A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry | Analysis

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry | Analysis Playwrights of Color A Raisin in the Sun To be young, gifted and black (Lorraine Hansberry) is a phrase which is commonly associated with Lorraine Hansberry, which comes from the collection of autobiographical pieces which were put together by her ex-husband in her honor when she died. Throughout the years, individuals from all walks of life have come to America with dreams of a better life, in many different areas such as social, educational, and economical opportunities as well as political and religious freedoms. With these wishes and dreams, the phrase life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (Mitchell), which to many Americans embodies the American dream, can become a reality or just a harsh reminder of what the American dream stands for because for some it comes true but for many, they are never able to reach their dream. She wrote the play A Raisin in the Sun to show people that supporting friends and family members is important through the hard and trying time. If you are able to work hard and truly believe in you rself, dreams can come true in one form or another. The American dream to each individual, no matter age, race or gender has a different meaning. A Raisin in the Sun is important because it crosses over the continued debate of racial and gender issues which arose during the time this play was written, and even during the present day and age. Lorraine Hansberry was born in Chicago in 1930. Through her earlier years, Hansberrys parents sent her to public school rather than private schools in a protest against the segregation laws. In 1938, the Hansberry family was one of the first African American families to move into an all white neighborhood. After moving in, the neighbors threatened them with violence and legal action, but the Hansberrys would not put up with any of it and Hansberrys father would later bring his case all the way to the Supreme Court. When she finally went to college, she ended up studying at multiple schools including, the University of Chicago; at the Art Institute of Chicago; at the New School of Social Research in New York; in Guadalajara, Mexico; and at the University of Wisconsin(Encyclodpedia of World Biography on Lorraine Vivian Hansberry). While attending college, she saw a school performance of a play by the playwright Sean OCasey and decided to become a writer. In 1950, she ended up dropping out of college and moved to New York. While in New York, she decided to take classes in writing at the New School for Social Research and ended up working as an associate editor of Paul Robesons newspaper/magazine Freedom. During this period of her life, she met many leading African-American intellectuals, activists and famous writers, such as one famous writer, Langston Hughes. In 1953 Hansberry ended up marrying Robert Nemiroff, who was white, also a graduate student in Jewish literature, a songwriter, and took part in participating in the political events of the time at the protesting discrimination at New York University. Nemiroff gained his huge success with his hit song, Cindy, Oh Cindy, and after Nemiroffs success, and Hansberrys many part time jobs, she was able to settle down and devote herself entirely to writing. While writing, it eventually took its form in a play, which came from a poem by Langston Hughes, called Harlem. The success of the play, A Raisin in the Sun, end ed up winning the award for best play of the year, which made Lorraine Hansberry the first African American and the youngest American to win the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. She used her new fame to help bring attention to the American civil rights movement as well as African struggles for independence from colonialism(A Raisin in the Sun). After many years, Hansberry had marital problems with Nemiroff and they decided to divorce in 1964. Hansberry was only able to live long enough to see one other play, besides A Raisin in the Sun, be produced. On January 12, 1965, Hansberry died of pancreatic cancer at the young age of thirty-four. She ended up being one of the first playwrights to portray real African American characters and their struggles in day to day activities of African American life. This was shown in her play by the inspiration of her own familys struggles against the legal battles in segregated housing laws during her childhood. The working title of A Raisin in the Sun was originally The Crystal Stair after a line in an earlier poem by Langston Hughes, who was another African American playwright, poet, novelist, and short story writer. Hansberry ended up changing the title of her play again, after another one of Langston Hughes later poems, which asked: 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 (Hughes)? Produced and finished in 1957, the play A Raisin in the Sun, was the first drama by a black woman to be produced on Broadway. It took two years after it was finished, on March 1959, for the play to be revealed on Broadway at the Ethyl Barrymore Theater. From there, the Broadway production moved to the Belasco theatre and ran for 530 performances, where it started earning many awards. This play is unique in many aspects and covers many important issues. The play was unique because it was the first play to be produced on Broadway, written and directed by an African American and the first to have an all-black cast. The play gained huge success even though the producer, Phil Rose, had never produced a play, and large investors were initially not interested