How does Hansberry make the Younger family's apartment such a memorable setting for the play?

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2020). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [25] Candidates should be able to appreciate the significance of the apartment and its effects as a memorable setting for the play. Points to consider include: the smallness and squalor of the apartment and the fact that it is overcrowded; the cramped conditions giving rise to irritability and arguments; the apartment as a symbol of the family's poverty and limited opportunities; the longing of the Younger family members to escape the apartment (Ruth, Beneatha, Walter) and have a house of their own; Mama's fierce desire for a home and garden; the contrast between the apartment and the dreams of the family; the symbolic significance of Mama's plant.