Lesson 11: A Raisin in the Sun, Act I, Scene 2, Part 1

Use this brief routine to reconnect students to Beneatha before introducing Asagai and the historical context he represents. Set students with an elbow partner.

• Say: In the previous lesson, we studied how Beneatha pushes back against family and social expectations, and we started using a systems-versus-choice lens to understand her conflicts. Today we meet Asagai, whose presence opens the play outward beyond Chicago and helps us see that Beneatha’s dream is also tied to identity, history, and possibility. This matters for our final research argument because strong arguments connect a character’s dream to the larger systems and historical forces shaping it.

Turn and Talk

Say these Directions: Think back to Lesson 8, when we looked at Beneatha’s conflicts with George, Mama, and Ruth. Turn to your elbow partner and discuss the following prompt:

• Ask: What matters deeply to Beneatha besides money or approval?

  • Beneatha cares about becoming her own person. She wants more than just comfort or status, because she keeps pushing for education, independence, and the right to think for herself.

• Say: Now, listen to a short background note that will help us understand the world Asagai brings into this scene.

Teach: Background Information

Display and read aloud the following brief background note:

In the 1950s, many African nations demanded independence from European colonial rule. Ghana became independent in 1957, and Nigeria, where Asagai is from, would become independent in 1960. For many students and activists, political independence and cultural pride went together.

• Ask: Based on the background information, what might a Nigerian student in the 1950s value that someone like George may not value in the same way?

  • A Nigerian student in this moment might care a lot about cultural pride, political freedom, and identity. That could make him see clothing, language, and hair as important signs of history and self-respect.

Connection to Today’s Learning

• Say: Now you are ready to read Asagai not just as a visitor in the Younger apartment, but as a character connected to a larger historical movement.

Students use surrounding dialogue to infer meaning before receiving a direct definition. This supports the scene’s larger work of analyzing Asagai’s perspective.

Context Clues in Action

• Say: Sometimes one powerful word unlocks a whole relationship in a scene. Today, that word is mutilate, and if we figure out what Asagai means by it, we will better understand both his perspective and Beneatha’s reaction.

Display page 61 and direct students to read the line beginning with “You wear it well…” and ending with “…mutilated hair and all.”

Then display page 62 and direct students to read the line beginning with “And so to accommodate that…” and ending with “…every week?”

Target Sentences

• “You wear it well … very well … mutilated hair and all.” (p. 61)

• “And so to accommodate that—you mutilate it every week?” (p. 62)

Teach: Using Context Clues to Infer Meaning

• Say: When I hear mutilate, I stop and look at the lines around it instead of jumping to a dictionary. Asagai is talking about Beneatha’s straightened hair, and he contrasts it with how she was born, “as crinkly as [his]” (p. 62). That makes me think mutilate means taking something natural and changing it in a damaging or violent way, not just styling it.

• Say: Hansberry chose a strong word because Asagai does not see Beneatha’s hair as a small beauty choice; he sees it as connected to identity and pressure to change herself.

Say these Directions: Look closely at the lines before and after mutilate. In your Personal Dictionary, write the word, jot the context clues that helped you, and draft your best meaning in your own words.

• Ask: What context clues help you infer the meaning of mutilate?

  • The clues are that Asagai asks if Beneatha was “born with it like that” and then says she changes it “every week.” Those clues show he thinks straightening her hair harms or changes something about her self.

If needed, prompt students to substitute their inferred meaning back into Asagai’s line and check whether it still makes sense.

• Ask: Why does Asagai choose the word mutilate, and what does it tell us about his perspective?

• Asagai chooses mutilate because he wants Beneatha to hear how serious he is. The word shows that he sees straightening her hair as giving up or even damaging part of her natural identity to fit somebody else’s standard.

Connection to Today’s Learning

• Say: Now you can track how one charged word helps build the larger contrast between Asagai, George, and Beneatha’s search for identity.

Read the scene from the opening of Act I, Scene 2, through Asagai’s exit. The teacher reads stage directions, and students read character roles. Assign readers for Mama, Beneatha, Ruth, Travis, Walter, and Asagai.

Part A: A New Voice in the Room (RL.7.3) (15 minutes)

Teach: Characterization

• Say: When we read a play aloud, characterization comes from what characters say, how they react, and how other characters respond to them. Listen especially for moments when Hansberry shows a clash of values, not just a clash of personalities. Asagai matters because he not only advances the plot, but he also changes the ideas in the room. Good readers track what new possibilities enter the scene when a new character speaks.