in it. In all the places the play was shown, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, the audiences absolutely loved it and shortly thereafter it became a huge success. With its huge success and fame, it ended up having a long run in theater a nd was later turned into a movie and after that, was later turned into a Broadway musical. The play, A Raisin in the Sun, is important in many different aspects of everyday life. With Lorraine Hansberry growing up how she did, in the neighborhood and time, she knew all about disappointment, false hope and despair. Hansberrys ancestors also knew about the hard times with exploitations, despair, frustrations and their dreams turning into dreadful nightmares as they came north to hopefully find a better life. Hansberry records the history of her ancestors nightmares in a Raisin in the Sun, by portraying a classic story of the Younger family, struggling to realize their dreams by escaping ghetto life. Hansberrys screenplay shows the story of the Younger family, but it actually reveals the plight of all families and individuals who have at one point experienced or those who are living right now, in despair, have lost hope in their life and have failed dreams and goals. Her immense dedication to this play, gives it its power for all people who read it and for those who end up de aling with it in everyday life. This play is an excellent choice for many different types of classes such as, literature, drama, history and film classes. The play will keep the attention of many different types of people based off of the plays action, dialogue, and cast of dynamic characters which captivate many different types of audiences from high school students through college students up to the adult readers. Young people endure many different frustrations with their lifestyle and rebel against parents which can bring little gratification at times. However, the adolescent who wants to truly believe that dreams do come true and are not made up, comes from the adolescent who is hiding beneath the cynical surface, making the heart beat of the true idealist. Through Hansberrys careful craftsmanship, the universal themes of the importance of dreams and the frustration of dreams deferred, the strength of family, the importance of not selling out, the problems of conflicting expectations, the belief that love and trust will win over deceit and selfishness, and the dangers of prejudice and stereotyping are as powerful today as they were nearly four decades ago when she wrote the play (TeacherVision). Adolescents come from many different families, with different types of problems and family structures, so they need exposure to the values which are shown within a traditional family, and this play delivers that without lecturing or preaching. Another reason A Raisin in the Sun is important is because of its historical value. The play shows the challenges and conflicts by reflecting the provocative natures through the racial attitudes through time, starting around the 1950s making its way to the present. Prejudice is seen in many forms, and the characters in Hansberrys play along with the screenplays visuals bring this theme to life like nothing ever could.   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   This play represents life in the racial or ethnic community in many different and unique ways. The play is considered a turning place in American art because it addresses so many important issues and conflicts when this play was produced during the 1950s. The 1950s brought along the stereotypical age of the happy housewives and portrayed the African Americans as being comfortable with their inferior status. These stereotypes resulted in the social resentment that would eventually find public voice in the civil rights movement and importance in later movements such as the feminist movements of the 1960s. The play was also a revolutionary work for its time and can be shown by the way Hansberry created the African American Younger family, by portraying one of the first real and honest depictions of a black family on an American stage.   Usually in a play, groups o r individual African-Americans were always portrayed in the typical ethnic stereotypical roles and were displayed as small and comedic but this play overall portrays a united black family in a realistic light, which ends up being far from the comedic style which most people may think of. Hansberry uses black dialect throughout the play and introduces important issues, questions and concerns which many other families during this time and even during the present day and time run into, such as poverty, discrimination, and the creation of African-American racial identity. This play looks at the racial tensions between the black and white communities in addition to exploring the tensions within the black community itself. This can be shown when the family tries to reach their goals despite the challenges of poverty and racism all around them, by putting a down payment on a house in an all-white suburb neighborhood and shortly after this, the family is hit with racism in an unusual form f rom the white community. Throughout the play, Hansberry asks difficult and thought provoking questions about assimilation and figuring out ones true identity. One way this is shown, is through revealing Beneatha to a trend of celebrating African heritage, through the character of Asagai (her boyfriend and maybe future husband). Another important issue this play represents is how it addresses feminist questions about another important issue, marriage. The topic of marriage comes up for Beneatha