Comparative Essay:
Raisin in the Sun & Clybourne Park
In this essay you will be required to compare and contrast the plays, including thoughts and information from the background material we have read regarding the playwrights, the plays, racial segregation, and racism in historic and contemporary times. (Scroll down for complete instructions!)
You may use any criteria for comparison that you see fit as long as your discussion includes the following:
1. Quotes and paraphrases from both plays
2. Quotes and paraphrases from at least two of the Background Material articles or essays
Evaluation Criteria for the Comparative Esssay
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Refer to the following Background Material:
Lorraine Hansberry: The Playwright, the play, and the poetry in text citations: (“The Playwright”) (“The Money”) (“The Play”) (“The Poetry”) If you quote from one of Hughes’s poems (Hughes, “Harlem”) or (Hughes, “Mother to Son”)
Background on Hansberry v Lee 1 (Shay, “Remembering Hansberry v. Lee”)
U of C Law Library info on Hansberry v Lee (Louis-Jacques, “Chicago Law Story”)
Restrictive Covenants and/or click on “Redlining & Restrictive Covenants” above (“Restricted Covenants”)
Redlining and/or click on “Redlining & Restrictive Covenants” above (“Redlining”)
The following articles in “Studio 180 materials on A Raisin in the Sun and Clybourne Park”
1. Background on Bruce Norris (“Bruce Norris: Playwright,” Studio 180, 5)
2. Background on Raisin in the Sun (“Background Information,” Studio 180, 6) or p.7 or 8
3. Mark McGrinder interview w Bruce Norris (2) If you are quoting Norris: (Norris qtd. in McGrinder 9) or p. 10
4. Rebecca Rugg interview w Bruce Norris (3) If you are quoting Norris: (Norris qtd. in Rugg 11) or p. 12
5. Timeline of American Civil Rights or see “Immigration History & Racial Justice Timelines” section above. (“Timeline,” Studio 180, 13) or p. 14 or 15
6. Neighborhood Gentrification discussion (4) (“Neighborhood Gentrification,” Studio 180, 25) or p. 26
7. “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh (McIntosh 34) or p. 35 or 36
8. “Go West, Young Hipster” by Heather McLean (McLean 37) or p. 38
9. excerpts from Uprooting Racism by Paul Kivel:
a. “I’m Not Racist” (Kivel,”I’m Not Racist,” 29) or p.30
b. “White Benefits, Middle Class Privilege” (Kivel, “White Benefits,” 30) or p. 31
c. “The Cost of Racism to People of Colour” (Kivel, “The Cost,” 32) or p. 33
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The Plays:
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
(Hansberry 48) or whatever page
OR
(Hansberry I. 1) The first (roman) numeral is the Act #, the 2nd number is the scene #
If you are quoting from the Introduction to Raisin: (Nemeroff, “Introduction,” 6) or whatever page number(s)
Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris
(Norris 34) or whatever page # OR (Norris I ) or (Norris II) for the Acts (there are no scene #s)
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Choose One (1 or 2A or 2B or 2C or 3):
1. Focus your comparison on two characters, one from each play.
Create your own criteria for comparing the 2 characters. Make sure to also include facts or ideas expressed in at least 2 of the Background Materials.
Be sure to include:
Quotes and paraphrases from both plays
Quotes and paraphrases from at least two of the Background Material articles or essays
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2. Discuss the plays in relation to ONE of the following quotes:
(Be sure to include quotes &/or paraphrases from both plays and at least 2 background readings.)
A.
“Art is the Lie that tells the Truth”—Pablo Picasso
OR
“[J]ournalism deals with ‘facts’ while fiction deals with ‘truths.'” —Clarence Page from 3/10/93 article,”Alex Haley’s Facts Can be Doubted, but Not His Truths.”
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OR
B.
“There is a shocking degree of openness in [the 1950’s] to make crass assertions about race. To say, ‘Oh, white people are this way but black people are that way.’ Today, we have this received etiquette when we’re speaking about race, but it is every bit as rigid and ordained as the old vocabulary–we just have a new set of words to talk about similar things.” —Bruce Norris in a Guardian interview
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OR
C. Choose a particularly evocative quote from one of the plays or background materials
AND
Discuss how the quote resonates in each play and the discussions in at least two o
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