DRAMA, DRAMA, DRAMA!

Literary dramas are not always full of drama. In literature, “drama” is a term for plays, skits, and musicals.

• Drama- A play, skit, or musical that is written to be acted for an audience

.

Terms to know• Comedy: a play, movie, etc., of light and humorous character with a

happy or cheerful ending; a dramatic work in which the central motif is the triumph over adverse circumstance, resulting in a successful or happy conclusion.

• Tragedy: a play dealing with a serious or somber theme, typically that of a great person destined to downfall or destruction.

• Dialect: a way of speaking a language that varies by region, city or socioeconomic groupings

• Dialogue: a conversation between two or more characters in a work of drama

• Monologue: soliloquy; a conversation that one characters has with himself/herself

• Act: a division or unit of a drama.• Scene: A scene is a part of an act defined with the changing of characters

and/or setting

Original Cover of the Play

What stands out on the cover?

(Remember this because it will become part of an important discussion later.)

Lorraine Hansberry

• Born in Chicago in 1930• Loved writing since she was

a little girl• Attended the University of

Wisconsin• Moved to New York City• Hung out with Langston Hughes

and other Harlem Renaissance figures…

Her life continued…• Married R. Nemiroff in 1953• Raised money to produce “Raisin” in 1958• A Raisin in the Sun premieres

on Broadway in 1959• 1st African-American woman with a play on Broadway• Died in 1965 of cancer (She

was only 34 years old.)

A Raisin in the Sun• The Youngers live on the South Side

of Chicago in the 1950’s. (This is when the Civil Rights movement began in America.)

• ARitS is thought of as being somewhat autobiographical because Hansberry was from Chicago and grew up witnessing experiences similar to those that the Youngers experienced.

Chicago in the1950’s

What’s different in this picture? Why do you this this was?

Movie Versions

• 1961-Starred Sidney Poitier & Ruby Dee

• 2008-Starred P Diddy, Audra McDonald, &Phylicia Rashad