Lesson 19: A Raisin in the Sun, Act II, Scene 2

Use this brief partner talk to reactivate students’ thinking from the debate lessons and bridge into today’s theme work. Students keep their play open and face a partner.

• Say: In Lessons 17 and 18, students debated Mama’s decision to buy the house and practiced making both/and arguments about family pressure, dignity, and consultation. Today, you will look closely at Walter’s dream for Travis and ask what happens when love, money, and desperation all get packed into one speech. This matters for the unit because you will need to explain not just what a character wants, but what larger idea Hansberry is developing about dreams under pressure.

Turn and Talk

Say these Directions: In the last two lessons, we debated Mama’s decision and thought about what Walter believes money and a house could change. Today we are going to explore what Walter wants to hand to Travis and what that reveals about dreams in this play.

• Ask: What did Walter seem to believe that money or the house could give him in the earlier scenes, and how might that belief shape what he says to Travis in this scene?

  • Walter seemed to believe that money could give him respect, control, and a chance to be more than a chauffeur. That belief probably shapes his speech to Travis because he does not just talk about buying things—he talks as if he can finally hand his son a whole future.

• Say: Share your ideas about Walter’s dream that might connect to a theme. Take turns sharing ideas with your partner.

Connection to Today's Learning

• Say: Students now move from earlier debate claims about Walter to close analysis of how Hansberry uses stage directions and dialogue to build a theme in this scene.

Use this context-clues routine to help students hear how one stage direction changes the tone of Walter’s speech from hopeful to unstable.

Students open to the end of Walter’s monologue to Travis and keep their Personal Dictionary ready.

Using Context Clues

Say these Directions: At the end of Act II Scene Two, a stage direction helps readers hear Walter’s voice, not just read the words that he says. The text says that his voice is hysterical. We often use the word hysterical to mean “extremely funny,” but that’s not the primary meaning of the word. Use context to determine what the word means here and why that exact word matters.

Display page 109 and direct students to read the stage direction beginning with “(WALTER’s voice has risen…” and ending with “…lifts TRAVIS high).

Target Sentence Block: “Walter’s voice has risen in pitch and hysterical promise . . .” (p. 109)

Review or reread Walter’s speech. Then, read the stage direction aloud.

• Ask: What does “risen in pitch” mean? What can you infer?

  • His voice goes up, which means that it sounds louder and maybe higher. I can infer that he’s getting more excited.

• Ask: Reading his speech up to that point, when do you think that his voice has risen in pitch? Why?

  • It might start rising toward the middle, where he starts talking about how things will be, but the last part seems to be where he gets the most excited, when he promises his son, “Whatever you want to be,” “You just name it,” and “I hand you the world.”

• Ask: What is happening to his promises from the beginning to the end of the speech? Are they becoming more or less realistic?

  • They seem to be getting less realistic. Just because they are moving to a house doesn’t mean that Walter will be able to afford a fancy car or to send Travis to any school he wants or “hand him the world.”

Write the word hysterical on the board.

Say these Directions: Now that we’ve looked at the words around hysterical, let’s consider why the author used the word. We know that the word has something to do with being excited. We know that it might have something to do with being unrealistic.

• Ask: What do you think “hysterical promise” means?

  • It probably means a promise that might be unrealistic, made by someone very excited.

• Say: Write your own definition of hysterical in your journal. Then, look up the word in the dictionary and record the definition. Ask about any words you do not understand, and we will clarify them together.

• Ask: How does your definition of hysterical compare to the dictionary’s?

  • It is similar. The dictionary says “having extreme or unrestrained emotion.” That means that the person is very excited or upset and maybe losing control.

• Ask: Why did Hansberry choose the word hysterical to describe Walter’s voice, and what does it suggest about what is coming?

  • Hansberry chose hysterical because Walter’s promises sound too big and too intense to be fully steady or realistic. The word suggests that his hope is mixed with desperation, so the scene is building toward trouble instead of a simple happy ending.

Connection to Today's Learning

• Say: Students will now reread the scene aloud and track how Hansberry develops a bigger idea through Walter’s words, actions, and stage directions.

Part A: Hearing the Dream Build (RL.7.2) (12 minutes)

Before students discuss, do a quick review of the events earlier in the scene and then lead a Reader’s Theater-style reading starting in the middle of Mama’s speech on page 107 when she says, “I want you to take this money . . .”

Teach: Hearing the Dream Build

• Say: A theme is not the same as the plot. We are listening for what Walter wants in this scene, but we are also asking what bigger idea Hansberry is building through his words and the stage directions around them. When Walter imagines the Chrysler, the gardener, and the great schools, he is talking about more than objects; he is talking about dignity, freedom, and a future he never got. That helps me infer a theme about how dreams can carry hope but can also become distorted when a person is crushed by pressure.

Students reread the scene through a Reader’s Theater–style performance with the teacher reading stage directions.

Turn and Talk

Say these Directions: As we reread, listen for two things: one detail that shows Walter’s love and hope for Travis and one detail that shows that Hansberry wants us to feel uneasy about Walter’s speech. After the reading, you will explain whether the speech feels like ambition, delusion, or both.

After reading, work with a partner to answer the following questions and jot down quick notes. Be sure to include details from both the dialogue and the stage directions.

• Ask: In Walter’s monologue to Travis near the blackout, what shows his real love for Travis, and what shows that the scene is becoming unstable?

  • Walter’s real love shows when he says Travis can choose any school and “whatever you want to be—you’ll be it” because he wants his son to have more freedom than he had. The instability shows when the promises keep getting bigger and Hansberry says his voice rises in pitch, which makes the speech sound less grounded.

• Ask: Is what Walter is doing in this scene ambition, delusion, or both? Use at least one specific detail from the monologue to support your thinking.

  • It is both. Walter’s ambition is real because he wants Travis to have opportunity and dignity, but it becomes delusion when he talks as if one business deal can instantly give them a perfect life with a Chrysler, a gardener, and every great school in the world.

Part B: Exploring the Theme (RL.7.2) (18 minutes)

RACE Strategy Response

Say these Directions: Write an analytical paragraph connecting Walter’s monologue with a central idea or theme. Begin with a claim, include at least one detail from what Walter says and at least one detail from the stage directions, and explain how those details work together to develop the theme. Use the word hysterical or another precise word from today’s reading.

• Ask: How does this scene develop a central theme of the play? Use Walter’s monologue to Travis as your evidence.

  • This scene develops the theme that dreams can keep people going, but pressure can also make those dreams unstable. Walter’s speech to Travis is loving because he imagines a future full of choice, education, and dignity for his son. But Hansberry also warns the audience through the stage direction that his voice becomes “hysterical,” which shows that Walter is trying to hold himself together through a dream that has become too heavy.

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

Students now reflect on both the scene and their own process for figuring out the theme.

Quick Write

Say these Directions: For your exit ticket, explain which details most helped you understand the theme of this scene and how you figured that out. Use at least two specific details from Walter’s monologue or the stage directions.

• Ask: Which specific details helped you understand this scene’s theme, and how did you figure that out?

  • The detail about the “plain black Chrysler” helped me see that Walter wants dignity and success, not just random expensive things. The stage direction saying his voice becomes “hysterical” helped me realize Hansberry is also warning us that his dream is turning desperate. I figured out the theme by putting those two details together instead of looking at only one side of the speech.

Instruct students to read the next section of A Raisin in the Sun, Act II, Scene 3, beginning with moving day and ending with Bobo’s arrival. Students should complete the following:

• Annotate for moments that show how pressure changes Walter’s choices.

• Write one sentence in your Journal predicting what Walter will do next and why.