Stereotypes and Identity in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun

In life, there is a common ground on which most every person can relate. At one time or another, we have all been promoters of or victims of the unremitting nature of stereotypes. According to the Webster’s dictionary, a stereotype is defined as “a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group.” Most stereotypes take on a negative form and are based on characteristics such as age, gender, race, status, and personal beliefs. Generally speaking, the greatest problem that arises with stereotypes is that they judge group of people by the characteristics and actions of their ancestors, rather than on an individual basis. More often than not, these assumptions will

In Langston Hughes poem Harlem, he discuses a “dream deferred” throughout the whole poem. Hughes discuses what happens when people let go or forget about their dreams. In lines two and three, Hughes says “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?”. He is still talking about the dreams here trying to figure out what actually happened to it. A raisin starts off as a grape. Grapes are known as being juicy and colorful. When becoming a raisin, grapes are set out in the sun to dry out. When raisins dry out, they become brown and shriveled losing all their water. Although both are very nutritious for you, raisins contain no water and are not regarded as a fruit. They look dead. Grapes on the other hand are plumb and filled with water. They are colorful and are seen as alive. Langston Hughes uses a grapes, raisins, and sun symbolically. Grapes refers to peoples dreams, raisins stand for peoples “deferred dreams”, and the sun represents society. During childhood our dreams are colorful and full of life like grapes, but eventually society/reality dries them up like the sun dries up a raisin. The end product is our reality, other wise known as a raisin. During the 1920's, many young African-Americans gave up on their childhood dreams because of society old them they could not do it. Langston Hughes seems frustrated with this and does not understand

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry tackles several social issues, including racism, assimilation of the African American race, and sexism. In the play, gender roles were reinforced and challenged by both male and female characters. Beneatha Younger, a smart woman that seeks education and aspires to become a doctor during the 1950’s, is naturally a victim of gender stereotypes. However, although she and her dreams are constantly being belittled by the men in her life, she stands up for herself and fights against the stereotypes.

The American Dream Lorraine Hansberry in the play, A Raisin in the Sun, connects her inspiration of, “Harlem”, a short poem by, Langston Hughes throughout the progression and title of the play. Hansberry pulled the title “A Raisin in the Sun” from the third line of “Harlem”. Her inspiration of using this poem as an outline for her play brings a new light and understanding to, “Harlem” that allows for a deeper connection to the overall truths of humanity and society, as reflected her play, in the 1950s. Neither passages giving a direct or simple answer to “What happens to a dream deferred?” (Hughes, line 1).

Over the past couple weeks, I have gained a lot of knowledge on African American history and a look into their daily lives. The unit that I thought influenced me the most was unit two with "A Raisin In The Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry. The reason I thought unit two influenced me the most was because of the play "A Raisin In The Sun" and the unit readings that explained how bad the tension between the white and blacks were. I thought this was a big eye opener for me, I knew there was tension between the two races, but not as bad as to where blacks could not even live in a white neighborhood without the possibility of their house being bombed. I also learned a lot from the unit about job positions back then and how it was hard for black men to

H. What happens to a dream deferred? The revered Langston Hughes pondered this question in a time when forces of inequality pulled the dreams of some down - namely those of blacks and women. B. Lorraine Hansberry was a paradigm for the person whose dreams were left largely ignored by society. Racism and sexism are two problems that plagued Hansberry for most of her life, but also two hurdles that she overcame. T. In her play A Raisin In The Sun, t Lorraine Hansberry expresses her voice through her characters, by having them serve as beacons against sexism and racism, leaving a positive legacy on society; although some may say

“Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one had learned in school” said by Albert Einstein. Knowledge about life means so much more than anything that could be taught in school. In the 1950’s racism was still thriving. A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry portrays the life of a black family and their daily struggles. Lena Younger, a respected mother, wants nothing more than to teach her family to succeed and push through hard decisions. In all, Mama will go to great lengths to make sure her family learns the necessary lessons in life.

