Raisin in the Sun STUDY GUIDE questions

A Raisin in the Sun Study Guide

1. Why was Travis up late last night?

2. Why was Ruth upset when Walter gave Travis the money?

3. Ruth and Walter are married, but seem to have a difficult relationship. Fill out this chart on their relationship

Ruth’s thoughts about Walter	Walter’s thoughts about Ruth
How Ruth treats Walter	How Walter treats Ruth
One quote from Ruth showing how she feels about Walter	One quote from Walter showing how he feels about Ruth

4. Who is Beneatha?

5. Why was Mama getting a check for $10,000?

6. What does Walter want to do with the money?

7. Who are Willy and Bobo?

8. Walter said, “Damn my eggs…damn all the eggs that ever was!”  What does he mean?

9. What does Beneatha do?

10. List at least two problems Walter has with Beneatha.

11. Describe what you think Lena’s relationship is like with the following:

Walter:

Ruth:

Beneatha:

Travis:

12. What does Lena do for a living?

13. How old is she?

14. How long has she worked?

15. What does Mrs. Holiday think about Lena quitting? Why do you think this is?

16. Where is Asagai from?

17. Beneatha seems to like Asagai, but also is annoyed by him. Explain how each of these is true.

18. How is Lena treated by the clerk? What does he call her?

19. How does she react?

20. How does Mrs. Johnson think she should react?  What line proves this?

21. While on the bus, Lena is filled with longing for something.  What is it?

22.  Using information you just learned from Herman, as well as things you might already know, list some pros and cons of both a 9-5 job and owning your own business.

	Pros	Cons
9-5 job
Owning your own business

23. Why did Beneatha say she wouldn’t marry George?

24. What was Beneatha’s attitude toward God?

25. Why won’t Lena give Walter the money?

26. At the end of this section, what happens to Ruth?

27. Each person write down think of the biggest argument they’ve ever had with their parents. Write each one down.

28. What did Ruth find out at the doctor’s office?

29. Asagai tells Beneatha that, “between a man and a woman there need be only one kind of feeling.”  Explain what he means and why Beneatha says that this, by itself, won’t do?

30. What do you think he means by giving Beneatha a nickname that means, “bread-food-is not enough”? 

31. Now your turn. Each student give themselves a nickname in the same style as Beneatha’s. One that helps give a deeper understanding of who you are as a person.

Student name	New Nickname

32. Why doesn’t Ruth seem happy about her pregnancy?

33. Where did Ruth actually go instead of the doctor’s office?

34. Why do you think she has chosen to do this?

35. Mama tells Walter that something is eating him up, something that has to do with

more than just money.  What do you think this is?

36. Why did Mama call Walter a disgrace to his father’s memory?

37. Do you think that Walter is right? They should use the money to invest in a liquor store? Explain your reasoning.

38. Where does Walter go at the end of this section?

39. What should he have done?

40. Who is George?

41. Describe his and Beneatha’s relationship.

42. What did Lena do with the money?

43. What was Walter’s reaction to Lena’s purchase?  Why did he act this way?

44. What was Ruth’s reaction to Lena’s purchase?  Why did she act this way?

45. What has Ruth found out from the phone call?

46. What has Lena done with her 10,000 dollars? 

47. What do you think that Walter will do with the money?

48. Does Ruth know why Walter is in such a good mood?

49. What does Beneatha want out of life?

50. What does George want out of life?

51. Will these two wind up together?  Why or why not?

52. Why didn’t Lena see the house before she bought it?

53. What news does Lindner bring to the Younger family?

54. What reason does Lindner give for this?

55. Which family member figures out what Lindner is up to first?

56. What is Walter’s reaction to Lindner’s news?  Is it reasonable?

57. The news from Lindner is bad.  List three things that could happen next that could make things worse.  List three things that could happen next that could make things better.

1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

3.

58. Lena says about her plant, “It expresses me.”  How does Lena’s plant express her?

59. Think back to earlier in the book.  How does Beneatha express herself?

60. What news does Bobo bring?

61. How does Walter react?

62. How does Ruth react?

63. How does Lena react?

64. Where is Travis during all this?

65. Travis isn’t present when Lindner comes or when Bobo comes.  Why do you think Lorraine Hansberry chose to have him gone when people bring bad news?

