ARITS study questions (incomplete)
Evan Mowry
FYS-the Family Drama
Ray Schultz
1: People cannot help but be discouraged if, after some time, things they wish to come to pass do not. In Hughes's use of imagery, he aptly describes the feelings that can influence a dream, whether it be realistic or fantastic, when it is percieved to be removed from possibility. In Hansberry's a Raisin in the Sun, the family the play centers around has to deal with many dreams deferred.
I believe that the poem further illuminates the theme of the play by similically describing what is happening, on an emotional level, to the characters in the play. Realistic theatrical drama tends to miss out on the straightforward use of metaphors, as they're hard to work into realistic dialogue without soundind out of place. Pairing different types of media together gives you a much more dimensioned experience and understanding of the story. I also believe that the poem allowed more people than just those that have felt like a raisin in the sun to connect with the theme of the play. The crushing weight of poverty has one effect on this family, but it widens the audience to introduce ARITS with this poem.
2: (This scene takes place seven years from ARITS. The Youngers have stayed in the house they bought, and are happy, but still quite poor. TRAVIS, just about to begin his senior year, is beginning to think of college, and has shown an interest in math throughout his years of growing up. He's walking with a girl, TANYA, on a summer evening; they are good friends and have a closer relationship than most, but their families would make it hard, as TANYA is white, and neither one is willing to take the initiative.)
TANYA: But there's always the community college.
TRAVIS: Yeah, but...You know. I should help out around the house. My grandma just stopped working and it's hard to pay for things as it is, much less college.
TANYA: (exasperated; they've been through this before, it seems) So? Get a loan, financial aid, a JOB. You're never going to get out unless you try.
TRAVIS: I know, I know...I just feel so...trapped?
TANYA: I don't know, do you?
TRAVIS: (rolling his eyes) It wasn't a question.
TANYA: Why? You have everywhere to go, Travis. You're smart, you're driven, and you're compassionate. Why should you have to cage yourself in some minimum wage job so you can stay precisely where you are?
TRAVIS: (stops walking and starts yelling) Well, for one thing this is where my family is! Don't you think I owe them something for all this?
TANYA: All...this?
TRAVIS: That house, my school, this...this walk. Everything. We moved here, and all of a sudden, I have a future.
TANYA: So don't waste it.
TRAVIS: But...
TANYA: You don't owe them anything that you don't already give. The whole reason they moved here is for you.
TRAVIS: What do you know about reasons? What reasons have you had in your life? You go to school because your parents want you to, you're going to college because your parents want you to, you...why? What don't you do that your parents tell you to do? What do you do that isn't done by every little white chick in every suburb in America that's never had to worry about anything? What reasons have you got to do anything!
(Both are quiet for a second. TRAVIS holds his arm up pointing down the street in the direction of TANYA's house and then, with a shiver drops it. TANYA looks up at him, finally, and cuts him off from his apology.)
TANYA: My parents don't want me talking with you. You, apparently, don't want me to talk to you. (special emphasis on "whys") WHY did I come with you, tonight? WHY do I talk about these things with you? WHY do I put up with this...this SHIT?
(another long, long pause. TRAVIS looks wretched.)
TANYA: There's a reason, Travis. One reason, and if you ask "why" right now I'll slap you in the face and say because I'm stupid.
3: The first, most obvious symbol in ARITS is the life insurance check. The maelstrom of emotions that that $10,000.00 piece of paper ignites is impressive. Not only does everyone view it as their way out of their current hole or into paradise, but their views of doing so differ so much that the conflict it provides is the catalyst for everything that happens in the play.
The second, less obvious, major symbol in ARITS is the apartment that the family lives in. It is the antithesis, in the play, to the life insurance check, in that it represents all the things that are wrong in their lives, instead of the solution to them. Much of the stage direction in the beginning of the play describes the set as being dusty and overused and ragged. When they are about to move Ruth buys new curtains for the new house, not even knowing if they fit: the family is so desperate to remove themselves from that environment that they blindly start spending on potentially useless things to cover it up!
4: Racism would be much less of an issue in present day Chicago. In fact, the family would probably be moving from a residential area to a true suburb of Chicago. In the 70s many blacks began to move out of the inner city and into the suburbs, prompting a mirror migration of many whites out of the cities.
Even with low wages and high taxes, the standard of living for people is much higher, but the culture, also, has changed. The essentials of life are now cheaper and of higher quality than they were in the fifties, and housing is, in general, larger. I think the family would not be moving as much as they were for the added space they would gain as they would be for the fulfillment of Mama's children's dreams.
I think it would probably be similar, though, in that moving from one class neighborhood to another would probably be quite challenging, not in the challenges others bring to the Youngers, but in the sense that the Youngers would have to adjust to an entirely different world. There is so much more open space, in a house with a yard as opposed to an apartment, that I wouldn't be surprised if they just didn't know, really, what to do with it.
