A Raisin in the Sun

11th American Literature

Agenda
• Explain guided notes packet
• Review Setting
• Read/listen to Act 1 Scene 1 of
“Raisin”
• Setting Activity

2
Standards

Analyze the impact of the Where does the author choose

RL3 author’s choices regarding how to set their story? What effect How does the author use
to develop and relate elements does the setting have on the characterization?
of a story or drama. story?

Determine the meaning of words Analyze the impact of specific

RL4 and phrases as they are used in word choices on meaning and Domain specific characterization
the text. tone vocabulary.

Organize complex ideas, Include formatting (e.g., headings),

Write informative/explanatory concepts, and information so graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and
W2 texts to examine and convey that each new element builds multimedia when useful to aiding
complex ideas. on that which precedes it to comprehension.
create a unified whole.

A Raisin in the Sun 3

 Vocabulary

V
Setting

Point of view

Multiple-meaning Words

Direct Characterization Vs Indirect Characterization

Dynamic & Round Characters

Static & Flat Characters

Extended Metaphor

Imagery & Scene Directions

Dialogue

A Raisin in the Sun 4

Grit and Grandeur:
The Importance of Place.
• Some places are so evocative that we cannot forget them. Because
place is so memorable, directors, artists, and writers sometimes use
setting archetypes to emphasize the peculiarities that give a place
importance. This unit explores the relationship between literature and
place. Students will explore a wide range of literary texts from the
focus period as well as literary connections across time through a
variety of reading, writing, and speaking/listening tasks.

A Raisin in the Sun 5


Setting
• The Setting, is the location and
time frame in which the action of
a narrative takes place. The
makeup and behavior of fictional
characters often depend on their
environment quite as much as on
their personal characteristics.
• The Setting or A Raisin in the
Sun is a South Side neighborhood
in Chicago, sometime between
the end of World War II and
1959.
Notes
Multiple-meaning
Point of View Words
• Literary Point of View is the perspective • Multiple-meaning Words are words that
from which an author tells a story. It's one have a variety of meanings. Which meaning
of the most important decisions authors is correct depends on the context of the
make in shaping a story. The narrator can word. Context is the words and phrases that
be unnamed or a specific character.
surround another word or phrase and help
Authors also choose whether to write in
first, second, or third person. to explain its meaning.
• First person is the I/we perspective. • The word leaves is a Multiple-meaning
Second person is the you perspective. Word because it means something different
Third person is the he/she/it/they depending on the content of the sentence.
perspective. When a full sentence is included, such as
The leaves of the tree were swaying in the
• In most plays, the Point of View is third
wind or She needs to remember to grab her
person, as there is no real way for the
author to make one character's inner backpack before she leaves for school, the
thoughts and motivations accessible to the meaning is clear.
audience.
A Raisin in the Sun 6
 Context of
A Raisin in the Sun

When the play opens, the

Despite their longstanding Youngers are about to receive
A Raisin in the Sun takes place dream of moving out of the an insurance check for
in an apartment in the South neighborhood, they’ve been $10,000. This money
Side neighborhood in Chicago, unable to establish the comes from the deceased
sometime between the end of financial security necessary to Mr. Younger's life insurance
World War II and 1959. do so. policy.
Their small dwelling on the South Side
The circumstances of their life of Chicago has two bedrooms—one
in Chicago’s South Side weigh for Mama and Beneatha, and one
heavily on the spirits of the for Ruth and Walter Lee. Travis sleeps
Youngers, who are a working- on the couch in the living room. The
only window is in their small kitchen,
class family with their sights and they share a bathroom in the hall
set on upward social mobility. with their neighbors.
A Raisin in the Sun 7
Setting Activity: Example using The Wire

• Early 2000’s Baltimore

• The Wire uses the setting of inner-city
Baltimore to show how crime (particularly
the illegal drug trade) influences the political,
educational, and media workings of the city.
• Many different parts Baltimore—the shipping
docks, the housing projects, and the courthouse
—depict systemic issues that plague the city.
• Can you think of any movies/shows, songs,
or books where the setting is crucial to the
importance of the work?