in this play towards the end, which Hansberry portrays as not being necessary for all women and that every women should have ambitious career goals instead of giving up on their dreams before they have a chance to fight for their own personal dreams. Hansberry also approaches an abortion debate, which is touched on during a time when abortion was not allowed and is still causing concern and a lot of controversial talk today. Having this play written during the time period and being produced wh en it was, was such a huge success for someone with her status as being young, black and a woman growing up in the 1950s. This showed how much she overcame as a woman, how much people were starting to accept change and how people started understanding important topics which needed to be addressed during this time. No matter the age, race or gender of a person, it shows just how important the idealism of a single persons, race and gender is in the pursuit of dreams and just how crucial dreams are in an individuals life. As the play focuses primarily on dreams and what happens to the dreams in driving and motivating the main characters actions, emotions and feelings throughout the play, it also reveals what happens to people out in the real world. Any negative dreams that happen in an individuals life, no matter the age, gender or race of a person, seem to stem from the fact that people are placing stress and importance on objects rather than on family pride and happiness. Like the ma in point of this play says, if everyone attempts to support and encourage their family, and not only focusing on themselves and being selfless, they can lift each other up and support each other through the toughest of times. This can happen if you never give up hope on each other and never give up on your own dreams.   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   This play focuses on major issues such as racism between white and black communities, abortion, marriage, assimilation and finding ones true identity but in the end the play boils down to a timeless point; dreams are what make each person, white or black, push on in life in order to live each day like it was their last. A Raisin in the Sun is central, in the continued debate over racial and gender concerns, making this play a critical cultural document in an essential period of American history. MLA Citation A Raisin in the Sun. 2009. SparkNotes. 15 November 2009 . A Raisin in the Sun. 2000-2009. TeacherVision. 14 November 2009 . A Raisin in the Sun: The Quest for the American Dream. EDSITEment. 4 December 2009 . Encyclodpedia of World Biography on Lorraine Vivian Hansberry. 2005-2006. BookRags. 14 November 2009 . Hughes, Langston. Harlem (A Dream Deferred). Lorraine Hansberry 15 November 2009: 1040. Liukkonen, Petri. Lorraine Hansberry. 2008. 14 November 2009 . Lorraine Hansberry. 15 November 2009: 1037. Mitchell, Diana. A Teachers Guide to Lorraine Hansberrys A Raisin in the Sun. A Teachers Guide to the Signet and Plume Editions of the Screenplay Lorraine Hansberrys Raisin in the Sun. 2 December 2009 . Moon, Andrea and Cathy Hartenstein. A Raisin in the Sun Study Guide. The Cleveland Play House. 4 December 2009 .

The Good vs. The Bad in The Road: Which Would You Do? :: Literary Analysis, Cormac McCarthy

Imagine a desolate and dismal world that deteriorated with scarce supplies of food and shelter and there is only a few survivors left--including yourself and one of your family members. In hopes of survival, what measures would you take? Would you go to the extreme by cannibalism or committing suicide? On the other hand, would you choose to be on an ethical route by grasping on life delicately? In the midst of the unflinching and empty world with virtually no hope, the father and son in the novel, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, choose to be the â€Å"good guys† by staying alive and refraining from cannibalism and thievery. They tried desperately to remain alive by roaming as nomads looking for shelter, edible foods, and avoiding the â€Å"bad guys† from preying on them for food. The unconditional love between the father and son sustained their struggle to live and try to stay ethical as possible. The father and son search for shelter and food in idle commercial stores and the son encounters many dead bodies and questions whether if they were also going to die. The boy is paralyzed by the adversity and suffering he had faced throughout his ruthless journey with his father. The boy questions their fate. He is implying that he is worried for the future. When the boy woke up from his tranquil sleep, he innocently asked his father if â€Å"[they] were going to die† (11). His father retorted, â€Å"Sometime but not now† (11). The father bluntly answered the question, knowing that he could not hide the inevitability of death. However, the father insisted that they shall strive to stay alive regardless of how poor the circumstances will entail. The father wants to hold on to life delicately, even in the midst of a dangerous and isolated world. The father’s motive to stay alive is to spend time with his son and not to lose hope. The father was very adamant about keeping the fire alive and keeping hope to stay alive. The son believes his father and follows his ideals of keeping the determination. His mother, unfortunately, lost the hope. In the midst of contemplating on suicide, the mother states that â€Å"sooner or later they will catch [them] and they will kill [them]. They will rape [her]. They'll rape [the boy]†(101). The mother confidently states that they will be raped and killed by the blood-hungry thugs.