However, that is not to say that there is no considerable insinuations from his failed gamble on his dream—Beneatha's tuition money is also lost, and the entire family will have to work harder to be able to pay off the monthly mortgage payments (Welsch and Adams “A Raisin in the Sun (Theater, 1959”). Also, the lingering strain of a new addition to the family will mean an even tighter financial situation for the Youngers (Domina “An overview of A Raisin in the Sun”). While the family gains personal and familial triumphs in the course of the play, the conclusion is left a bit doubtful. Walter's seeming-selfishness is a representation of the African-American male's then-narrow corridor of socially acceptable doors, each career “inferior in some way” to a different-skinned counterpart's probable salary (Washington “A Raisin in the

The play depicts the feelings and thoughts of the people of their time. Their feelings are different then what we see today in our lives. The family had to deal with poverty and racism. Not having enough money and always being put down because of the color of their skin held them back from having a lot of self-respect and dignity. I think that Mama was the one who had the most pride and held the family together.

With or without realizing it, every human being’s behavior is influenced one way or another by the environment that he or she is in. Everyone has their own backpack that is filled with different aspects that essentially make them who they are. These backpacks can also be referred to as one’s “cultural backpack.” It ultimately dictates the make up of every individual on the face of this planet. The concept of this “cultural backpack” makes up an individual’s social identity. This social identity can affect an individual both negatively and positively. Majority of the time one’s social identity is negatively affected and reinforced by stereotypes. A stereotype is a type of identity contingency and/or an assumption that is made about others due to an aspect of their identity. That’s when stereotype threat comes into the picture. Stereotype threat is the idea of a situational predicament being a contingency of a group’s identity and a real threat of judgement or treatment in the person’s environment that goes beyond any limitations within. (Steele, 59) It is a psychological phenomenon that gives rise to one’s fear that ultimately

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to build on previous knowledge of stereotypical perceptions and ideas. Stereotype threat is an important concept which is defined as the apprehension experienced by members of a minority group that they might confirm an existing (negative) cultural stereotype (Aronson, 2012). Developments of stereotypes can be seen as a categorization issue, in which individuals figure out how to relate certain classification features (yet not others) with behaviors of certain people (Pelley et al. 2010). Some black people may fear of being perceived stereotypically incompetent or aggressive while a white person may fear being perceived as using stereotypes or feel anxious. So, Blacks and whites try to monitor their thoughts

In general terms, stereotype threat is being at risk of confirming, as self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about one’s group (Steele, 1997). “The existence of such a stereotype means that anything that one does or any of one’s features that conform to it make the stereotype more reasonable as a self- characterization in the eyes of others, and perhaps even in one’s own eyes” (Steele, 1992). People are stereotyped according to their group. A group can be identified by race, gender, ethnicity, age, religion among others. Stereotypes

The stereotype has been defined as a fixed cognition about a group or class of people (Cardwell, 1996). Though stereotype has advantages, for instance, the stereotype may help people having quicker responds in some occasions, it is noticeable that most stereotypes may include negative impressions (McLeod, 2008), and it would cause a stereotype threat that appears to be at the risk of making a negative stereotype about a group (Steele & Aronson, 1995). Social psychologist Joshua Aronson and his colleague Steele (1995) have conducted a study among African American and white college students, and they found that students’ performance is harmed by awareness of racial stereotypes, which suggested that negative stereotype can have a bad influence on a person’s performance. Implicit stereotype toward social objects may also affect people’s social behaviors (Greenwald & Banaji,

In today’s society, and many generations before us, stereotypes have overrun how we think as a collective group. From the way we act around others to the way we perceive the actions and conversations around us, they are all influenced by stereotypes. Whether these stereotypes are taught to us from our parents, our peers, or through media influences, they are strongly embedded in our conscious mind and thoughts.

Claude Steele, a social psychologist who examines the topic of stereotypes observes in his article, “An Introduction: At the Root of Identity from Whistling Vivaldi and Other Clues to How Stereotypes Affect Us,” that stereotypes are a product of our subconsciousness where “we know what people would think” and that “ we could be judged and treated accordingly” based on the associations we have with a particular identity group (Steele, 1983, 540). Steele contemplates stereotypes as something that can hold a large amount of power over many people and groups because of their identity. This contemplation may be because people are constantly worried about what they may be categorized as and how they will be seen by others, which then prompts them to react in a certain way. At