...Baldwin Discussion 3) What does the music represent? And the title? In James Baldwin’s short story “Sonny’s Blues,” music represents different things to different characters. For the narrator, jazz music is associated with “’good-time people,’” (Baldwin, 1981) those who like to party often, drink, and take drugs. It’s not seen as a life worth living because there seems no financial gain from it. “Can you make a living at it?” (Baldwin, 1982) he asks Sonny, before telling him that “it’s time [he] started thinking about [his] future.” (Baldwin, 1982) This type of life “seemed beneath [Sonny] somehow.” (Baldwin, 1981) That view is because he couldn’t understand what music meant for Sonny. It was more than “the only thing [he] want[ed] to do,” (Baldwin, 1982), for Sonny music is an escape or a release. When Sonny plays the piano he “fill[s] the air with life, his life.” (Baldwin, 1992) Even when Sonny was younger playing at Isabel’s they all “sensed…that Sonny was at [the] piano playing for his life.” (Baldwin, 1984) Sonny needed music to release his “torment.” (Baldwin 1991) The title, “Sonny’s Blues” stands for this need. The blues music Sonny produces is a “personal, private, vanishing evocation” (Baldwin, 1990) of his life’s regret. Great music requires suffering. Yet it’s most beautiful when the music isn’t a reflection of our “lamenting” (Baldwin, 1992) but an embrace of our sorrow, when we “make it ours.” (Baldwin, 1992) 4) What do you think the theme of the story is...
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...Literary Analysis of “Sweat” and “Sonny’s Blues” Amelia Williams ENG125: Introduction to Literature Instructor: Deborah Zeringue December 22, 2014 As living and breathing human beings people are bound to experience some type of conflict. Conflict can be present within a person, between two people, between a person and forces of nature, and even between a person and their society. Conflict is defined as the struggle that shapes the plot in a story (Clugston, 2014, ch.4sect.1 para.4). When reading a piece of literature, especially a short story, one should pay special attention to the central conflict because it is the key element of the story (Clugston, 2014). This essay will analyze “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin and “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston in terms of individual versus individual, nature, society, and self, symbolism, figurative language, similarities and differences. In the short stories “Sonny’s Blues” and “Sweat” both of the main characters deal with an internal conflict of some sort. Sonny in Sonny’s Blues has to refrain from turning back to drugs after his release from prison; he is also facing the piano again after not playing for a year. Delia, on the other hand has to live with an abusive, cheating husband that “done beat huh ‘nough tuh kill three women” (Hurston, 1926, para. 24). In both texts the main characters are described as humble people, for example in “Sweat,” the author writes “Delia’s habitual meekness seemed to slip from her shoulders...
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...Stephen Hamilton Professor T. Clark English 201 4 March 2008 “Sonny’s Blues” Authored by: James Baldwin Drugs, Music, and Culture have interacted together in various heights of conflict and harmony throughout modern day music, affecting the creators and patrons alike. James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” is a depiction of this triangle of cultural relations that has affected three generations of America Culture. Sonny, a pathless protagonist of the story finds music as his aim of escaping society’s African American brutal oppression in the 1950’s. Sonny’s brother makes the claim, “But there’s no need…is there? In killing yourself?” (Baldwin 59) referring to Sonny’s drug use in his musical escapes while playing nightclubs as a pianist in Greenwich Village. In the story "Sonny’s Blues" Sonny's brother makes the inaccurate assertion Sonny wants to die; in reality Sonny’s is simply trying to escape society's oppression. While living with Sonny’s brother’s family, talking in the afternoon with the brothers alone for the night; Sonny was talking about using heroin, “…what heroin feels like-when it’s in your veins…It makes you feel-in control. Sometimes you have to have that feeling.” (Baldwin 58) The commentary prior elaborated this statement when examining the singing quartet on their street and the struggles they went through to be able to sing like that, referring to the pain and passion in their voices. This helped illustrate the conflict of the time – American Culture...
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...James Baldwin writes about two African-American brothers growing up in Harlem, a black ghetto in New York, during the 1950's. During this time black people were forced to live in a world of prejudice, discrimination, poverty and suppression. The life of a black person was very difficult; many opportunities afforded to whites were not afforded to blacks. Sonny and his brother lived in the projects and had many obstacles to overcome that white people didn't have to. Sonny chose music to outwardly express his suffering, his brother chose to bottle it up and keep it inside, but this is the common thread they both shared. Suffering is also shown in the story when Baldwin says "it came to me that what we both were seeking through our separate cab windows was that part of ourselves which had been left behind" (P 47). I think this quote means that both Sonny and his older brother want to retrieve some of their past so that it can help them cope with what has happened in their lives. If Sonny and his brother can both cope with what has happened in their lives and get over it, I think t they both can start moving forward and putting this behind them. I feel having Sonny's brother narrate the story in the first person is Baldwin's way of telling us that Sonny's brother is also suffering but inside, unlike Sonny who takes drugs and sings the blues. Sonny's brother remains nameless because I feel he prefers to remain anonymous; he's too embarrassed to have people know that this college...
