Act I Discussion
A Raisin in the Sun
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING
QUESTIONS ON A WORD DOCUMENT AND SAVE IT ON YOUR
Act I, sc i
1. Name the time & place setting of the play.
2. Who are the first family members you meet?
3. Two references are made to a check. How does Ruth react to each of these references?
4. What is the plan Walter, Willy Harris, and Bobo been figuring out?
5. Why is Walter upset with his wife’s reaction?
6. What does Walter want from Ruth?
7. Walter say, “We one group of men tied to a race of women with small minds”. What does he mean?
8. Describe the tone Beneatha uses with her brother?
9. Why is Walter upset with Beneatha’s plan to go to medical school?
10. What does Beneatha mean when she say, “forgive me for ever wanting to be anything at all”?
11. What does Walter tell Beneatha she should do with her life? In reality, he has a deeper,
underlying conflict. What is Walter’s hidden fear?
12. What does the reader discover about the check that Mama is waiting to receive?
13. How does Beneatha feel about the liquor store?
14. Ruth suggests that Mama might help Walter by giving him some of the money for his dream
of buying the liquor store. How does Mama respond?
15. How much money is the check for, and how does Mama intend to use it? How does Ruth say
Mama should spend the money? What does this say about the differences in their characters?
16. Mama says that her late husband once grieved deeply. What event led to Big Walter’s grief?
17. Beneatha thinks deeply and is frustrated with her life. What does she say she wants to do that
makes her mother and Ruth laugh loudly?
18. How does the reader know that Beneatha does not want to marry George Murchison?
Act I, sc ii
1. What happens at the very end of Act I, sc i? What is the setting of the start of Act I, sc ii?
2. During the cleaning scene, several details further explain the Youngers’ living conditions. Name one that offers a complete picture of the environment in which the Youngers live and explain why it does so.
3. Why is Ruth upset when she returns home? Why do you suppose she is so unhappy?
4. When Travis enters the room, he too is upset. What is his news, and how does Beneatha react to it?
5. What is implied about the relationship between Bebeatha and Joseph Asagai?
6. What does Asagai give to Beneatha as a gift? Why is Beneatha pleased with it? How does Asagai react?
7. What stereotypes about women does Asagai reveal?
8. What is Asagai’s Nigerian name for Beneatha? What does the name mean in English?
9. Why does Beneatha thank Asagain for the nickname?
10. When the postman brings the $10,000 check, Mama is overjoyed and then worried. Explain her conflicting feelings.
11. How does Walter react when Mama refuses to invest in the liquor store?
12. What concern does Mama have about Walter’s frequent trips away from home?
13. How does Walter explain his discontent about his job and his future?
14. Why is Mama “proud of…what we done”? Who is ‘we’ in her statement?
15. Why does Walter crumble his papers, make an angry speech, and head out of the apartment?
16. What news does Mama tell Walter about Ruth? What is Walter’s initial reaction?
17. To what does Mama refer when she says, “You are a disgrace to the memory of your father.”?
18. By the end of Act I, what have we learned about Ruth>
19. Which of Mama’s values are revealed in Act I?
20. What negative situations in the Youngers’ lives are making their conflicts worse? What positive aspects may help them resolve their problems?