Lorraine Hansberry's play, A Raisin in the Sun, relates the story of a working-class African-American family with dreams. They are willing to rebel against the position that society has forced on them because of their race and class in order to fulfill their dreams. Walter Younger is a chauffeur who "can find no peace with that part of society which seems to permit him and no entry into that which has willfully excluded him" (Willie Loman 23). He wants to rise into wealth and live as his employer, Mr. Arnold, does. Walter feels as if he is going crazy at times. He tells Mama, "sometimes it's like I can see the future stretched out in front of me-just plain as day.... Hanging over there at the edge of my days. Just waiting for me- a big looming blank space-full of nothing.... But it don't have to be" (73-4). James Draper explains Walter's inability to act out in his work " Black Literature Criticisms," saying:
The American ghetto hero may give up and contemplate his misery in rose-colored bars to the melodies of hypnotic saxophones, but revolution seems alien to him in his circumstances (America), and it is easier to dream of personal wealth than of a communal state wherein universal dignity is supposed to be corollary. Yet his position in time and space does allow for one other alternative: he may take his place on any one of a number of frontiers of challenge. Challenges (such as helping to break down restricted neighborhoods) which are admittedly limited because they most certainly do not threaten the basic social order. (Draper 214)
Walter's sister, Beneatha, who is studying at a local university to be a doctor, fights many of her own social battles. At college, she finds "a place, as her family cannot, among othe...
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...oday by minority families.
Works Cited and Consulted:
Domina, Lynn. Understanding A Raisin In The Sun. Conneticut. Greenwood Press, 1998.
Draper, James P. Black Literature Criticisms. Detroit: Gale Research Incorporated, 1992.
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. New York: Signet, 1988.
Hansberry, Lorraine. "An Author's Reflections: . Willie Loman, Walter Younger, And He Who Must Live" The Village Voice - Aug 12, 1959. Web 23 May 2015
https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1299&dat=19590812&id=09pHAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NYwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6584,6415280&hl=en
Rose, Philip. "YOU CAN'T DO THAT ON BROADWAY: 'A Raisin in the Sun' and Other Theatrical Improbabilities" Limelight Editions; 1st edition. 2004
Wilkerson, Margaret B. "The Sighted Eyes and Feeling Heart of Lorraine Hansberry." Black American Literature Forum 17.1 (1983): 8-13.
It is hard to live with disability, because everyday things become a challenge. U.S. Census Bureau report from 2008 states that 3.3 million non-institutionalized Americans over age 15 years use wheelchairs. The reason why there are so many people with disabilities is that U.S. spent decades at war. This is why mobility industry is rethinking the products it provides to support a growing demographic. Vantage Mobility International (VMI) and Braun Ability are two leading industry players that spent decades converting wheelchair vans from companies such as Chrysler , Toyota , and Honda into wheelchair-accessible modes of transportation.
In the movie, La Misma Luna, immigration officers stormed a tomato picking workshop and asked everyone for their papers. They showed no warrant for being there, but assumed that all were illegal immigrants. When some of the workers saw what was happening, they ran and yelled a warning to everyone. The police saw that some were getting away so they used forceful action to keep who they could there. They grabbed people by the neck or by the shirt or whatever they could get a hold of; then they would throw them to the ground and brutally beat them with their police batons. In the police training handbook it describes the use of less than lethal force by saying, “The application of any less than lethal force or device should be managed and monitored in the same way as if that force could cause serious injury or death.” (http://www.justice.gov/archive/crs/pubs/pdexcess.pdf). In the situation presented in the movie, La Misma Luna, the police did not manage or monitor their use of lethal weapons carefully because they beat random people until they couldn’t move. If it had caused serious injury or death, than those particular policemen...
World War Two triggered a significant change in the attitudes that people had towards one another. With all the death and destruction, one would assume that the lives of the citizens of Bexley would be run by fear during this terrible time, especially as Bexley happened to be an area that received a great deal of bombing. However, this was not the case. A temperament known as the ‘Blitz Spirit’ was widely adopted, encouraging the citizens of Bexley to rally together and face the war with courage and optimism.