Say these Directions: As we read the scene from the opening of Act I, Scene 2 through Asagai’s exit, listen for what different characters reveal about Africa, identity, and the future. Keep the background note in mind, because today we will compare Hansberry’s fictional scene to a real historical moment. After reading, discuss the questions below.

Read aloud Act I, Scene 2 from the opening stage directions through Asagai’s exit.

• Ask: Before Asagai even arrives, what do Mama and Beneatha’s comments about Africa reveal about their different perspectives?

  • Beneatha sounds frustrated by stereotypes, especially when she says African American people “don’t know nothing about Africa ‘cept Tarzan and all that.” Mama is curious and open, but she mixes up Liberia and Nigeria, which shows she does not have the level of background knowledge that Beneatha wants.

• Ask: How does Hansberry’s portrayal of Asagai connect to the historical background on African independence movements?

  • Hansberry portrays Asagai as someone proud of Nigeria, Yoruba identity, and cultural independence. We can see this when he critiques “[a]ssimilationism” as “so popular in” the United States. That connects to the background because students and activists in the 1950s were linking freedom from colonial rule with cultural pride and rejecting pressure to assimilate.

Part B: George, Asagai, and Alaiyo (RL.7.3) (15 minutes)

Students first organize their thinking in a 3-column chart, then discuss with a partner, and then write independently.

Routine: Think-Pair-Share

Say these Directions: Title your 3-Column Chart with these headings: “George Represents,” “Asagai Represents,” and “What Beneatha’s Reactions Reveal.” Record your initial ideas first. Then, compare charts with your partner and respond to the questions below.

SAMPLE RESPONSE TABLE:

• Ask: What does George represent to Beneatha, and what does Asagai represent to her?

  • George represents status, wealth, and pressure to fit in. Asagai represents cultural pride, deeper thinking, and a version of life where identity matters more than appearance or money.

• Ask: How do Beneatha’s reactions to George and Asagai reveal what she values?

  • Beneatha reacts impatiently when George mocks serious thinking, and she lights up when Asagai brings ideas, clothing, and language connected to identity. This shows she values purpose, intellect, and self-definition more than social approval.

Say these Directions: In your journal, write 4–6 sentences answering this question:

• The name Asagai gives Beneatha, Alaiyo, means “One for Whom Bread—Food—Is Not Enough” (p. 65). Who else in this play might deserve that name? Explain your answer with at least two specific details from the play.

• I think Mama also deserves the name Alaiyo. She works hard to keep the family alive, but she also wants more than basic survival. Earlier in Act I, she shared her idea that “we maybe could meet the notes on a little old two-story somewhere, with a yard where Travis could play in the summertime,” showing that she wants more for her family than what they currently have. That means food and shelter alone are not enough for her dream.

Display the following writing model if needed for support and guidance:

Mama might also deserve the name Alaiyo because bread is not enough for her either. She wants more than survival in the apartment. In the part of the play where she cares for her plant and dreams about a house with sunlight, Hansberry shows that Mama wants dignity, space, and a future for her family. This shows that her dream is not just about having enough money to eat, but about living fully and passing hope to the next generation.

Provide students with a confidence continuum (i.e., 1–5). As needed, model how to demonstrate a level of confidence using the continuum.

Students write a brief response using evidence from the scene and context to analyze Beneatha’s values.

Quick Write

Say these Directions: Today, we saw that a character can reveal more than personality; they can reveal a whole set of values and a historical moment. Write a quick response to the question below using at least two specific details: one from the scene and one from the historical background or another character moment in the play. If you’d like, use the optional sentence starter:

Optional Sentence Starter:

Unlike George, Asagai helps reveal that Beneatha values ___ because ___.

• Ask: How does this scene deepen your understanding of Beneatha’s dream? Use at least two specific details to explain how Hansberry uses either Asagai or George to reveal what Beneatha values.

• This scene deepens my understanding of Beneatha’s dream because it shows she wants more than money or approval. When Asagai calls her “Alaiyo” and calls her straightened hair “mutilated,” he sees that she is searching for identity and purpose. That connects to the background on African independence movements, since Asagai represents cultural pride and self-definition. By contrast, Beneatha describes George as having a “beautiful car” and “probably the richest boy I will ever get to know,” but that she ultimately “would not marry him,” suggesting that her dream must include intellect, cultural connection, and freedom to be meaningful to her.

Instruct students to review Act I and choose one major character: Walter, Ruth, Mama, Beneatha, or Travis.

Ask students to answer the following questions about their selected character in their Journal:

• What is this character’s dream?

• What is standing in the way of this dream?