A Raisin in the Sun Group

Question:

deshon
deshon
Student
College - Junior

What is the literary device of "A Raisin in the Sun" and "Harlem"?

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Posted by deshon on Monday April 6, 2009 at 2:15 PM and tagged with a raisin in the sun, harlem, literary device.

Answers:

  1. eabettencourt
    eabettencourt Teacher
    High School - 10th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    Lorraine Hansberry uses Langston Hughes' poem "Harlem" as an epigraph to her play "A Raisin in the Sun."  An epigraph is when an author chooses to place a quote or poem, etc. by another author that serves to introduce a theme in the work.  For instance, "Harlem" is filled with metaphors and similes about what happens to a dream deferred (at one point, the speaker asks if it dries up like a raisin in the sun).  Hansberry, therefore, uses an allusion to Hughes' poem as her title, and also adopts the theme of the poem as the theme of her play.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/raisin-sun/

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    Posted by eabettencourt on Monday April 6, 2009 at 5:43 PM