Cairo Thompson
Cairo Thompson June 11, 2009
E.L.A. 8th HB: King
A Raisin in the Sun, Final Assignment
“A Raisin in the Sun” is a book about a young African American family trying to reach a better place. They begin the book living in a small apartment and sharing a bathroom with neighbors, but with high hopes and dreams of becoming something and going somewhere. As the book goes on some of their dreams and hopes become reality, but some of them are lost in time. Walter Lee Younger is the father of this proud family and throughout the book his idea of hat a real “man” is changes from someone with a lot of money to a man that is the head of the family and takes good tough control.
In the beginning of the book Walter starts off completely believing that money is everything, including the coulifications of being a man. He believes that to be a real man you must have money, and lots of it. This becomes clear when he is continuously talking about the check and always wondering when it will be coming. When Mama realizes his obsession with money she approaches him, and asks, “Son- how come you talk so much ‘bout money?” Walter replies, “Because it is life, Mama!” As soon as he has made this statement I realize his obsession with money, and how much he related it back to being a man. At this time in the book he believes that being man revolves all around money, pride, family, and power as noting to do with it, he believes money can bring all of this.
In the middle of this book Walter begins to see the cuoulifications of being a man in a different way. He know begins to think it doesn’t have to entirely revolve around money, and can revolve around other things too. He shows his new sense of looking at things and pride in the scene where Linder, a man from the white community he is planning on moving into, comes and is trying to pay him to move away from their neighbor hood. After Linder had finished explaining to him the details he says, “Never mind how I feel – you got any more to say ‘bout how people ought to sit down and talk to each other? … Get out of my house man.” Here he is showing a new sense of strength and pride in his family. I believe that he gains this new sense of pride when Mama finally puts all her trust, and money into Walter big ideas. When Mama says, “ I’m telling you to be the head of this family form now on like you supposed to be”. I believe this statement really gets to Walter because before he had made a comment saying, “You the head of this family. You run our lives like you want to.” So now that Mama has put the job of being the head of the family he feels stronger and stronger about himself and his ability of being a man. When Mama first went out and bought the house he had felt, that as the man of the house, he should of had the power to either do this himself or stop his Mama from doing it. . But now that Mama is giving him the power he had wanted, he is in a great mood. And because of this great mood and new sense of power, he feels more manly and kicks Linder right out of the house. As you can see, during the middle of “A Raisin in the Sun” Walter’s way of looking at what a man is changes for the better.
Walter’s perspective of what a man is changes more then once towards the end of the book. After he loses all his money to Willy, who has run off with it all, he is very depressed, and somewhat sorry for what he has done. He decides to call back Linder and tell him to come on over and talk with him. I think that the reason why he decides to call him back is because he feels bad for Beneatha because he has just gone and ruined his dream and hers. I beleive he is planning on getting back the money his Mama had given to buy the house, and some extra money so that he can use that money to pay off Beneatha;s schooling. But when Ruth and Mama ask him about what he is doing and why
2nd Paragraph: In the middle of this book Walter begins to feel stronger and stronger about his manliness. You can tell when he throws Linder, a man trying to pay him to lose his pride, out of his house. He is in good mood because Mama just gave him all his trust and put him in charge of all the money. So he can now start his liquor store. Towards the end of this book Walter is in a bad mood because Willy, the man he had just trusted all his money in, ran away with all of the money. And he is talking about how he now thinks the world is, that id based all around who starts with money and who will always be poor. He is telling his Ruth, Beneatha, and Mama about how he is going to call Linder and have him come over, and call him master and captain and get down on his knees. He was going to lose all the pride his 6 generation had in America.
3rd Paragraph; At the very end of the story he is in a better mood because he is finally deciding that being a man is not entirely about having money. I believe he decides this when Mama gives him a talk about his families pride and Travis’s future, and way of looking at life.
Conclusion: Overall Walters’s moods bout what a man is changes a lot over the time of the story. Explain change in quick over view. Restate thesis.
Source: History: Women who changed the world by: Ruth Ashby
Question: What is your characters legacy?
