April 20, 2017

M S. R H OAD E S AN D M R. K E LL E Y
 What genre is A
Raisin in the Sun?
A
play!
What makes reading
a play different from
reading a novel?
1. Plays are meant to be performed for an audience
and not only read.
So it is important when only reading a play to think about
HOW the play would be performed. So how the actors would
move around on stage as well as how the actors would say
their lines.
2. A lot of plays do not have a narrator like a
novel does, and if a play does, it is a different
character than the protagonist and/or
antagonist.
The narrator in this play is not actually a narrator,
those are called stage directions.

3. Because most plays do not have a narrator, it

means that there is only dialogue and monologues
inside of a play. People are either talking to each
other or to themselves, nothing else.
This means that actors need to use tone to keep the audience
invested in what is going on.
What is tone?
Merriam Webster Definitions:
1. A sound of definite pitch and vibration.

2. Accent or inflection expressive of mood and/or emotion.

How would this definition be important in A Raisin in the Sun?
Mama?
Ruth?

3. The pitch of a word often used to express differences in meaning.

4. A particular pitch or a change of pitch constituting an element in the

intonation of a phase.
For example: high tone, low tone, mid tone, falling tone, or low-rising tone.

5. Style or manner of expression in speaking or writing.

How does tone affect the
interpretation of a play?
1. Different actors playing the same role
will interpret the play and their
character differently. This means that
they will say their lines differently, which
would change the interpretation for the
audience.

2. Different directors that direct the same play

will interpret the play and the characters
differently. This means that they will direct the
actors to play the characters differently (in
their movements and their voices), which
would change the interpretation for the
 Can tone change the
interpretation of more than
just the line being said? Or
can it change the
interpretation of an entire
scene, an entire act, or an
entire play?
Tone has the ability to change the interpretation
of the entire play. But it is important to look at
how the tone is being used.

Can you think of an example where the tone

does not change the entire play or story?
Learning Targets
I can read different lines from A Raisin in the Sun using
different tones.
I can analyze how different tones can affect the
interpretation of the play.