How to Answer a Question Completely...Act I RITS

1. The play takes place on the South side of Chicago around the 1950's. The apartment is small and cramped. It has only one window, no bathroom, and only 2 bedrooms. The furniture and carpet are worn out.

2. Walter feels like he is 35 and has not accomplished very much. He hates his job and wants to own his own business. He feels his family, especially Ruth, does not support him in his dreams and blames both his race and females for holding him back. He is selfish, a dreamer, frustrated, confused. Others see him as someone who is lots of talk and little action.

Another MAJOR grammar error we are making....

singlular--1 person, place, thing, or group (he, pollution, team)
Is(present)/Was (past)

Are/Were--plural--more than 1 thing, person, place, thing (they, dogs, bicyles)

So, fill in the blanks (yes, now, the whole sentence in your notes)

1. Bicyling ____ one way to help stop pollution. (is, are)
2. Many forms of pollution ___________(is, are) harmful to our environment.
3. Before the 1950's, bicyles __________ (was, were) commonly used by most people.
4. In the 1940's, bicyling _______ (was, were) a major mode of transportation.

Notes on Setting/Title: RITS

The title: a line from Langston Hughes’s 1951 poem (already in notes)focusing on the frustration African Americans experience when they cannot fulfill their dreams, presumably because of racial discrimination.

The setting: is a cramped apartment in a tenement in the South Side of Chicago around 1950's. The apartment has: 1 "real" bedroom (Walter and Ruth) 1 other "bedroom" (Beneatha and Mama), a tiny kitchen, living room (also the bedroom of Travis), 1 window, and NO bathroom (in the hall; they share with the neighbors).
The entire play takes place inside the apartment, emphasizing the importance of the "home".

"Montage to a Dream Deferred"- Langston Hughes, 1951

"Harlem"

What happens to a dream deferred? (delayed)

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore -
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over -
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

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1.What central question does the poem ask?
2.What is Hughes' message about dreams deferred?
3.How do "dreams deferred" relate to the American Dream?

"Fame and Fortune" and "How to Keep a Job"

According to Horatio's Alger's "Fame and Fortune," what characteristics does one have to have in order to become rich and famous? Do you think this is realistic? Why or why not?

According to the video clip: "How to Keep a Job" (Coronet Instructional Films, 1949) What characteristics/behaviors make a good and successful worker?
What characteristics/behaviors make a poor and unsuccessful worker?
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(Note: These types of films are typical of the time period. They were often set up to show examples of the "right" way to do things, versus the "wrong" way--using 2 characters shown one after the other to illustrate the differences. These were not supposed to be funny,they were seriously meant to be instructional and many times aimed to teenagers.)

Here is our example from last year demonstrating the behaviors necessary to attain the "American Dream".

The Åmerican Dream: An Instructional Video

January Exam Information

Tuesday January 26th-afternoon-Session One

Task 1-Listening Passage/Report (mult. choice)
*Task 2-Factual Reading/Report (mult. choice) chart/graph*

(Day One--no literature/no literary elements--factual)

Wednesday January 27th-afternoon-Session Two

Task 3-Controlling Idea--(2 pieces of literature)(mult. choice)
Task 4-Critical Lens--(you give 2 stories you read and relate to quote)

(Day Two--all literature/you need to write about literary elements)

What is the American Dream?