66. Why does Beneatha blame her mother?

67. Why does Beneatha’s belief in the importance of doctors and medicine change after Walter loses the family’s money.

68. Describe Beneatha’s negative and circular view of the world.

69. Describe Asagai’s positive and linear view of the world.

70. What fault does Lena find with herself?

71. What solution does Walter have?

72. What does it mean, to Walter, to be a man?

73. What does Walter do/say that makes Lena change her mind about moving?

74. Why didn’t Walter take the money Lindner offered?

75. Did the Youngers stay or move?

76. Lena says to Ruth, “He came into his manhood today, didn’t he?  Kind of like the rainbow after the rain.”  And Ruth agrees.  Do you agree?  Why or why not?

March 15- plant questions and pages 31-43

The stage direction from the top of page 30 says, “A feeble little plant grows doggedly in a small pot. Lena’s hands enter frame. They feel the dirt, pack it down.”                                                                         Doggedly=stubbornly determined  

Then Lena says, “Lord, if this little old plant don’t get more sun than it’s been getting, it ain’t never going to see spring again.”

           

Lena could have been talking about someone or something else. Make a guess as to who Lena might actually be talking about and then write how this might be true. 50-100 words.

Now think about someone in your life who this plant could represent. Again, write how this is true. 50-100 words

Chose parts:  narrator 1 (reads italics), narrator 2 (reads scene descriptions), Child, Lena, Mrs. Holiday.

Read to page 43 to DISSOLVE TO

Answer questions 12-15. 

March 11- Raisin pages 7-31

We will be working in small groups to read through Raisin in the Sun. Today we read pages 7-31 and answered questions in small groups on the pages.

March 9- American Dream and Raisin questions

We began by talking about the American Dream and students wrote on the following questions:

1.    Why do people from other countries immigrate to America?

2.    When we talk about "The American Dream", what do we mean? What are some of the obstacles to achieving the American Dream?

3.    Which groups of people have had trouble attaining "The American Dream"? Try to come up with five or more.

4.    Given the obstacles that some Americans have to overcome, what makes the American Dream appealing?

Now write out your own thoughts on the American dream:

• Do you want the American Dream?
• Is this something your family has achieved? Is trying to achieve?
• Are there any problems with the American Dream?

Then we began reading Raisin in the Sun...

Read pages 3-7 (when Ruth begins speaking)

Answer the following questions:

Why does the author go to such lengths to describe the furnishings of the Younger family’s apartment? 

What do these furnishings and the state they are in say about the family’s lives?

March 7- Parent's dreams and stereotypes in culture

We began by journaling for 10 minutes on the following questions:

What are your parents' dreams for you?

• Do they match what you want?
• Do they walk the walk?
• Explain how they show you by doing, or don’t show you by doing.

Then we listened to this audio recording:

http://www.npr.org/2011/12/13/143579090/winter-songs-bill-t-jones-picks-schuberts-winterreise

And Wrote on these prompts:

Now summarize Bill's memory.

Also write what was so sad about the memory for him.

Lastly we thought about the role stereotypes have had in the way different races/cultures/religions are perceived in the US. Students thought of 3 or 4 examples for each of the following:

1. Examples of characters in film/tv/books that conform to a stereotype
2. Examples of characters in film/tv/books that don't conform to a stereotype

February 29- reflect on independent homework and Epic Odyssey

We used today to do two things: Reflect on our independent homework and also to take one last look at our Epic Odyssey.

Here is a reminder of what the reflection on the independent homework should look like:

A Reflection might include:

·  What has been working this week

·  What has been frustrating

·  What problems I foresee in the next couple of weeks

·  How I might deal with those problems

·  Pictures of the progress I’m making on a project

·  Links to websites that I’m researching along with thoughts on what I’ve found

Each reflection should be between 50-100 words.

We also spent some time looking at our Epic Odyssey. Students filled out this sheet before completing their story:

List the 5+ stages in your story

Stage	How it happens in the story

List the 4+ archetypes in your story

Archetype	Character in the story

February 23- continue working on the Epic journey

As a way to help focus kids, I handed out a worksheet that they could fill out about their story.

1. Ordinary World: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Call to Adventure:  ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Refusal of the Call: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. Meeting with the Mentor: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. Crossing the Threshold: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6. Tests, Allies, Enemies: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7. Approach to the Inmost Cave: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8. Ordeal: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9. Reward (Seizing the Sword): ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10. The Road Back: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
11. Resurrection: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
12. Return with the Elixir: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________