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Bettina Chapa

ENGL – 2341, V01

Marisa Taylor

September21, 2016

Dreams and Dreams deferred USE UPPER CASE FOR FIRST WORDS

In A Raisin in the sun, HOW DO WE ADDRESS THE TITLE OF A PLAY? Lorraine Hansberry, greatly focuses on the theme of dreams or personal aspirations in life. Each of her main characters, Mama, Walter, Ruth and Beneatha has a different dream despite being members of the same family. Being a black family, these characters are faced by different challenges which hinder their dream. Hansberry’s play clearly depicts the incidence of the American Dream. It relates to the work of Martin Luther King USE KING’S FULL NAME in the speech, “I have a dream” which gives the aspirations of freedom and equality for the African Americans. T=For a very long time, the American Dream was a deferred dream. This essay focuses on analysing the dreams and deferred dreams in A Raisin in the Sun and then relating them to the American Dream. THIS IS NOT YET A THESIS.  IN GENERAL, WHEN WE WRITE THESIS STATEMENTS, WE AVOID MAKING ANNOUNCEMENTS SUCH AS ‘THIS PAPER WILL” OR “THIS ESSAY EXPLAINS…’  A THESIS IS A DEBATABLE/ARGUABLE STATEMENT THAT IS DEFENDED IN THE PAPER.

Hansberry begins the play with the poem, “What happens to a deferred dream “by Langston Hughes. In this poem, Hughes seeks to establish what becomes of dreams that do not come true. He poses some suggestions of what becomes of those dreams; do the dreams dry, fester, run, stink, crust, sugar, sag, or explode? In this way, he sends one thinking of what exactly happens when a dream held so dear and one really worked towards is not achieved within the expected time frame. Hansberry uses this poem as an epiphany,THIS IS UNCLEAR. I’M NOT SURE THE POEM IS AN EPIPHANY.  YOU MAY WANT TO ELABORATE ON THIS IDEA so that as her audience continue reading the play, they can adequately respond to the question in the poem.

HOW CAN WE ADD A TRANSITION TO CONNECT THE IDEAS. WE WANT THE PARAGRAPHS TO FEEL UNIFIED.Mama, the eldest member of the family has always held a dream of being able to support her family and provide the best life she can for them. When she got married to big Walter, they had planned to only live in their house, which they now call “Rat trap”,  for no more than a year during which time they would save up and get a house with a yard. She always wanted a house with a garden, “Well, I always wanted me a garden like I used to see sometimes at the back of the houses down home.”(Hansberry, 53).THIS IS AN INCORRECT CITATION.  SEE SOME EXAMPLES I HAVE SENT OR GOOGLE PARENTHETICAL DOCUMENTATION TO MAKE CORRECTIONShe was willing and worked hard to ensure that the dreams of her children came true. However, due to financial constraints she could not get thisVAGUE. WHAT IS ‘THIS’ for her children. It was only after the death of Big Walter used the insurance money to get“GET” IS A BASIC WORD. HOW CAN WE USE BETTER VERBS TO ELEVATE THE LANGUAGE OF THE PAPER?a better house and therefore moved from the slums.THIS IS A SLANG WORD. PERHAPS USE A BETTER WORD (FIND A DESCRIPTION FROM PLAY, OR AT VERY LEAST, PLACE QUOTATION MARKS AROUND IT.”

Walter, mama’s son also has a similar dream to is mothers. He wants to provide a better life for his son and his wife Ruth. He feels that money makes the world go round and that if he gets lots of money, he will be able to give a better life to his family.  He even wines about it, ““I have been married eleven years and I got a boy who sleeps in the living room -- and all I got to

give him is stories about how rich white people live…” (Hansberry, 34). Walter is always talking about money which kind of pisses his THIS IS TOO INFORMAL mother off, she says, “Can’t you give people a Christian greeting before you start talking about money?” ( Hansberry, 70). She tries to argue out that money is not everything but Walter argues that Money is life as opposed to freedom (Hansberry, 74). He plans to open a liquor store which will help him raise money for his family. In this way, he will not be a servant to any white man. However, he does not achieve these dreams due to financial constraintsmaking his dream a deferred dream.  THIS PARAGRAPH IS SUMMARY OF THE PLAY.  WHAT DOES WALTER’S CHARACTER REPRESENT? BY GIVING US SOME IDEAS OF WHAT WALTER MAY SHOW, OR HIS SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PLAY, WE WILL HAVE MORE OF AN ANALYSIS, NOT MERELY A SUMMARY.

