Lesson Plans from EDSITEment

People of all backgrounds live in America and come to America dreaming of social, educational, economical opportunities as well as political and religious freedoms. Consequently, the notion of "The American Dream" has appeal and meaning to most of your students. Ask them to define "The American Dream" and you will probably become engaged in a lively discussion.

Read the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry with your students and you can enhance your discussion of "The American Dream" even while you and your students explore how the social, educational, economical and political climate of the 1950’s affected African Americans' quest for "The American Dream."

In this lesson, the critical reading and analysis of the play is complemented with a close examination of biographical and historical documents that students use as the basis for creating speeches, essays and scripts.

Guiding Questions:

How does the play A Raisin in the Sun mirror the social, educational, political, and economical climate of the 1950’s and how does the play illustrate the impact this climate had on African Americans' quest for "The American Dream?"

Learning Objectives

Preparing to Teach this Lesson

Additional Worksheets (downloadable as PDF files)

Figurative Language Chart
Dramatic Elements
Character Analysis
Plot Outline
Analyzing Symbols Chart

Lead students in a succession of questions that engages them in a discussion about the concept of "The American Dream." Record students' responses on a board or on large display paper and categorize them according to social, educational, economical, political and religious reasons. If there are students from other countries in the class, allow them to discuss their stories of immigration if they choose. Ask students:

Have students write out their definition of "The American Dream". Allow students to read their definitions aloud and elaborate on them as they see fit.

Tell students that they will examine various documents and read and analyze the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry to understand how the quest for "The American Dream" affected African Americans during the 1950’s.

Remind students that writers do not write in a vacuum, but that much of their creativity has its roots in personal experiences. Lorraine Hansberry is no exception. The daughter of Carl and Nannie Hansberry, Lorraine grew up in a successful black family where both of her parents were political activists campaigning against Jim Crow laws.

Have students read the excerpt "To Be Young Gifted and Black", complete the Written Document Analysis Worksheet and respond to the following questions:

What was Lorraine's life like growing up?
Based on the excerpt, what was important to Hansberry. If she were alive today, what causes might she support and what causes might she oppose?
According to Hansberry, what is the value of the play A Raisin in the Sun?

Discuss students' responses and add any other details that you deem important based on your reading of To Be Young Gifted and Black.

Tell students that the preface to A Raisin in the Sun is the poem "Montage to a Dream Deferred" from the EDSITEment reviewed Learner.org site by Langston Hughes. Ask the students: 1.

Have students read silently and aloud "Montage to A Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes, the preface to A Raisin in the Sun. You may also link to a video clip with the poem being read through Learner.org

Place the definition to the following words on the board or on large display paper: defer, fester and Montage.

Tell students that rather than present his audience with the answer to the poem's central question, Hughes develops the poem using a series of questions.

Use the Figurative Language Chart (available here as a downloadable PDF file) to analyze the similes and metaphors in the poem. Have students discuss their responses to the Figurative Language Chart

Explain to students that although the poem is phrased as a list of questions, Hughes is making a statement. Ask students:

What is Hughes' message about dreams deferred?
How do "dreams deferred" relate to the American Dream?

To better understand Hughes' message about dreams deferred, have students work in groups analyzing the poem "Let America Be America Again" from The Academy of American Poets by Langston Hughes. Have each group respond to one or two of the following questions:

According to stanza 1, what does the poet want?
What do stanza's 2, 4, 6, 12, and 16 have in common?
Who are the dreamers in this poem?
What is the dream?
What specific things have interfered with the dream?
Which lines in the poem "Let America Be America Again" compare to the poem "Montage of a Dream Deferred"?

Complete the lesson by asking the class,

"How does this poem help us to understand Montage of a Dream Deferred"?"
"Why do you think Hansberry selected "Montage of a Dream Deferred" as the preface to A Raisin in the Sun?
According to the poems, what major obstacle has interfered with African Americans' quest for the American Dream?

Begin the lesson by asking students how Hughes' poems Montage to a Dream Deferred and Let America Be America Again, implicitly reveal the role that segregation and racism played in preventing African Americans from attaining the American Dream.

Tell students that Jim Crow is the race based legislation that epitomized the era of segregation in America.