Crime scene Essay

Review Questions 1. What is physical evidence? Provide at least three examples in your answer. Physical evidence is anything that can establish a crime that has happened and anything that links the crime and the criminal. Physical evidence might include objects like weapons, fibers and hair. 2. Describe three ways that a crime scene can be recorded. What is a benefit of each? Photography can show crime scenes at wide angles and can be taken at different vantage points. Drawings can show the location of evidence and contain accurate accounts of the distances. Notes contain description of the crime scene and location of evidence. 3. What is a chain of custody? Why is it important? Chain of custody is a list of persons who had possession of the evidence during the crime investigation. Chain of custody is important because it shows who has access to the evidence and indicates that it has been in the possession of law enforcement. 4. What three types of photographs are taken at crime scenes? Describe each type? Overview Photographs are taken at different points to show any entries and exits to the crime scene. Intermediate Photographs helps to show the evidence in relation to other objects in the room. Close up Photographs are taken to help record specific details that may not b picked up by photographs taken from longer ranges. 5. Why is it important to record the crime scene? It is important to record crime scenes because it helps to create a chain of custody showing what is present at the scene and its location as well as over all location. Critical Thinking Questions 1. Why is it important to secure the crime scene? What do you think would be the most difficult part of doing this? The main reason is that has the potential for contaminating or destroying evidence even if they don’t mean to do so. The most difficult part about this is reporters, civilians and family getting in the way. 2. What type of recording do you think would be the most useful to crime investigators? Why? Videography would be a useful recording tool in a investigation because of recording and the visual elements of the scene. 3. What do you think would be the best method of submitting evidence to a crime lab? Why? 4. What type of evidence do you think would be most difficult to collect? Why? Trace evidence would be difficult to find because its small ad not easily seen. 5. What does the Fourth Amendment protect against? Do you agree with these restrictions on collecting evidence? Why or why not? The fourth Amendment protects individuals from unreasonable searches & seizures agree with the restrictions because it has to be in plane site or have probable cause.

My Final College Essay - 1677 Words

Over the course of Intro to College Writing I have written a total of three essays and turned in. These three essays consist of: Narrative, Profile, and Argumentative. My first essay was the Narrative in which I wrote about the night of my mothers arrest. With this essay. I as a writer was trying to convey the emotions I felt during the experience and describe the many atmospheres that occurred throughout the incident. The only memorable thing from this essay was figuring out how to end the essay in a way that wrapped the entire essay back up in a short meaningful, stylistic way. That I felt I did well with my last line being â€Å"That was the first time I had said â€Å"I love you† in well, I couldnt tell you.† Through writing that last statement†¦show more content†¦I have learned a great deal about my self as a writer. That I have great potential to write at an advanced level if I can hone my grammar and organization skills. My mind if full of creative and out spoken ways to word certain topics, yet if no one can understand the sentence what use is my writing? I also learned I love writing memorable to the point conclusions as I spent the most time in all of my essays figuring out a witty way to end each with a way of clarity. I also learned how to correct my sentence fragments, how to use commas, and stopping my usage of contractions and â€Å"ing† verbs. All these problems I struggled with while in high school, yet teachers simply corrected them and told me to edit in the corrections. I came into college with the rhetorical and critical skills of writing, yet lacked the grammatical abilities to capture As on my paper. Evaluation, I learned the power of this word in this class. In my earlier years of writing I next to never allowed others to read my paper by my own will power. The only time I did was if a teacher asked if she could use mine as an example. While in this class I found how personally visiting the teacher with a c orrected essay is the best form of evaluation possible. Not only do you find out what they want personally from you. You, yourself can to verbally communicate your ideas to them, and they are able to helpShow MoreRelatedIn High School, Teachers Handed Out Essays As If They Were1525 Words   |  7 Pageshanded out essays as if they were candy. Throughout my high school career, I wrote roughly fifty essays; none of which were of the quality I would want for my college writings. My Literature teachers throughout high school did not have high expectations or requirements for essays. This laid-back attitude led me to believe that writing was easy and