Welcome to the blog for Professor Corona's Fall 2014 English 102 class. This blog is meant as an informal site for continuing the discussions that take place in the classroom and for responding to the readings outside it. Please submit your post every week by 6PM on Friday and make sure you read everyone else's posts as well!
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Reminder About Homework!
I just want to remind you of your homework for this Saturday:
1. Finish Reading A Raisin in the Sun
2. Write first two pages of your draft for the final paper. Print and come to class with 2 copies of this work.
Thank you!
Raquel
Saturday, November 15, 2014
A Raisin in the sun mama
Prof. Raquel Corona
English 102
Choose a character from the play, A Raisin in the Sun, and create a character map of sorts.
Describe this character and his/her significance in the play. What do they dream of having? Why
did you choose to discuss this character? What about their personality and presence in the play
spoke to you as a reader?
In a Raisin in the Sun the character who caught my attention the most was Mama as I was
reading through the play . You can say that she's the " man/voice " of the house. She makes
sure everyone is fine most of all, her grandchild. Mama is a strong black woman who's
kind and doesn't mind to express how she feels . She wants things to be done the right way all
the time. Her biggest dream is to see her family safe, happy, but most of all at peace. Why I chose
to consider this protagonist Mama is because I like the way she views the world. No matter the
struggle of being poor and also a black woman, Mama stills manages to be happy with what she
has. She also has hope and knows how to run the money that was left for her.
Friday, November 14, 2014
Ruth Younger
Mama
Beneatha
Mama :)
Mama - I love Mama. She reminds me so much of my grandmother. I envision her as this sweet little old lady with tight grey curls, little glasses, short, an apron on and the type to threathen someone with a rolling pin. Mama tries to make everyone happy yet she keeps the family in check at all times. Mama I feel is done living for herself and wants the best of everyone in the family from her daughter and son to grand babies and daughter in law. She wants to make sure that everyone is stable, happy and set before she goes. She could spend that money on anything she wants but she chooses to use it for a house so Ruth can have her kitchen, Travis his own room and all she wants for herself is a little garden in the corner of the yard. What i like about Mama is that she is sweet and spicy. Grandma has a kick to her. She has that no nonsense attitude but a heart of gold and would be the first to help someone out. She reminds me of my grandmother strong, free spirited, a great mother and grandmother. Mama is the foundation in the play. She keeps Walter on point, Travis in check, she is the shoulder for Ruth to lean on and vent too and she keeps Beneatha from running wild. I feel without Mama around the house would be in shambles. Maybe even Ruth and Walter would not end up staying together. Only a mother can semi keep their son in check....those men I tell ya. I think Mama needs to whoop Walter a good one because I do not like his attitude that wouldnt be me.
"A Raisin in the Sun" RR
MAMA-ralph
Walter Lee
Walter conversation with George showed me how resentful he is towards people that aren't just working to survive like he is. He was angered by who George is and what he believed George was a representation of. To Walter George thinks he is one of the white college students and doesn't identify with the Blacks. Walter feels he thinks is superior to him but the fact is that Walter really feels inferior to George and to compensate for that he disrespects him continuously. George failing to react did nothing but made Walter behave even worse.
