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The film is A Raisin in the Sun (1961), another award winning film. The script was written by Lorraine Hansberry based on her Broadway play of the same name. It depicts an African American family whose lives are thrown into turmoil when a substantial insurance payment could mean either financial salvation or personal ruin for them. This film was made with professional actors, most of whom were in the Broadway play. As with the miners and their families in Salt of the Earth, this film exposes how gender, race/ethnicity and social class construct family relations and family conflicts, what keeps them together and what splits them apart. This film is available from Netflix and other film rental sources as well as libraries if needed. **Special note: do not use the 2008 remake of this film. Be sure you view the 1961 original** The paper should be 5 pages in length, double spaced, with 12 point font. Use APA for References and parenthetical citations. In your paper, you must cite two or more specific things that happen in the story/film and elaborate on them in full detail. The following questions are to get you started in focusing on a sociological analysis. Look for readings that go with these topics and relate them to the film. Write your paper as an integrated essay with an introduction and thesis, a logical development of key ideas and a conclusion; do not write the paper as a series of answers to the questions. 1. One of the important themes we have been studying is the relationship between the family and the economy. Discuss how the families in this film are affected by the economic structure of their community and of the larger society. 2. In what ways are traditional gender roles challenged by the events depicted in the film? 3. What happens to men? What happens to women? 4. How does race/ethnicity affect what happens to family members during the events of the film? 5. Where would you place the family in the social class system and why?