Notes: Queen Elizabeth the First, or “Good Queen Bess” was well known for becoming one of the strongest women of all time and the extremely popular queen of England and Ireland. She kept her country alive through the good and the bad with her intelligence and charm that kept the court and commoner alike behind her decisions. Throughout her reign she never was married and stayed the Virgin Queen because she had thought, that as queen she should be married to her kingdom, and not a man that would take her power away from her. During her reign she tried her hardest not get involved with war, but in 1588 she was finally forced into war with Spain’s King Phillip when he sent the Invincible Armada to attack England. In the end England came up triumphant and gave Queen Elizabeth even more popularity with her people. Her life was not always full of triumphs and victories, in the 1590’s the country went through a period of bad harvest and depression. Also she had to deal with Mary Queens of Scotts and the earl of Essex, and in the end she had killed them both because they had plotted against her life. But overall Queen Elizabeth was an amazing Queen that was looked up to by all for intelligence, strength, and love for her country.
Source: http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/elizabio.htm and The Long Road to the Throne by: Judith A. Tabler
Question: What is notable of the beginning of your figures life?
Notes: When Elizabeth Tudor was born on September 7, 1533, her parents were greatly disappointed by her gender. They had been hoping for a healthy young man that would grow to rule their country when they had passed away. But instead they got a girl, the exact opposite of what they had wanted. King Henry VIII knew that he had no choice but to pick either his new baby girl, Elizabeth, or her seventeen year old sister, Mary, as England’s next Queen. He ended up choosing Elizabeth and Mary was given the title, Princess of Wales, and then told Mary to be Elizabeth’s lady-in-waiting. In 1536 her half-brother, Edward, was born, and then in 1546 Edward became King Edward VI. She now, even though her brother considered her “his sweetest sister”, she had to “drop down on one knee five times before her brother ere she took her place.” Elizabeth now went to live with her step-mother, Catherine Parr and her husband, Thomas Seymour. After her step-mother died Thomas Seymour proposed to her, but she declined because if she was to marry without the king’s consent then it would be considered treason. Then in 15553 King Edward died and Mary, her sister, was named Queen England I. As soon as Mary became queen she had Elizabeth brought to the tower, (a place where spies and political prisoners were kept and then executed). While Elizabeth was bringing brought to the tower the people were cheering for her and Mary, who had been called “Bloody Mary” by her people, was very jealous. So she told her cleverest advisors to test Elizabeth’s loyalty to her. The advisors were smart, but Elizabeth was smarter, and Mary could not find any reason to execute her sister. Then on November 17, 1558 Mary died, and 2 months later. On January 15, 1559, Elizabeth was declared Queen of England.
Source: Outrageous Women of the Renaissance by: Vicki Leon
Question: Who supported your figure? Who challenged your figure?
Notes: Queen Elizabeth I was a very popular queen that was greatly appreciated by her people. Most people of England liked Elizabeth as Queen, and even when she was not the Queen, they had wanted her Queen. A few people did not like Elizabeth. For example, her half sister Mary and her husband, Philip, the King of Spain, definitely did not like her. When Mary became Queen she was very jealous of Elizabeth’s popularity and was a Catholic so did not like her Protestantism. She banished her to the tower for these reasons and then tested her to see if she could find a reason to accuse her of treason. Another example of people that did not like Elizabeth would be Spain. Spain did not like her because she was a Protestant and they were Catholics. To settle the fight in between England and Spain Elizabeth had promised King Phillip her hand in marriage, but never actually went through with it. Another well known enemy of hers was the Pope himself, he had excommunicated her. But overall Elizabeth’s charming personality kept most people liking her.
Source: The Long Road to the Throne
Question: What social, political, or religious factors impacted your figure?
Notes: During the time of the Renaissance there were many fights in between the Catholics and the Protestants, and because Elizabeth was a Protestant she did not like the Catholics very much. Also because of this continuous fight between Catholics and Protestants, the Protestant England went into war with the Catholic Spain. The fight of religions also led to the excommunication by the pope, the leader of the Catholics. Partly because of her religion she went and helped France, by giving them some of her soldiers.