that I was a successful writer. I believed that all you had to do was throw information together in MLA format and it would produce a quality essay, deservingRead MoreShitty First Draft By Anne Lamott893 Words   |  4 Pagestherefore from the moment I start writing an essay I fairly pour everything out, all of thoughts and ideas into the first draft, which becomes my ‘’shitty first draft’’. In my first English class in college, I was explained it’s beneficial to write a ‘’shitty first draft’’, since the first draft is like an exercise. Thought out this course I continued using Lamott idea of writing a first shitty draft. Thus whenever I created my first draft I only wrote my views and indications and it was always atrociousRead MoreMy First Attempt At Redemptive Accomplishment935 Words   |  4 Pagesfailed to complete college. My failure was not a lack of intellect; rather it was a lack of discipline and commitment. A decade and a half later, I have grown to appreciate the value of putting in effort. Southern New Hampshire University’s English Composition course is my first attempt at redemptive accomplishment. When I began this writing course, I was asked what I hoped to accomplish. I even wrote a reflective essay as a journal entry on the topic. Looking back at the essay and reading it againRead MoreMy Journey : My Educational Journey973 Words   |  4 PagesMy Journey I began my journey of writing on May 7, 2017 when I began taking English 1301 at Texas State Technical College. When entering the course, I did not feel that the course was relevant to complete my educational journey. Writing was not one of my strongest points, so this journey was a difficult one. During the course I learned how to better prepare myself for writing and composing assignments, how to construct an outline, proper sentence structure, and punctuation. I feel this journey willRead MoreI Am Audrey Roberts And This Is The Fifth Pol I ve Changed My Life1586 Words   |  7 PagesI’ve done in my life. This semester, the ESLRs helped me become a better college applicant by improving my study skills and time management as well as being able to communicate with teachers. The ESLRs also encouraged my creativity and technological skills. I prepared for college in a variety of ways this semester. I conducted college searches in Advisory in order to track down colleges that best match my criteria and heard college representatives talk about their schools. Taking college-level EnglishRead MoreThe Philosophy Of English 101881 Words   |  4 PagesThroughout my educational years, I had only done writings that involves in small research papers, MLA style essays, and summary essays. However, English 101 has given me a new way to look at my writing skills. Most of the writings I have been doing so far in this course were interpretative essays where we interpreted and reflected on other’s writing and then reflecting back to ours own writing. This class also has given me the opportunity to work with my classmates and a chance to discuss about theRead MoreSchool Entrance And Placement Test Of The Midwest1426 Words   |  6 Pagesfrom 10-50 standardized tests. Possibly their most important test is yet to come. Colleges use the ACT in three main ways, to evaluate students in English, math, reading, and science, and writing for the purpose of college admissions, class placement, and scholarships. The purpose of the ACT is to assess academic achievement in a process free of discrimination, and error. It fails to fulfill this purpose. The main college entrance and placement test of the Midwest, the ACT, is insufficient, unethicalRead MoreTime Management Is The Most Frantic Of A Student s Life1477 Words   |  6 Pagesbeginning of a student’s life in college is the most frantic. This is the time when the student begins to realize the difference from high school challenges and college challenges. Challenges can motivate or unmotivated a student to continue in the path he or she desires. Motivation is the reason why students do what they do, motivation prompts a students to pursue their desired goals. First year college students should learn to be motivated in order to face college challenges suc h as time managementRead MoreEnglish Reflection Paper1293 Words   |  6 Pagescome naturally, though. As a young child, I had a speech impediment. It was hard for me to make myself understood, even less so through my writing. Not only was it hard for me to write, but also to read. As a result, from the time I was four years old to the time I was nine years old, I worked with speech tutors and attended special reading classes to improve my speed and comprehension. In the end, it made me come to love the English language and its different sounds and compositions. However, strugglingRead MoreMy First Day Of English 1011104 Words   |  5 Pages My First day of English 101 I remember was already stressed out before walking into the classroom. Driving to my first day of college . I can remember the class was almost full and one of the last seats was in the front of the room. I choose it to be my seat for the semester, I was close enough so that I actually had to pay attention durin g class, this was not a problem to me because I actually enjoyed listening to Dr. Mills talk lecture. They always had a different lesson to take away. The