of __________. 3. If these raisins could talk about dreams, today they would say ______. At the end of the week, students should have 21 lines. Using only the words/phrases they wrote to fill in the daily blanks in the three lines above, the students can construct a 21-line poem by writing down the sentences/sentence fragments in any order they choose. Slight re-writing is allowed. Students share their “Dried Raisin” poems aloud with the class.
Closure What images came to mind as you heard fellow students read their poems? What do we dream about in this class, based on what we heard? — Adapted from Center Theater Group Educator Resources for the Ebony Repertory Theater’s 2012 production of A Raisin in the Sun.
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TABLEAUX “BLOWS” Tableaux are frozen pictures. When an audience looks at a tableau, they should be able to understand what is going on in the story or scene. This play of the Younger family is full of blows to their strength, pride, and resilience.
Activity As a class, brainstorm several moments in the play where some of these hits to the family occur. One example could be when Mr. Lindner introduces the contract to Walter, Ruth and Beneatha. Working in small groups, create a tableau for the rest of your class to observe. Use the face and body to express the emotions each character has as clearly as possible. Hold your static pose while your classmates determine which scene you are illustrating.
Discussion What did the actors do to show you the specific scene? How did you know what scene it was? What was a particularly memorable moment in the pictures that you saw? Why do you think you remember it better than others? — Adapted from the Play Guide to A Raisin in the Sun, presented by Actors Theatre of Louisville.
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YOU’RE THE CRITIC: CAL SHAKES PLAY CRITIQUE (p. 1 of 2) (Elementary and Middle School) NAME: __________________________________
1. Circle the number of stars that best matches how you’d rate this performance. (One star is the lowest rating and five stars is the best rating.) Then write a paragraph on the back of the paper that specifically describes why you gave it that rating. For example, “I liked that Walter didn’t accept Mr. Lindner’s offer to buy back the house because….” or “I liked the way the actors made me believe that they really loved each other as a family because....”
Star rating: ___ stars 2. Outline the main actions that happened in the plot (what were the big events in the story?). a. b. c. d. e. f.
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(p. 2 of 2) 3. What is the central idea or theme of the play?
4. Describe what the actors did to help you understand the relationships between the characters in the play.
5. What did you particularly like or dislike about the staging (set design, lights, costumes, music, etc.)?
6. Hansberry writes about feelings that we all experience. In A Raisin in the Sun, we see people with feelings like love, jealousy, anger, frustration, and many others. Pick one of these emotions that you’ve experienced strongly and write what happened in your life to make you feel that way and what happened because of it.
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YOU’RE THE CRITIC: CAL SHAKES PLAY CRITIQUE (p. 1 of 2)
(Middle and High School) Give this production a rating of 1 to 5 stars. (One star is the lowest rating and five stars is the highest.) On a separate sheet of paper, write a paragraph review of the play. In other words, describe why you gave it that rating. Give specific examples to support your reasons. On the same sheet of paper, reflect on the following questions:
Star rating: ___ stars 1. How would you describe the character of Walter Lee as he is portrayed in this production? 2. Use one word to describe what this play was about. Example: Money. Family. Bravery. 3. Why are we still staging this play 60 years since Hansberry wrote it? Why do you think the director chose this play? 4. Which character did you sympathize with most? Why? 5. Think about and describe:
i. The vocal and physical actions of the actors (characterization)
ii. The set
iii. The costumes
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(p. 2 of 2) 6. What do you think are some of the themes of the play? 7. Did the elements of characterizations, set, and/or costumes reinforce any of these themes? 8. Hansberry writes about things that we all experience: love, jealousy, dreams, anger, revenge, passion, misunderstandings, etc. Write a paragraph about one big emotion in the play that you’ve also experienced in your life. If possible, choose a situation similar to one that happens in the play. 9. Now, imagine you are the director of A Raisin in the Sun and use a new sheet of paper to create your new production. a. Cast two of the main characters of the play with famous actors. Why would you choose these two characters? Why would you choose these actors? b. Could this play realistically take place in a modern setting of 2014? Why or why not? c. How about costumes? Imagine how the characters in your new production would be dressed that would illustrate the kinds of characters they are and what setting you have put the play in.
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