This document provides background information on the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. It defines key literary terms like drama, comedy, and tragedy. It discusses Hansberry's life and background, including that she was the first African American woman to have a play produced on Broadway. The document also gives context about the time period and setting of the play in 1950s Chicago, including discrimination faced by black families at that time.

1. DRAMA, DRAMA, DRAMA!
Literary dramas are not always full of
drama. In literature, “drama” is a term for
plays, skits, and musicals.

2. • Drama- A play, skit, or musical
that is written to be acted for an
audience
.

3. Terms to know
• Comedy:
a play, movie, etc., of light and humorous character with a happy or
cheerful ending; a dramatic work
in which the central motif is the triumph over adverse circumstance
, resulting in a successful or happy conclusion.
• Tragedy:
a play dealing with a serious or somber theme, typically that of a
great person destined to downfall or destruction.
• Dialect: a way of speaking a language that varies by region, city or
socioeconomic groupings
• Dialogue: a conversation between two or more characters in a work
of drama
• Monologue: soliloquy; a conversation that one characters has with
himself/herself
• Act: a division or unit of a drama.
• Scene: A scene is a part of an act defined with the changing of
characters and/or setting

4. Original Cover of the Play
What stands out on the cover?
(Remember this because it will
become part of an important
discussion later.)

5. Lorraine Hansberry
• Born in Chicago in 1930
• Loved writing since she was
a little girl
• Attended the University of
Wisconsin
• Moved to New York City
• Hung out with Langston Hughes
and other Harlem Renaissance
figures…

6. Her life continued…
• Married R. Nemiroff in 1953
• Raised money to produce
“Raisin” in 1958
• A Raisin in the Sun
premieres on Broadway in
1959
• 1st African-American woman
with a play on Broadway
• Died in 1965 of cancer (She
was only 34 years old.)

7. A Raisin in the Sun
• The Youngers live on the South
Side of Chicago in the 1950’s.
(This is when the Civil Rights
movement began in America.)
• ARitS is thought of as being
somewhat autobiographical
because Hansberry was from
Chicago and grew up witnessing
experiences similar to those
that the Youngers experienced.

8. Chicago in the1950’s

9. What’s different in this picture? Why
do you this this was?

10. Movie Versions
• 1961-
Starred Sidney Poitier &
Ruby Dee
• 2008-
Starred P Diddy,
Audra McDonald, &
Phylicia Rashad