The way Walter deals with his wife's pregnancy was mind boggling due to the fact he never truthfully acknowledges Ruth's pregnancy or her choice to abort. He is unsupportive because he is fixating on the money and the dream of owning the liquor store. I believe Walter will have to learn lessons the hard way and the second half of the story will center around his inability to adjust to his new surroundings
suranie jodha
Ruth Younger
Ruth Younger
Poor Ruth is married to Walter lee Younger and has one child, Travis with Walter. Ruth is described as “a pretty girl, even exceptionally so, but now it is apparent that life has been little that she expected, and disappointment has already began to hang on her face.” As I read the first half of this play, these were the words that kept haunting my mind whenever Ruth spoke to Mama, and even her husband. Ruth just comes of as a character that life has beat down repeatedly. She goes about her daily tasks without complaint, but you can see that the tediousness of everything is aggravating her. Each morning, having to wake her son and husband, and give them breakfast, that seems to be scrambled eggs each morning. Ruth is stuck with Walter, whom I believe she once loved, and was loved by. But as the years grew on, and dreams were shattered, they grew apart, to a dysfunctional marriage. Ruth is stuck in a small apartment with her family, as well as her mother and sister in law; all while she is dreaming of having her own little house, where she is not worried about the cockroaches and mice, and she would have a room that allows in the sunlight that she craves. Ruth also dreams of having ahead and that loves her, and is willing to do whatever it takes to provide for his family and make them happy. But instead, she is stuck with Walter lee younger, a man with big dreams and get-rich-quick schemes. Ruth plays a big part because of her and Walters relationship. We see how far apart they have grown. Walter runs out to go drinking when he hears that his wife is not only pregnant, but ready and willing to abort it. Without ever saying no, Ruth has been influential in ensuring that Walter does not cause the family any more financial stress. I chose to discuss Ruth because in some ways she reminds me of my mother. The argument between Ruth an Walter over the liquor store reminds me of the conversations I hear between my parents. My dad with his big dreams and big business ideas and my mom reminding my dad that they don't have the initial investment to start whatever venture he has moved on to now. My mom, like Ruth, does the cooking, cleaning, laundry, and other household chores because it is exactly what she has been doing for years. Those things have now become expected of her. She may not always be happy to be the only one doing it, but she does it anyway. As a reader, I could not help but feel so sorry for Ruth. To be stuck in a loveless marriage, a hole in the wall apartment, and no one to talk to seems like one of the worst things a woman can experience. Ruth's easy decision to abort her baby made me feel like she was so stressed out that she just would not be able to handle another child. The sunlight that Ruth referred to when she found out about the house that Mama bought was all of Ruth's hopes and dreams. I can't wait to read the rest of the play, as I am patiently waiting for Ruth to find her sunlight and her happiness.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry - Reading Response
In the play, A Raisin in the Sun, I was most intrigued in the character of Walter Lee Younger, an immature dreamer who is eager to convince his mother to invest his father’s insurance money into a get-rich-quick business. He lives in a tiny house with a large number of family members: a religious and a strong-willed mother Lena, a doctor-wanna-be and bratty little sister Beneatha, a desperate housewife Ruth, and their little son Travis. With a house so small that his son doesn't have his own room to sleep in, he is eager to escape the poverty. In addition, his dissatisfying and humiliating job as a driver and the missed investment opportunity as an owner of a successful dry cleaning business added fuel to his idea of the get-rich-quick business.
Walter Lee sees his father’s insurance money as the opportunity to achieve his dream of success. However, he never once seemed to put his own time and effort into achieving his goal, but rather chose to blame his mother and his wife for not supporting his dream. I chose to discuss this character because his presumptuous and hypocritical attitude caught my attention. Walter Lee mocked his sister Beneatha for wanting to become a female doctor and labeled her as an ungrateful spoiled little girl for wanting to follow her dream, all because he was wary that his mother may take a few thousand dollars from the insurance money to help her through her med school. Not realizing that it is he, not her, who lost his mind over the insurance money and is demanding the money, with ignorance he even advises her to snap back to reality. Another example of his shockingly hypocritical attitude was when his wife, who shared news of her pregnancy with their child, needed him the most, he simply walked out of his house after complaining to his wife and his family for not listening nor supporting him, when it was he himself who failed to be a good husband nor a good son.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
A Raisin in the Sun - Reading Response Question
The reading response is pretty simple and straightforward.
Good luck!
Raquel
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Choose a character from the play, A Raisin in the Sun, and create a character map of sorts. Describe this character and his/her significance in the play. What do they dream of having? Why did you choose to discuss this character? What about their personality and presence in the play spoke to you as a reader?
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Reminder about Homework for this Week!
Just wanted to remind you all that homework for this week is a little different than previously. Below you'll find everything in a list format.
Thank you and see you on Saturday!
Raquel
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Homework List for November 8th
1. Finish Reading Antigone the play.
2. Add to your answer for the question you chose to respond to in class. You must add at least 500 words to your response. Your response to the question must be printed and brought with you to class on Saturday. Please make sure to have 2 printed copies of this response! The questions I posed in class are:
a. What is the function of the Chorus in the play? How is the Chorus developed and what is their purpose in the overall function of the play?