FYS-the Family Drama
Ray Schultz
1: People cannot help but be discouraged if, after some time, things they wish to come to pass do not. In Hughes's use of imagery, he aptly describes the feelings that can influence a dream, whether it be realistic or fantastic, when it is percieved to be removed from possibility. In Hansberry's a Raisin in the Sun, the family the play centers around has to deal with many dreams deferred.
I believe that the poem further illuminates the theme of the play by similically describing what is happening, on an emotional level, to the characters in the play. Realistic theatrical drama tends to miss out on the straightforward use of metaphors, as they're hard to work into realistic dialogue without soundind out of place. Pairing different types of media together gives you a much more dimensioned experience and understanding of the story. I also believe that the poem allowed more people than just those that have felt like a raisin in the sun to connect with the theme of the play. The crushing weight of poverty has one effect on this family, but it widens the audience to introduce ARITS with this poem.
2: (This scene takes place seven years from ARITS. The Youngers have stayed in the house they bought, and are happy, but still quite poor. TRAVIS, just about to begin his senior year, is beginning to think of college, and has shown an interest in math throughout his years of growing up. He's walking with a girl, TANYA, on a summer evening; they are good friends and have a closer relationship than most, but their families would make it hard, as TANYA is white, and neither one is willing to take the initiative.)
TANYA: But there's always the community college.
TRAVIS: Yeah, but...You know. I should help out around the house. My grandma just stopped working and it's hard to pay for things as it is, much less college.
TANYA: (exasperated; they've been through this before, it seems) So? Get a loan, financial aid, a JOB. You're never going to get out unless you try.
TRAVIS: I know, I know...I just feel so...trapped?
TANYA: I don't know, do you?
TRAVIS: (rolling his eyes) It wasn't a question.
TANYA: Why? You have everywhere to go, Travis. You're smart, you're driven, and you're compassionate. Why should you have to cage yourself in some minimum wage job so you can stay precisely where you are?
TRAVIS: (stops walking and starts yelling) Well, for one thing this is where my family is! Don't you think I owe them something for all this?
TANYA: All...this?
TRAVIS: That house, my school, this...this walk. Everything. We moved here, and all of a sudden, I have a future.
TANYA: So don't waste it.
TRAVIS: But...
TANYA: You don't owe them anything that you don't already give. The whole reason they moved here is for you.
TRAVIS: What do you know about reasons? What reasons have you had in your life? You go to school because your parents want you to, you're going to college because your parents want you to, you...why? What don't you do that your parents tell you to do? What do you do that isn't done by every little white chick in every suburb in America that's never had to worry about anything? What reasons have you got to do anything!
(Both are quiet for a second. TRAVIS holds his arm up pointing down the street in the direction of TANYA's house and then, with a shiver drops it. TANYA looks up at him, finally, and cuts him off from his apology.)
TANYA: My parents don't want me talking with you. You, apparently, don't want me to talk to you. (special emphasis on "whys") WHY did I come with you, tonight? WHY do I talk about these things with you? WHY do I put up with this...this SHIT?
(another long, long pause. TRAVIS looks wretched.)
TANYA: There's a reason, Travis. One reason, and if you ask "why" right now I'll slap you in the face and say because I'm stupid.
3: The first, most obvious symbol in ARITS is the life insurance check. The maelstrom of emotions that that $10,000.00 piece of paper ignites is impressive. Not only does everyone view it as their way out of their current hole or into paradise, but their views of doing so differ so much that the conflict it provides is the catalyst for everything that happens in the play.
The second, less obvious, major symbol in ARITS is the apartment that the family lives in. It is the antithesis, in the play, to the life insurance check, in that it represents all the things that are wrong in their lives, instead of the solution to them. Much of the stage direction in the beginning of the play describes the set as being dusty and overused and ragged. When they are about to move Ruth buys new curtains for the new house, not even knowing if they fit: the family is so desperate to remove themselves from that environment that they blindly start spending on potentially useless things to cover it up!
4: Racism would be much less of an issue in present day Chicago. In fact, the family would probably be moving from a residential area to a true suburb of Chicago. In the 70s many blacks began to move out of the inner city and into the suburbs, prompting a mirror migration of many whites out of the cities.
Even with low wages and high taxes, the standard of living for people is much higher, but the culture, also, has changed. The essentials of life are now cheaper and of higher quality than they were in the fifties, and housing is, in general, larger. I think the family would not be moving as much as they were for the added space they would gain as they would be for the fulfillment of Mama's children's dreams.
I think it would probably be similar, though, in that moving from one class neighborhood to another would probably be quite challenging, not in the challenges others bring to the Youngers, but in the sense that the Youngers would have to adjust to an entirely different world. There is so much more open space, in a house with a yard as opposed to an apartment, that I wouldn't be surprised if they just didn't know, really, what to do with it.
posted by evan at 3:09 PM
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