8
Act 1 Scene 2
A Raisin in the Sun
 Agenda
• Today’s learning target: Analyze the
impact of the author's choices regarding
how to develop and relate elements of a
story or drama, including how the
characters are introduced and developed

• Mini-review of characterization
• Act 1 Scene 2 assignment on Teams

• Read and discuss Act 1 Scene 2 (29:39)

• Finish Act 1 Scene 1 Setting assignment
• Finish Act 1 Scene 2 assignment
 Vocabulary

V
Setting

Point of view

Multiple-meaning Words

Direct Characterization Vs Indirect Characterization

Dynamic & Round Characters

Static & Flat Characters

Extended Metaphor

Imagery & Scene Directions

Dialogue

A Raisin in the Sun 11

Bellringer/Food for Thought
• $10,000 in 1950 is equivalent in purchasing power to about
$108,080.50 today
• That’s an increase of $98,080.50 over 71 years.
• The dollar had an average inflation rate of 3.41% per year between 1950 and
today, producing a cumulative price increase of 980.80%.

• On Teams, under Today’s Class Slides, answer this question:

• What would you do with $108,080.50?
• Save it? Invest it in cryptocurrency? Start your own business? Use it to pay for college?
 Characterization Review-
Direct
The writer makes direct statements about a
character's personality and tells the reader
or viewer what the character is like.
• Direct characterization tells the reader or
viewer.
• Direct characterization, or explicit
characterization, describes the character
through their physical description, line of
work, or passions and pursuits.
• This can often come from another
character making the direct statements. It
does not necessarily have to come from a
narrator.
• How is Walter direct characterized so far?
 • Often, what’s left unsaid or unstated creates an
even more powerful image in the reader’s mind.
• A little harder to pick up on
• Indirect characterization describes a character
through their thoughts, actions, speech, and
dialogue.
Indirect • The writer shows you (doesn’t tell you)
Characterization • Indirect characterization humanizes a character
• The reader/viewer can make their own
conclusions about a character
• Leaves interpretation up to the reader.
• How is Walter indirectly
characterized so far?
Characterization Mini-
Review

• Let’s complete part 1 of Act 1 Scene 2 Assignment.

• Open it up on Teams and look at Part 1
• After we complete Part 2, we will start Act 1 Scene 2
• We will also watch some of the DVD

Direct Characterization Vs
Indirect Characterization
• Characterization: An author may reveal a
character through the character’s thoughts,
words, appearance, and actions or through
what other characters say or think.
• Direct characterization: occurs when the
reader is told what a character is like, or a
speaker or narrator describes what he or she
thinks about a character.
• Indirect characterization: occurs when a
reader must infer what a character is like. In
this case, the text provides clues through the
character’s words, thoughts, or actions or
through other characters’ words, thoughts, or
actions, but there is no evaluation or
explanation from a narrator.
Notes
Dynamic & Round Characters
• Complex Characters: Characters who
often present conflicting or shifting
thoughts, actions, and motivations are • A Static Character is a type of character who
considered complex characters.
Complex characters are often referred
to as being dynamic or round.
• A Dynamic Character is one who
learns a lesson or changes as a person
(either for better or for worse).
• Round Characters are lifelike figures
with complex, multifaceted
personalities. They possess depth and
dimension, and often undergo personal
development over the course of a story.
A Raisin in the Sun
Static & Flat
Characters
• In contrast, characters who do not have
conflicting motivations, thoughts, or actions
are called Static or Flat Characters.
remains largely the same throughout the
course of the storyline. Their environment
may change, but they retain the same
personality and outlook as they had at the
beginning of the story. It's common for
secondary characters in stories to be static.
• A Flat Character is one that lacks complexity
in several facets. The two-dimensional
character's journey is often described as
having a flat arc, meaning they don't change
from the beginning of the story to the end.
16
 Previously on
A Raisin in the Sun

All of the characters in A Raisin in the In the Youngers’ apartment,

Sun have unfulfilled dreams. These the family discusses their
A Raisin in the Sun takes place dreams mostly involve money.
in an apartment in the South Although the Younger family seems plans for the life insurance
Side neighborhood in Chicago, alienated from white middle-class check left behind after
sometime between the end of culture, they harbor the same Beneatha and Walter’s father
materialistic dreams as the rest of died.
World War II and 1959. American society.
When the play opens, the Mama’s plant symbolizes her version
Youngers are about to receive of this dream, because she cares for it
an insurance check for as she cares for her family. She tries to
$10,000. This money give the plant enough light and water
not only to grow but also to flourish
comes from the deceased and become beautiful, just as she
Mr. Younger's life insurance attempts to provide for her family
policy. with meager yet consistent financial
A Raisin in the Sun 17
support.
 Lesson Target: Identifying

Act 2 Scene 1 and labeling characters in a

story
I Do: Review Static/Flat characters

We Do: Complete Act 1 Scene 2 Handout together

We do: Read Act 2 Scene 1 Agenda
You Do: Update orange packet
 Vocabulary
Setting V

