Questions for the Introduction to A Raisin in the Sun

1. First, we will read pages 5-9 as a class:
As you read make note of any vocabulary words you do not know and the page that it falls on the top of your sheet of paper (see below if you are confused).

On a sheet of lined paper answer the following text-based questions using THE RACE STRATEGY (RESTATE ANSWER CITE EXPLAIN) when possible for full-credit:
questions for pages 5-9:
1) Describe the importance of the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry to American culture.
2) Explain the need to cut several scenes from the play.
3) Describe how these cuts affected the overall meaning of the play.
4) What did James Baldwin mean when he wrote that "Americans suffer from an ignorance that is not only colossal, but sacred" (8)? How does this relate to the play?

2. Now, I want you to read pages 10-14 on your own and complete the questions below:

questions for pages 10-14
5). Why does the author say that the end of the play is not a "happy ending" (10)?
6). Describe the 2 scenes that were cut and restored on pages 11 and 12 (Travis and Mrs. Johnson) and their effect on the play.
7) Why does it seem to some that the play is "a sad commentary on America"(13)?
8) Why does the author say that the play will be relevant even when we get past racism "as we must" (13)?

Assignment Example:

Vocabulary:
consciousness
presaged
ineradicably

Questions:
1. 

2. 

Video Introduction to A Raisin in the Sun

Answers from today's class:

1) Describe the importance of the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry to American culture.

It is important to American culture because it “presaged the revolution in black and women’s consciousness” (5) and also because it “speaks to the issues that are now inescapable: value systems of the black family…the ongoing struggle it portends” (6). It was the first commercially successful black drama.

2) Explain the need to cut several scenes from the play.

Several scenes were cut because of “happenstance,” (6) the unpredictable happenings that occur in any play, but more importantly because the running time of 3-4 hours was too long for a “first play” by an unknown African-American, female playwright (7).