Who won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the play Sweat, a powerful work about working class life in the United States?

Introduction / Context:
The Pulitzer Prizes are major American awards given in several categories including journalism, letters, and drama. The Pulitzer Prize for Drama recognises a distinguished play by an American author. In 2017, the award went to a play called Sweat, which portrays the struggles of working class communities facing economic change. This question asks you to identify the playwright who received that prize.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The award is the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
• The year is 2017.
• The play in question is Sweat.
• The options list Lynn Nottage, Hisham Matar, Heather Ann Thompson, and Colson Whitehead.

Concept / Approach:
Lynn Nottage is the American playwright who wrote Sweat and won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for this work. The play focuses on factory workers in a US town dealing with job losses and social tensions, making it a powerful commentary on class and race. Hisham Matar, Heather Ann Thompson, and Colson Whitehead are also major writers but they won Pulitzer Prizes in other categories such as biography, history, or fiction. Therefore, the correct identification for the drama category in 2017 for Sweat is Lynn Nottage.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Note the category Drama and the year 2017. Step 2: Remember that the 2017 Pulitzer for Drama went to the play Sweat, which deals with factory workers and economic hardship. Step 3: Associate this play with Lynn Nottage, a playwright known for socially engaged theatre. Step 4: Recognise that the other names in the options are connected with non drama Pulitzer categories. Step 5: Choose Lynn Nottage as the correct answer.

Verification / Alternative check:
To verify, you can recall that lists of Pulitzer winners often note that Lynn Nottage became a two time winner of the drama prize, and Sweat was one of the works that earned her this honour. Meanwhile, Colson Whitehead is linked with the fiction prize for The Underground Railroad, Hisham Matar with biography, and Heather Ann Thompson with history. None of them is tied specifically to the drama category for Sweat. This cross category comparison confirms that Lynn Nottage is the right choice.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Hisham Matar is associated with the Pulitzer Prize in Biography or Autobiography, not the drama award for Sweat.

Heather Ann Thompson received recognition in the history category for work on prison uprisings rather than for theatre.

Colson Whitehead is famous for winning the Pulitzer for fiction, not for a stage play.

Common Pitfalls:
A frequent pitfall is mixing up different Pulitzer categories because they are announced together and feature many strong names at once. Another mistake is to assume that any Pulitzer winning author in the news that year might fit the question. To avoid this, always pay attention to the specific category such as drama, fiction, or history, and connect it with the correct work and writer.

Final Answer:
The 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the play Sweat was awarded to Lynn Nottage.