Point of view
Multiple-meaning Words
Direct Characterization Vs Indirect Characterization
Dynamic & Round Characters
Static & Flat Characters
Extended Metaphor
Imagery & Scene Directions
Dialogue

A Raisin in the Sun 20

 Notes
Raisin in the Sun specific vocabulary
Point of View
Setting • 1. Undistinguished
• Cultural perspective can be found • Lacking distinction; unexceptional.
• The three types of setting are the
elements of place, time, and by looking at the time period and • 2. Cultural Assimilationism
environment (both physical and culture of the author. • the process in which a minority group or culture
social). Each of these types comes to resemble a society's majority group or
• How does the author of A Raisin assume the values, behaviors, and beliefs of
contributes to building the setting in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry, another group whether fully or partially.
express her Point of View and
• The Setting of A Raisin in the Sun is cultural perspective through her • 3. Arrogant
• Place: South Side of Chicago characters? • having or revealing an exaggerated sense of one's
own importance or abilities.
• Time: 1950’s
• Physical Environment: The • 4. Ominous
Younger’s small apartment • giving the impression that something bad or
unpleasant is going to happen; threatening;
• Social Environment: A Pre-Civil inauspicious.
Rights movement segregated
America • 5. Monologue
• a long speech by one actor in a play or movie

A Raisin in the Sun 21

 Previously on
A Raisin in the Sun

In the Youngers’ apartment, Ruth returns home from the

the family discusses their Ruth faints suddenly doctor and reveals that she is
plans for the life insurance while talking with pregnant, but she becomes
check left behind after Mama about her upset when she tries to discuss
Beneatha and Walter’s her pregnancy with Walter, and
husband Walter and Ruth confirms she wants an
father died.
Beneatha. abortion.
Beneatha wants to use the money
to pay for medical school, but
Walter wishes to invest in a liquor
store, an idea that Mama does
not agree with, as she wants to A check for $10,
pursue the dream of owning a
home.
000 arrives.
A Raisin in the Sun 22
Act 2
Scenes 2-3
(20:03) in audiobook
Agenda
• We do: Review Handout from Act 2 Scene 1
• I do: Discuss Extended Metaphors
• We do: Read Act 2 Scenes 2-3
• You do: Update Orange packet
 Vocabulary

V
Setting

Point of view

Multiple-meaning Words

Direct Characterization Vs Indirect Characterization

Dynamic & Round Characters

Static & Flat Characters

Extended Metaphor

A Raisin in the Sun 25

 Extended Metaphor

• An Extended Metaphor, also known as a conceit or sustained metaphor, is the use of a single metaphor or
analogy at length in a work of literature. It differs from a mere metaphor in its length, and in having more than
one single point of contact between the object described and the comparison used to describe it.
• Consider this passage from Mark Twain:
“One day [Mr. Bixby] turned on me suddenly with this settler —
‘What is the shape of Walnut Bend?’”
“He might as well have asked me my grandmother’s opinion of protoplasm. I reflected respectfully, and then
said I didn’t know it had any particular shape. My gun powdery chief went off with a bang, of course, and then
went on loading and firing until he was out of adjectives.”
“I had learned long ago that he only carried just so many rounds of ammunition, and was sure to subside into a
very placable and even remorseful old smooth-bore as soon as they were all gone.”
• What is Twain describing through this extended metaphor?

• How does the author use Mama’s plant as an Extended Metaphor in the play?

A Raisin in the Sun 26

Act 2 Scenes 2-3
• Mood around apartment is different
• How come? It’s the same old apartment? (Shift in Scene
2-3?)
• Characterization of Mr. Lidner
• First white character in play
• How do the Youngers act towards him?
• Relationships
• Walter’s friends/associates and how they treat Walter
• Family relationships: How does Mama change towards
her children by the end of this act?
• Keep track of allusions
• What motifs are recurring in this act?
 Evidence of Mastery
Narrative Writing Assignment
• Directions: Write a 2–3-page scene continuing the play.
Use the below template to format the play accordingly.
Remember the importance of stage directions, dialogue,

EM
and character relationships.

A Raisin in the Sun: The Sequel

• Items to consider:
• What will happen to each member (Mama, Beneatha, Walter, Ruth, and Travis) of the
Younger family?
• What will their life be like in Clybourne Park? How will the Youngers be treated by
their new neighbors?
• What choices and decisions will the characters make about the directions of their
lives?
• Potential scenes to write:
• The Younger family first moving in (their first dinner? Their first interaction with
neighbors? Mama gardening in the yard?)
• Walter’s business ideas
A•Raisin
Ruth in and her new child
the Sun 28
 Christopher Zand​

Originally Zand@fultonschools.org
Created By North Springs High
School