1. Short-response prompt
Read the following excerpt from Act I, Scene 1 of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun:
WALTER Is he out yet?
RUTH What you mean out? He ain't hardly got in there good yet.
WALTER (Wandering in, still more oriented to sleep than to a new day) Well, what was you doing all that yelling for if I can't even get in there yet? (Stopping and thinking) Check coming today?
RUTH They said Saturday and this is just Friday and I hopes to God you ain't going to get up here first thing this morning and start talking to me 'bout no money - 'cause I 'bout don't want to hear it.
WALTER Something the matter with you this morning?
RUTH No - I'm just sleepy as the devil. What kind of eggs you want?
WALTER Not scrambled, (RUTH starts to scramble eggs) Paper come? (RUTH points impatiently to the rolled up Tribune on the table, and he gets it and spreads it out and vaguely reads the front page) Set off another bomb yesterday.
RUTH (Maximum indifference) Did they?
WALTER (Looking up) What's the matter with you?
RUTH Ain't nothing the matter with me. And don't keep asking me that this morning.
Explain how stage directions add to the reader's understanding of the characters in this excerpt. Be sure to use specific details from the text to support your answer.