Raisin In the Sun Assessment

Questions: A Raisin in the Sun

Identify the following items:

• Lena Younger
• Ruth Younger
• Walter Lee Younger
• Beneatha Younger
• Travis Younger
• Joseph Asagai
• George Murchison
• Karl Lindner
• Bobo
• Willie Harris
• Clybourne Park
• Springfield
• Flags and Spears


Answer the following questions on your own piece of paper:

1) Explain the different ways Travis’ parents respond to his request for 50cents. Explain how they deal with each other on this subject. What does this reveal about the characters?

2) The check. Explain all that the check seems to represent in this play.

3) The plant. Explain all that the plant seems to represent in this play.

4) What things does Mama tell the family about the past—both the history of their family and their larger history of black families in America?

5) Examine the emphasis on fatherhood in this play. Who are the different fathers in this play? In what ways is the play about manhood and fatherhood?

6) Who says the following and at what point in the play? Explain the importance of the passage:

“Oh—Mama—they don’t do it like that any more. He talked brotherhood. He said everybody ought to learn how to sit down and hate each other with good Christian fellowship.”

7) Does this play offer encouragement or example or moral models for all audience members or is it just about a black family in the fifties? Do you find something in this play that speaks to you? Explain.