Analyzing A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun is one of my favorite pieces of American Literature to teach. When I introduce the unit to the class, I share James Baldwin's quote: "Never before had so much truth of black people's lives been seen on the stage". With the sensitive and complex topics embedded into Lorraine Hansberry's work, I come back to this crucial acknowledgement often.

If you are new to teaching this wonderful play, or perhaps just need some new activities to promote discussion or analysis, I'd like to share this A Raisin in the Sun Activities Packet.

This packet serves as a comprehensive literacy tool designed to deepen student engagement with Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun by moving beyond basic plot recall toward critical thematic analysis. By requiring textual evidence for true/false comprehension checks, the activities ensure students can ground their interpretations in the specific dialogue and stage directions of the play. The packet guides learners through the complexities of character motivation and generational conflict, particularly through close-reading exercises that contrast Mama’s traditional values with Walter’s desperate pursuit of the American Dream. Furthermore, creative prompts like the "dream window" and thematic mapping encourage students to visualize abstract concepts such as poverty, dreams, and family, ultimately helping them synthesize how individual character arcs contribute to the play’s universal message regarding the resilience of the human spirit.

Act 1 - Scene 1 Students work in groups to identify true/false statements. They must then dig through the scene to support their response with textual evidence. This has been a great activity for making sure all students have a solid, basic understanding of the play, and the main characters.

Act 1 - Scene 2 Students complete a close read activity on the ending of the scene. They need to annotate where each of the following thematic topics are seen: poverty, dreams, and family. They then need to expand on what commentary Hansberry is making on the topics.

Act 2 - Scene 1 This activity focus on topic development and evolution. Students begin by identifying a topic in the play (either one I have provided or one they come up with on their own). From there, beneath that first topic, they identify another topic that connects to that word. This pattern continues, focusing only on connecting to the topic directly above, until students end with a topic that most likely has no, or a very minimal, connection to the first. They will then pick two of the topics in the list and find 2 pieces of text that connect.

Act 2 - Scene 2 & 3 For this scene, students pick one of the characters from the play. They then need to design a window view based on what that character's dream would be. They must also include text to support this dream and text to show a barrier to their dream.

Act 3 Often, I use hexagonal thinking to accomplish this activity, however for a lower maintenance approach that accomplishes the same critical thinking, the handout in this packet will suffice. Here, students will connect thematic words and subjects with as many characters as they can. They will then pick 2 characters and a word/subject from above that connects with them the strongest. Textual evidence must be provided by the student to support their reasoning.

All in all, these activities may not be groundbreaking, but they do a great job at supporting students understanding and opening up their minds for a more analytical approach to the text. If you have any activities you use for this text or suggestions on alterations to mine, I'd love to hear more in the comments!