I. Conflicts in the Play - There are many types of conflict evident in this play. Some are as follows:
Jacoby has been with the Boston Globe since 1987 as a columnist, and has received the following awards: the Breindel Prize in 1999, and the Thomas Paine Award in 2004. Before he worked for the Boston Globe he briefly practiced law and was a commentator for WBUR-FM. Based on this information, it shows that he not only does his research on the history of flogging and how it could be beneficial, but shows that he has knowledge regarding the topic. He also, throughout the essay, explains how corporal punishment can be effective because the lack of efficiency that incarcerating criminals shows. He addresses the opposition that corporal punishment is a faster and more cost effective process but backs up his argument using information about the amount of crime committed in jails too.
ants were walking on the ground of the day; an earthworm peeked out of a
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2011. 950-1023. Print.
Bumpass LL, Sweet JA, Cherlin A. 1991. The role of cohabitation in declining rates of marriage. Demography 53:913 27
In Bring back flogging, Jeff Jacob argues that the current criminal justice system in America is not effective or successful. He then suggests that America should bring back the old fashioned form of punishment once used by the puritans, flogging, as an alternative to imprisonment (198). Also, he says that corporal punishment is a better way to punish criminals since it is less costly for the state (98). He appeals to pathos and uses statistics to prove his thesis and persuade the audience. His argument that the current criminal justice system is not working is extremely convincing; however, he gives no reason why corporal punishment is the best alternative to imprisonment and never offers any other options. Additionally, he does not make
...also uses a dependent clause as verbal irony because he knows that the solution involving people being murdered. By using various sentence lengths Swift’s purpose is achieved. The purpose is achieved through the meanings behind all the different types of sentences because each one helps the story develop. Without sentence structure Swift’s message would not be clearly realized.
Lorraine Hansberry in her play, “Raisin in the Sun”, attempted to explain the feelings of the average African American Male in the 1940s. This persona, which is portrayed in the character Walter, had experienced a severe feeling of depression and hopelessness. In order to understand this source of grievance, one must relate back to the Great Migration and the dreams it promised and the reasons why many African Americans sought to move to the North. A desire to achieve freedom from racial injustices and poverty was the prime factor that encouraged Blacks to abandon the south. However, these dreams where soon crushed as African American noticed that Northern whites had still maintained unequal segregation and where as stumbling block to Black advancement. The consequences of a “dream deferred”, as Langston Hughes called it, was dependency on others, alcohol addiction, as well as dysfunctional families.
Conformity and rebellion are two characteristics that cannot exist without each other. If no one were to conform then there would be no set standard for anyone to rebel against. Without rebellion conformity would not be challenged. Madness comes into play when describing those that rebel against the norm. Dickinson describes anyone with a rebellious attitude as “demur you’re straightway dangerous and handled with a chain” society treats people like this because the idea of change can scare a lot of people. Many of these themes are seen throughout literature.
Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, centers on an African American family in the late 1950s. Hansberry directs her work towards specifically the struggles faced by African Americans during the late 1950s. Through the dialogue and actions of her characters, she encourages not only a sense of pride in heritage, but a national and self-pride in African Americans as well.
Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun is a play about segregation, triumph, and coping with personal tragedy. Set in Southside Chicago, A Raisin in the Sun focuses on the individual dreams of the Younger family and their personal achievement. The Younger's are an African American family besieged by poverty, personal desires, and the ultimate struggle against the hateful ugliness of racism. Lena Younger, Mama, is the protagonist of the story and the eldest Younger. She dreams of many freedoms, freedom to garden, freedom to raise a societal-viewed equal family, and freedom to live liberated of segregation. Next in succession is Beneatha Younger, Mama's daughter, assimilationist, and one who dreams of aiding people by breaking down barriers to become an African American female doctor. Lastly, is Walter Lee Younger, son of Mama and husband of Ruth. Walter dreams of economic prosperity and desires to become a flourishing businessman. Over the course of Walter's life many things contributed to his desire to become a businessman. First and foremost, Walter's father had a philosophy that no man should have to do labor for another man. Being that Walter Lee was a chauffeur, Big Walter?s philosophy is completely contradicted. Also, in Walter?s past, he had the opportunity to go into the Laundromat business which he chose against. In the long run, he saw this choice was fiscally irresponsible this choice was. In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, Walter Lee's dreams, which are his sole focus, lead to impaired judgement and a means to mend his shattered life.
The U.S government had royally screwed me over. Well they screwed the entire planet over, but I was actually feeling how screwed over I was just now. But to be honest, I had it coming. I should’ve never left the campsite because the infected would have gotten me. But here I am lying on the ground with blood oozing from the horrendous bite mark on my thigh and the disease slowly chisel away what little sanity I had left in this screwed up world.