Research Paper on:
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
with a critique from a Marxist perspective. The plot and subplots are discussed as well as themes and characterization. Bibliography lists 4 sources. SA149Sun.rtf Lorraine Hansberrys A  Raisin in the Sun is a classic, much acclaimed drama. Raisin was the first play to be written by a black woman that made it to Broadway (Hambleton, 2001). It  opened in 1959 (2001). The title comes form the poem "Harlem" written by the African American poet Langston Hughes (2001). In the poem, the raisin is used to represent the  dream. Certainly, there are a great deal of dreams in A Raisin in the Sun. A Raisin in the Sun is about a lot of things. It is about  dreams and the American dream, but it is also about race and changing roles of females in society. When all is said and done, the play is really not about  any of those things because there is a blatant social divide that permeates the work. The author had been set on portraying a typical black family, and not a stereotypical  one. What Hansberry wanted to do is to show reality. The play is not about race or gender. It is about social class. It may not even be that the  author attempts to make it about that, but it is there in the lifeblood of the play and something that cannot be ignored. Interestingly, the theme is not related to  the writers own background. She actually grew up in a financially well off black family (McHenry, 1995). Still, Hansberry seems to recognize that black America is a completely different entity  from the mainstream. Although that is true, it should also be noted that while there is a class divide, the author also demonstrates that underneath, all people are alike.