Agenda for American Literature Periods 1, 4

Today's agenda is focused on us closely analyzing the first portion of "A Raisin in the Sun" and viewing the biography, Lorraine Hansberry--Sighted Eyes, Feeling heart on PBS.
First, re-read the Introduction and Act I Scene I up to page or so to answer and turn in these questions to Mr. Morris:
1. Why do you think the narrator describes the furniture in the Younger household the way she does?  What might we predict about the Younger family based off the description of the furniture?  What figurative language technique is used? Why do you think the narrator says that the furniture "fights"?
2. Why does the family have to wake up so early? Hint...why cant Travis or Walter Lee go right into the bathroom?
3. Why does Travis want to collect shopping carts? What does this detail reveal about his character?
4.  Why does Travis ask for fifty cents? Why does his mother tell him they didnt have it, but his dad gives him the money he asks for PLUS money for fruit or carfare? What does this reveal about Walter Lee?
5. Walter has a dream. What is it? What does he want Ruth to do to help?
After turning in your answers to the above to Mr. Morris, you will watch and take notes on the film Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart. We will watch as a class on the large screen, however, if the film does not load, try on your phone. You may need to scroll down and click the play button for the film to play. Jot down things you learn about Lorraine and the time period that she wrote. Be sure that you include some sort of response to the following questions: What type of family did Lorraine Hansberry come from? From did her father do? What did he believe? Explain the connection of Lorraine to the Great Migration. Where does Lorraine and her family reside?  What is a covenant restriction? Where does the Hansberry family move? Why doesn't Lorraine go? After her father's death where does Lorraine move?  How do Hansberry's experiences influence her writing? Your responses to THESE questions may be submitted for homework.
Quiz for period 1 tomorrow on Great Migration.  The sketch of the Younger Apartment and How Much do These Items Cost handouts are also due tomorrow for periods 1 and 4.

American Literature Period 1, 3 and 4

American Literature Period 1
1. Be sure to stop by and get your hand-written "I Am" or "Character Bio-Poem" to re-read, and retype. All Poems should demonstrate evidence and understanding The Great Migration and the American Dream.
2.
American Literature Period 3
1. Carefully Re-read Act I, scene 1 of A Raisin in The Sun up to page 35.  Pay special attention to the first few pages and the description of the Younger Family apartment/living room.
2. Add details about each of the following characters to your character chart: Walter; Travis; Ruth
3. Respond: What seems to be the reason Walter is upset with Ruth?

American Literature Period 4
1. You are to write an I Am or Character Bio-poem based on an imaginary person who makes the trek from South to North in The Great Migration.

Biography

When A Raisin in the Sun was first presented at Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York City, on March 11, 1959, playwright Lorraine Hansberry was only 20 years old. Tragically, she died of cancer only six years later, in 1965. Nevertheless, during her short life she left a lasting mark on the literary world. She won the Best Play of the Year Award for A Raisin in the Sun (only the fifth woman, and the first black playwright, to do so). Her 1961 film adaptation of the play won a Cannes Festival Award and in 1989, the play appeared in an unabridged form on American Playhouse. IN 1953, she married Robert Nemiroff (who produced To Be Young, Gifted, and Black – a portrait of Hansberry composed from her own words, which became the longest-running off-Broadway drama of 1969). It was during a run of her second play, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, that she died, at age 34. Family • Born in Chicago on May 19, 1930 • The youngest of four children • Her parents were well-educated African Americans who fought against discrimination • As a child, lived with her family on the South Side of Chicago • Later, her family became one of the first black families to move into a white neighborhood • When treated unfairly, the Hansberry’s defended themselves. Literary Experiences • Hansberry felt the inclination to record her own experiences, thus A Raisin in the Sun is often considered autobiographical. • Hansberry was one of the first playwrights to create realistic portraits of African-American life. • A Raisin in the Sun received the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Play of the Year. • She was the youngest playwright, the fifth woman, and the only black writer at that point to win the award. • Her promising career was cut short when she dies in 1965, at the age of 34, to cancer. Harlem Renaissance • 1920-1940, mainly in New York City; used to be called the “New Negro Movement” named after an anthology of notable African-American words entitled The New Negro and published by philosopher Alain LeRoy Locke in 1925. • Instead of using direct political means, African American artists, writers, and musicians employed culture to work for goals of civil rights and equality. For the first time, African American paintings, writings, and jazz became absorbed into mainstream culture and cross racial lines, creating a lasting legacy. • Writers include Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, Claude McKay, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and many others. Later writers who were inspired by this period include Ralph Ellison and Toni Morrison. • Musicians include Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald.

American Literature Period 1

1. Complete A Character Bio-Poem or I Am Poem for an imaginary migrant leaving a Southern City going to A Northern City. Use specific details.
2. use your Levels of Questions Chart to create 2 Right There; 2 Author and You; and 2 On My Own Questions for The Warmth of Other Suns.
3. Review Vocabulary for "A Raisin In The Sun" and complete the Anticipation Guide for the Play.