A Raisin in the Sun – Act I Study Guide

Act I, Scene One

2. What do some of Hansberry’s word choices in describing the setting tell us about the family,
before we even meet them? Refer to specific lines in the text. (i.e.: “…the furnishings of this
room were actually selected with care and love and even hope – and brought to this
apartment and arranged with taste and pride…”; “Weariness has, in fact, won in this room.”)

3. What is your first impression of Walter Lee? What does Hansberry’s beginning description tell
you about him? (i.e., she describes him as “…a lean, intense young man in his middle thirties,
inclined to quick nervous movements and erratic speech habits – and always in his voice there
is a quality of indictment.”)

4. What are your first impressions of Ruth? (“…it is apparent that life has been little that she
expected, and disappointment has already begun to hang in her face.”)

5. What are your first impressions of what Ruth and Walter’s relationship is like?

6. What message is Walter conveying when he says to Ruth, “You tired, ain’t you? Tired of
everything. Me, the boy, the way we live – this beat-up hole – everything.” Is this statement
about Ruth, or something more?

7. What is Walter’s dream? How does he view the rest of the family in terms of his fulfilling that
dream?

8. Consider Walter’s passionate plea to Ruth: “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!” What’s going on with him in this
moment?

9. Considering the time in which the Youngers live, why do you think Walter says he is “choking
to death?”

10. What does Walter want from Ruth?

11. What are your first impressions of Mama? What is Hansberry conveying about her when she
writes, “…being a woman who has adjusted to many things in life and overcome many more,
her face is full of strength…”? Given what we’ve learned about the 1900s, what types of
things do you imagine Mama has had to adjust to and overcome?
 12. Ruth says to Mama, “…something is happening between Walter and me. I don’t know what it
is – but he needs something – something I can’t give him any more. He needs this chance,
Lena.” What is happening between Walter and Ruth? What is it that he needs that Ruth can’t
give him (beyond money?)

13. What do we find out regarding Mama’s dream? (“…you should know all the dreams I had
‘bout buying that house and fixing it up and making me a little garden in the back – and didn’t
none of it happen.”)

14. How is Mr. Younger described? What do you think Mama means when she calls him a fine
man that “just couldn’t never catch up with his dreams?”

15. What is your first impression of Beneatha? What is her dream? What is her relationship like
with the family?

Act I, Scene Two

2. What is Asagai like? How does he differ from the Youngers? Why do you think Beneatha is
interested in him?

3. Mama expresses concern to Walter regarding his personality: “Something eating you up like a
crazy man. Something more than me not giving you this money. The past few years I been
watching it happen to you. You get all nervous and wild in the eyes…Seem like you getting to
a place where you always tied up in some kind of knot about something.” What is she trying
to get him to see? Why do you think Walter is behaving in this way?

4. Even though they argue, in what ways are Walter Lee and Beneatha similar? In what ways do
they both differ from Mama?

5. What does Mama mean when she says to Walter, “You something new boy. In my time we
was
worried about not being lynched and getting to the North if we could and how to stay alive
and still have a pinch of dignity too…Now here come you and Beneatha – talking ‘bout things
we ain’t never even though about hardly, me and your daddy. You ain’t satisfied or proud of
nothing we done. I mean that you had a home; that we kept you out of trouble till you was
grown; that you don’t have to ride to work on the back of nobody’s streetcar – You my
children – but how different we done become.”

6. What does Mama mean when she says to Walter, “You something new boy. In my time we
was worried about not being lynched and getting to the North if we could and how to stay
alive and still have a pinch of dignity too…Now here come you and Beneatha – talking ‘bout
things we ain’t never even though about hardly, me and your daddy. You ain’t satisfied or
proud of nothing we done. I mean that you had a home; that we kept you out of trouble till
you was grown; that you don’t have to ride to work on the back of nobody’s streetcar – You
my children – but how different we done become.”
7. In what ways are dreams part of the story throughout Act I? (Make sure to discuss each
character’s dream if any haven’t been touched on thus far.)

8. What is conflict in terms of a story or play? (Discuss with students that it’s the
internal/external struggles of the characters.) After reading Act I, what do you identify as the
main conflict of the play so far? How does this relate to each character’s dream?

9. What is conflict in terms of a story or play? (Discuss with students that it’s the
internal/external struggles of the characters.) After reading Act I, what do you identify as the
main conflict of the play so far? How does this relate to each character’s dream?

10. What is a symbol in terms of a story or play? (A symbol is a person, place, or thing that comes
to represent an abstract idea or concept.) How can symbols/symbolism help tell a story or
move the reaction along? What are some possible symbols from Act I that you think are/will
be meaningful to the life of the play? What could these symbols mean? (i.e., the insurance
money, Mama’s plant, Africa, etc.)

11. Overall, how would you characterize the Younger family?

12. Have you ever been faced with a decision, or tried to convince someone to make a decision,
that seemed as if it would affect your whole life? If so, what was this like? If you’ve never
actually been in such a situation, what do you imagine such a situation would be like?

13. If you were Mama, what would you do with the money? Do you think she should give it to
Walter Lee? Why or why not?