Examine the changes that took place in the African American
journey as they sought to shed their masks of servitude and oppression and redefine
themselves for themselves after slavery and minstrelsy, through a comparison of two
major characters from two different plays of two different periods in Black history. You
can compare:
• Cora from Mulatto to Beneatha from A Raisin In The Sun
• Beneatha from A Raisin in the Sun to Raylyn from Blood at the Root
• Robert from Mulatto to Clay from Dutchman
• Walter Lee from A Raisin In The Sun to Boy Willie from The Piano Lesson
• Cora from Mulatto to Mama from A Raisin In The Sun
• Walter Lee from A Raisin In The Sun to Clay from Dutchman
• Robert from Mulatto to Asagai from A Raisin In The Sun
• Beneatha from A Raisin In The Sun and Berniece from The Piano Lesson
• Esai from Esai’s Table to Boy Willie from The Piano Lesson
• Justin from Blood at the Root to Clay from Dutchman
• Any of the young men (Adam, David or Michael) to Walter Lee from A Raisin in
the Sun or Boy Willie from The Piano Lesson
Questions to Consider
a. Briefly explain the background of when the 2 plays actually take place, when the
playwrights wrote the plays and the era or movement in African American history
that was happening when the play was written or in which it was set. In support,
cite 2 other events, political and social changes that help to define the era and
explain with quotes from the reading assignments.
b. Explain the differences between the eras in which the two plays were written.
c. Explain who the characters are in the plays and give a brief description of what they
are trying to accomplish their race struggle. This will be connected to
what they are trying to accomplish in the course of the play for themselves or
others.
d. Compare whether or not they succeed, fail or change their plans, hopes and dreams
in the course of the plays.
e. Determine whether or not the characters represent old ways of thinking about race
a “status quo” or “knowing ones place” mentality” versus a “New Negro” or “Black
Nationalists” or “Black Lives Matter”mentality. Perhaps they are neither or a
combination of both. Cite 2 short quotes from the plays that support your thinking.
f. Compare two of the themes from each play that the characters themselves help to
portray. Be sure to use themes that are presented in my lectures. Give an example
from both plays of a situation in the play that addresses these themes. Compare the
themes between the two plays and whether or not the theme in some way is
addressed in both.