Walter’s sister, Beneatha has a dream of being a doctor despite her brother’s opposition. However, she is a girl PERHAPS USE YOUNG LADY OR SOME OTHER TERM. ‘GIRL’ IS A CHILD and at this time most girls settled for less profile careers is any. He brother tells her, “Who the hell told you you have to be a doctor? If you so crazy ‘bout messing ‘round with sick people—then go be a nurse like other women—or just get married and be quiet…” (Hansberry, 38). Additionally, her dream is deferred further by the fact that segregation against the blacks in education exists at this time. She also wants to own a decent house where she can raise her family. AGAIN, THIS PARAGRAPH IS MOSTLY SUMMARY (RECAP OF THE PLAY). WHAT DOES BENEATHA REPRESENT OR SYMBOLIZE?  WHY IS HER CHARACTER IMPORTANT TO THE PLAY? HOW DOES SHE IMPACT THE AUDIENCE’S UNDERSTANDING OF THE PLIGHT OF THIS FAMILY AS RESPRESENTATION OF MANY AFRICAN AMERICANS OF THE TIME?

Ruth, Walter’s wife also has a dream. She wants to give her child and family a better life. She keeps complaining to mama about their living conditions, “Well, Lord knows, we’ve put enough rent into this here rat trap to pay for four houses by now…” (Hansberry, 44). During her pregnancy, she is too concerned about where her child will grow up that making mama feel like she wants to get rid of her child. Her dream is fulfilled when the family gets a new house. She is too excited about it that she praises God (Hansberry, 91). AGAIN, THIS IS PURE SUMMARY.  WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?  EXAMINE.

Following the turnout of events in the play, Hansberry reveals the fact that in life, dreams deferred could be achieved at some point. This answers Hughes that, deferred dreams do not always dry out. For example, the dream of having a better home which is held onto by most members of Mama’s family is finally fulfilled. However, some dreams although relevant may not be fulfilled within the time frame, for example, at the end of the play, Beneatha dream is still faced by the same constraints of finances as it was at the beginning.

NEED A TRANSITION. IDEAS DO NOT YET CONNECTHughes was a major leader and poet in Harlem renaissance. When he asks if deferred dreams explodes as the last question in his poem, he reveals that fact that, even when deferred, a dream does not always have to decay and disappear, it can trigger explosions. He was using this poem, to encourage the African Americans not to give up on their dream of freedom and equality, the American Dream.

The American Dream is a term that is used as a national appeal to emotions by citizens of the United States to depict an ideal society characterised by democracy, Rights, liberty, opportunity and equality for all members.  The American Dream does not always mean the same for African Americans as it does for the White Americans. Contrary to the experience of the white Americans, the American history is characterised by discrimination segregation and injustices against the African Americans. According to Martin Luther King’s speech I have a dream, some of the areas where discrimination existed included in education, voting, employment and justice. At this time, as long as one was black, then he was seen as inferior to the whites. These conditions are also evident from the play, “A Raisin in the sun”.For the African Americans, the American Dream will usher in a new error of freedom from all forms of inferiority meaning that for them, the American Dream is an “explosion of a deferred dream”

The American dream reveals that a time will come when all citizens regardless of colour will be treated as equals.In his speech, King says that, “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."”. In this way, equality will be upheld for all and people will “live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.” He says that it is only on achievement of this dream that freedom and prosperity will be achieved in the United States.

Today, most aspects of the American Dream have been witnessed. For example, the master and slave relationship is no longer existence. THIS IS NOT CONSIDERED PART OF THE AMERICAN DREAM.   Similarly, segregation in schools, employment and voting does not exist. All people have equal chances in schools, and jobs surely based on merit not race. All people have a chance to vote and be voted for in thevarious elections since race is no longer a point of reference.THIS IS HIGHLY DEBATABLE. MANY MINORITIES AND GROUPS OF VARIOUS ETHNICITIES AND RACES MAY FEEL DIFFERENTLY.  BE CAREFUL WITH THE USE OF ‘ALL.’  CONSIDER THAT WE MAY NOT LIVE IN AN EQUAL SOCIETY TODAY While Martin Luther king was making his speech, the dream of freedomfor all, was deferred at the time. However, the African Americans and Americans in general did not give up and today, all Americans both white and Black, have felt the explosion of this dream. HOW DOES THIS RELATE BACK TO YOUR INTRODUCTION?  BY THE CONCLUSION, THE ESSAY FEELS LIKE A DIFFERENT ESSAY FROM THE INTRODUCTION.

Works Cited

Hansberry, Lorraine. Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. Samuel French, Inc., 1984.

King, Martin Luther. "" I Have a Dream" Speech." (1963).

Hughes Langston “Dream Deferred.”

THE SOURCES IN THE WORK CITED ARE MISSING INFORMATION.