Who was Jim Crow?
What attitude towards African Americans is being expressed?
What psychological effect do you think this type of image had on African Americans?

Engage students in a discussion based on their responses to the photo analysis worksheet and the questions.

To further enhance students understanding of Jim Crow law as a race-based legislation, have students conduct internet research in groups on one of the following documents:

"The Black Laws" B.W. Arnett (American Memory Collection/African American Perspectives: The Progress of a People)
"Lynch Laws in Georgia" Ida B. Wells (American Memory Collection/African American Perspectives: The Progress of a People) Each of the following documents are located on the same page at American Memory Collection: African American Odyssey/Civil Rights Era:
Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in Armed Forces" (Appears under the section entitled "President Harry Truman Wipes Out Military Segregation")
Dark Laughter" Oliver Washington (Appears under the section entitled "Land Where Our Fathers Died")
The Genesis of Racial Identification" Kenneth B. Clark (Appears under the section entitled "Psychological Effects of Racism")
Saving the Race" Thurgood Marshall (Appears under the section entitled "Thurgood Marshall on 'Saving the Race'")

Direct each group to complete the Written Document Analysis Worksheet and answer the following questions:

What problem does the document highlight?
How does the document help us to understand the effect of Jim Crow on African Americans and on Americans in general?

Allow each group to present their findings to the entire class.

Begin this lesson by introducing students to background information on Brown V. Board of Education. Tell students that the legal battle known as Brown V. Board of Education represented many years of social and legal battles against institutionalized racism in America. This is an ideal lesson for using an overhead projector.

According to Judge Waites Waring, What was the purpose of amendments 13, 14, and 15?
What point does Judge Waring make about race and ancestry?
What is Waring's point about the society's method for determining race?
How had thoughts about race affected the attitude of Blacks and Whites in Southern states?

Tell students that as a consequence of the Brown V. Board of Education decision, nine students from Little Rock Arkansas were chosen to integrate Little Rock High School.

Give students a copy of the Daisy Bates and Little Rock Nine Letter and complete the Written Document Analysis Worksheet. Engage students in a discussion about their responses to the document analysis worksheet. Ask students "How does this letter illustrate African Americans' quest for the American Dream?"

Tell the students to take the position of a student attending Little Rock Central High School at the time that the Little Rock Nine are scheduled to integrate the school. Write a speech speaking out against the opposition facing the Little Rock Nine. In your speech seek to convince the adults in your school and community to accept the Little Rock Nine.

Given what we have learned about Hansberry, Jim Crow, and the African American Experience between 1850 and 1954, why do you think Hansberry chose to use a play to illustrate African Americans' quest for the American Dream?

At this point the teacher might want to distribute “Dramatic Elements” (downloadable as a PDF file) to the students.

Engage students in a dramatic reading of the play by assigning parts to each student. Be sure to rotate so that all students have a chance to read a part.

At the end of each Act, have students work in groups of four analyzing the play using the following focus questions and activities:

Characterization. Use the “Character Analysis” handout (downloadable as a PDF file) to record important information about each member of the Younger family.

Assessment

Have students present their answers to the above activities. Summarize the unit by having students engage in a class discussion in which they answer the unit's guiding questions:

How does the play A Raisin in the Sun mirror the social, educational, political, and economical climate of the 1950’s.
How does the play illustrate the impact this climate had on African Americans' quest for "The American Dream"?

Have students demonstrate their understanding of the play's themes by responding to one of the following writing tasks: 1.

Many people believe that the Younger family made a mistake in not taking Linder's money. In a well developed essay, explain why not taking Lindner's money was the right decision or explain why the better decision would have been to let Lindner buy back the house. Connect your response to your definition of the American Dream.
Rewrite the last scene of the play changing Walter's decision or add one more scene to the play. In this scene show the audience what happens to the Younger family six months after moving into the new house. Was the American Dream fulfilled, was it still deferred, or is it a work in progress.
In a well developed essay, explain how Hansberry's play is an extension of the Civil Rights Movement. In what sense is the Civil Rights Movement an extension of the American Dream?

Quest for the American Dream in A Raisin in the Sun

Introduction

Guiding Questions:

Learning Objectives

Preparing to Teach this Lesson

Suggested Activities

Assessment

Selected EDSITEment Websites