STUDY QUESTIONS

1. Explain why Walter is the protagonist of the play instead of Mama.

2. How does the conflict end and why?

3. Explain two of the Themes of the play and how they are developed.

4. Why does the author go to such lengths to describe the furnishings of the Younger apartment? What do these furnishings and the state they are in say about the family?

5. What does the absence of light in the Youngers' apartment symbolize? Why does Ruth so desperately hope for sunlight in the new house? How does this idea relate to the title of the play?

6. What does each member of the Younger family dream about doing with the insurance money?

7. Describe the relationship that exists between Ruth and Walter at the beginning of the play. How does it change during the play?

8. Compare and contrast Asagai and Murchison. Which boyfriend does Beneatha choose and why?

9. What are the things that Asagai teaches Beneatha?

10. What is learned about Big Walter from the way his family talks about him and from the character of the family itself?

11. Why does Ruth consider having an abortion? Even though it is not referenced towards the end of the play, do you feel she changed her mind and why?

12. What does Hansberry mean by the term "assimilationist Negro?" Who is called this in the play and why?

13. Why is Mama's little plant so important to her? What does it symbolize in the play? When is it seen for the last time in the drama?

14. How is racial discrimination brought out in the play?

15. Discuss the character of Mama as an archetypal mother figure.

16. Discuss the autobiographical elements in the play.

17. Show how the play deals with the generation gap - the problems that the older generations have in dealing with the younger generation and vice versa.

18. At the end of the play the Youngers decide to move into their new house. Write an essay on what you think their life would be like in the new neighborhood.

19. The continuing popularity of A Raisin in the Sun indicates that it is timeless and universal. Why do you think it is so?

20. Explain how things have changed for blacks since the time of the play, 1959?

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