Posted by Emily Frost-Morgan (24.10.89.143) on June 24, 2005 at 7:06:55 p.m.:
In Reply to: Sughrue Essay 2 Rough Draft posted by Amber Sughrue on June 23, 2005 at 9:30:48 p.m.:
>Amber Sughrue
>English 301
>Jeanne Guerin
>Essay 2- Rough Draft
>22 June, 2005
>“A Dream In a Different Package”
> The characters in Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” add the life to the story. Hansberry thoughtfully chose characters that would communicate the theme of the play that focuses on the dreams of a family. Each character is important to communicate the family’s struggle to attain their dreams and allows the reader to identify with and provokes interest in the play. P1
> Characterization is extremely evident in this play. Each character seems real to the reader and induces emotions from the reader. Hansberry gives each character their own identity, and even their own manner of speaking. The personalities are genuine and relatable. The reader or audience member is drawn into the lives of these characters and develops interest in their lives. P2
> Hansberry uses flat characters as well as some stock characters in the play. One flat character that is also a stock character is the Younger’s neighbor Mrs. Johnson. She is a typical nosy busybody neighbor. Also, the son Travis doesn’t undergo any change and he, himself, is not essential to the theme of the play; however, he does add to the dynamic of the family. By including a child, it contributes to the cramped setting of the house the family lives in and makes Walter and Ruth their own family. P3
>The main characters in this play, Walter, Mama, Ruth, and Beneatha are all round characters. Mama is a God-fearing woman who tries to take care of her family. However, she sometimes meddles too much in their business and can be oppressive. She loves her family, though, and is trying to make the best decisions, especially concerning the insurance money, that will help her family. Beneatha is an aggressive driven woman. She attends college and wants to become a doctor. Times were shifting and it was becoming more common to go to college, but many still did not attend for lack of money and other reasons. She is sarcastic and thinks she is wise beyond her years. Her character represents some stereotypical images about college attending young people. Beneatha illustrates these in the fact that she decides to start making her own decisions and no longer believe what her mother believes, especially denying the existence of God, which her mother will not tolerate in her house. At one point Mama even tells Beneatha “Now- you say after me, in my mother’s house there is still God […] There are some ideas we ain’t going to have in this house. Not long as I am at the head of this family” (1386). Beneatha is also trying to reconnect with her African roots, encouraged by a young man, Joseph Asagai, who is from Nigeria. Ruth is a distressed mother who is tired of Walter always talking about his dreams that are never fulfilled. She hates being in the cramped apartment the family lives in. Hansberry creates a character that is easy to identify. Ruth’s character really exemplifies a poor wife and mother. She takes care of the family, but struggles finding the happiness that was once present with her husband and is worried that having another baby will only bring more financial strain. She even considers aborting the child, but ultimately decides to keep it. Walter is a dynamic character in this play. He is a dreamer who never sees his dreams realized. The family grows impatient with his pursuits and this only frustrates him even more. “That’s it. There you are. Man say to his woman: I got me a dream. His woman say: Eat your eggs. Man say: I got to take hold of this here world, baby! And a woman will say: Eat your eggs and go to work. Man say: I got to change my life, I’m choking to death, baby! And his woman say-Your eggs is getting cold!” (1377). Walter is so insistent on opening a liquor store with his friends, that he invests a great amount of the insurance money -even Beneatha’s school money- into it. At the climax of the plot, his friend had taken off with the money and now he has nothing. Another dream of his is squandered and the family is extremely upset at his doings. However, in the end he redeems himself in his family’s eyes by a mature act. Mama had bought a house in an all white neighborhood, Clybourne Park, but the people of the neighborhood did not want them to move in. A man from the neighborhood told the Younger’s that they were willing to pay the Younger’s back for the house, plus some, to keep them from moving in. Walter is tempted to take their money, but he instead tells the man that they will indeed move in and do not want their money. Mama is proud of him telling Ruth, “He finally came into his manhood today, didn’t he? Kind of like a rainbow after the rain…” (1433). P4
>Dreams for the Younger family have never been attained; still they all have their own dreams of success. Mama is a proud spirited woman that would like to have a nice house for the family, so much so that she is willing to move them into an all white neighborhood. Her pride makes her strong enough to stand up to racial discrimination. Beneatha desires to be a doctor and find a nice man to marry eventually. She also longs to go to Nigeria to discover and connect with her African roots. Ruth is fed up with living in the apartment they occupy and hopes to have her marriage restored and less financial strain. Walter is obsessed with money and is sure that it will make him happy. His dream is to have a lot of money and he sees the liquor store as the opportunity to finally acquire it. P5
>The dreams are bent and broken, but still prevail. Beneatha’s money for school is now gone. However, Asagai has asked her to marry him and he can bring her to Africa where she could be a doctor in Nigeria. The family decides they will still move into the house in Clybourne Park and this gives them hope for a better future, even though they will face discrimination from their neighbors. Walter’s dream, though hardly existent, still lives on. He has matured into a man, and sometimes that mean sacrifice. Although the family will face problems, he has finally stepped into the shoes of the man of the house and regained the respect of his family. P6
>Each character adds specific elements to the play that enhance the theme of the story. Hansberry could not have expressed the anguish of a dried up dream without the despair that Walter felt and caused his family. A dynamic family could not have been exemplified without the personalities and conflicts of Walter and Beneatha, Ruth and Mama. Even the flat characters stir up conflict within the family. The subplot of Beneatha’s relationships shows how much the family values money. They encourage her to stay with a suitor she does not like because he is rich. P7
>“A Raisin In the Sun” focuses on dreams and how much they can mean to a family. Sometimes dreams are all that keep people going. The Younger’s, although they faced much adversity, had pride, dignity, and hope for a brighter future. However, in their despair those dreams were almost lost. Beneatha feels the realization of their hopelessness after the money had been taken, “Well-we are dead now. All the talk about dreams and sunlight that goes on in this house. It’s all dead now” (1429). However, they were still determined to achieve their dreams of success. Although the accomplishment of their dreams may be in a package other than they had thought, the dreams are still realized. P8
>Hansberry has brought these characters to life evoking empathy, sympathy, and even personal recognition. Her characters are relatable because everyone has a dream. It may not be for a house outside of South Chicago or to be a doctor, but the hope of a promising future filled with pride, happiness, and love is somehow all that could be asked for. P9
>Word Count: 1356
Reader's Name: Emily Frost-Morgan
Writers Name: Amber Sughrue
1) Review the assignment requirements. Read the essay. In your opinion, does the writer answer the essay assignment in this piece? Explain. Yes she clearly talks about Characterization and puts her own thought about what she thinks of the characters.
2) Write the thesis statement here: Each character is important to communicate the family’s struggle to attain their dreams and allows the reader to identify with and provokes interest in the play.
3) Does the thesis attempt to prove a specific idea, or is it too general? Yes it proves a specific idea
4) What specific evidence does the writer provide to support the thesis? She has quotes from the characters to add to her view. She has her own thought about the characters and the struggles
5) Does the writer explicitly show how this evidence supports his/her view? Are connections made for the reader? Yes, she adds quotes so that the reader can identify with the characters.
6) Does each paragraph connect with the thesis? Yes, she stays on topic and doesn't stray
7) Is there additional evidence which the writer has missed? No I don't think so.
8) Does the conclusion sum up the writer's point? Yes
9) Give the writer at least one suggestion for improving this paper. Seperate the characters and your thoughts.