How is Toni Morrison and Hansberry alike as writers?

Question

Specifically dealing with Morrison's Sula and Hansberry's Raisin in the Sun?

Answer 1

Well, Toni Morrison and Lorraine Hansberry are both black women. But Hunter Thompson and T.S. Eliot are both white men, and it doesn't follow that they have much in common as writers.

To compare "Sula" (a novel) and "A Raisin in the Sun" (a play), you might start by looking at the different strategies the authors use to tell their stories and convey the personalities and goals of their characters. Hansberry has to do it all with dialogue. How much does Morrison rely on dialogue? How much does she use narration?

Beyond that, you might want to look at similarities and differences in the ways that the two authors depict the lives of black Americans. What aspects of black experience does each of them focus on? How do they depict relationships between black characters? How do they portray interactions between blacks and whites?

Maybe you could also look at the way gender is treated in the play and the novel. How do Morrison and Hansberry deal with relationships between women? Between men? Between women and men?