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...“Sonny’s Blues” James Baldwin’s “sonny’s Blues” is a short story about the life of two brothers growing up in Harlem, New York during the 1950’s, in a society littered with drugs, violence, poverty and racism. It explores how each brother reacts to the “darkness” of their environment and their own internal turmoil which separated them and the music that eventually lead them back together. In “Sonny’s Blues” a short story written by James Baldwin discusses various situations described as darkness. I believe the word darkness symbolize the rough living conditions the two brothers endured growing up in Harlem, New York. Earlier in the story the narrator notes his students being filled with indignation because of the limited opportunities in the community. “All they really knew were two darknesses, the darkness of their lives and the darkness of the movies, which had blinded them to that other darkness…” Other dark situations discussed in Sonny’s Blues is Sonny’s drug addiction to heroin that is highly addictive, life in prison and the everyday struggle growing up in Harlem where African American people was victimized; As seen in a conversation between the narrator and his mother,” Your father says he heard his brother scream when the car rolled over him, and he heard the wood of that guitar when it give, and he heard them strings go flying, and he heard them white men shouting, and the car kept on going and it anit stopped til this day.” I believe...
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...both Sonny s Blues by James Baldwin and Paul s Case by Willa Cather. Both Baldwin and Cather illustrate the problem of a young man growing up and taking on the responsibility of finding out who they are and what they want out of life. In these stories the theme is most prevalent, developing the story and helping the reader form their own opinions on how they feel about their own individuality. No matter how hard someone tries to decide someone s life, it is up to the individual to decide what kind of life they want to live. In Sonny s Blues Sonny was the youngest child in his family and after his parents died when he was young his big brother made a promise that he would look after him. Unfortunately, Sonny chooses the wrong path at first and gets involved in drugs and has to go to a rehabilitation center to get better. After he gets out his brother asks him What do you want to do? (47), to which Sonny replies I m going to be a musician. (47) Sonny s brother doubts his aspirations from the beginning and even tells himself that (he) never played the role of the older brother quite so seriously before (47). Sonny s brother is a teacher and you can tell by his instincts how much he want to teach Sonny things about life in general. By playing the roles of parent, big brother, and teacher, Sonny s brother constantly stresses how he wants his brother to turn out. In the end Sonny s brother should have listened to himself when he told his mother that (Sonny is) a good boy and he s got...
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...Jazz James Baldwin’s “Sonny Blues” follows two brothers from different paths. The brothers are years apart but still face many problems of growing up and becoming a man. Deaths, wars, addictions, coming to terms with life all are portrayed in this short story. The central idea revolves around two brothers with many problems and struggles and brotherly love they have for one another. Sonny’s blues is a story about “A sense of the mysterious and inexorable limits of life, in a word, of tragedy."(Flibbert) The narrator, protagonist and sonny’s older brother is a very dynamic character. He was in the army, and now is a Math teacher raising a family in Harlem. The narrator believes “you know people can’t always do exactly what they want to...
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...Arsalan Vohra Sonny's Blues Research Paper The narrator in the story "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin, has a very deep connection with his family. His brother Sonny isn't very good at making decisions and is on the path to destroy his life. Will Sonny ever learn from his mistakes and see the road to success? Sonny is a very stubborn kid who doesn't listen to anyone and does only what he wants. The narrator has to put him back on the right track and has to play a mature roll on him just like his father did with his own brother also. The narrator and his family aren't very happy with Sonny but they don't have any idea about Sonny's hidden talent. Sonny's proves them wrong and can now be called a responsible person. Judging people can be a person's biggest mistake. People need time to realize the reality of life and just need to be patient for their time to come. Even Sonny's family had given up on him but Sonny always knew their was light in his future somewhere and was eager to shine. He has done a lot of bad things and has made mistakes in the past but he doesn't let that affect his future. “Sonny Blue’s” takes place in Harlem around the early 1950’s. Sonny ends up having to turn towards drugs because he feels trapped in his surroundings. The story explains the theme of suffering experienced by african individuals. They are constantly getting discriminated against, becoming unemployment, and therefore turning into drug addicts . The narrator...
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...BETWEEN THE TWO SIBLINGS. The story “The Red Convertible” written by Louise Erdrich’s and the story “Sonny’s Blues” written by James Baldwin’s are very much comparable, but at the same time they very different. In both stories the main characters are two brothers that are faced with challenges in their life, revolved around brotherly connection. At some point in each story the brothers separate and ultimately bond when the stronger brother accepts the weaker brother. Also in both stories the brother’s dealt with the separation of their sibling differently through separating and drug abuse. In ‘’The Red Convertible’’, the main speaker uses the red convertible, one he shares with his brother, as an analogy to their relationship. While reminiscing about his brother henry, Lyman said ‘’they went to places in that car, me and henry’’ (167). And though some people spend most of their trip remembering specific details, he and Henry just lived their lives (168). In other words, their time spent in the red convertible is intended more for the worthwhile company of one another as opposed to making meaningless trips simply for around-the-table story time. ONIBIYO 2 On the other hand, the speaker in "Sonny's Blues" also shares a connection with his brother, although not as strong and intense as Lyman’s. The speaker and his brother Sonny maintain a forced relationship, one in which the speaker's duty is caring for his little brother....
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...Assignment 4 12.27.2012 Short Story Analysis When people live in a sheltered environment with a paved driveway and freshly mowed lawn, they forget that they share the world with others, who live in a much darker environment. Their environment lacks much more than paved driveways and freshly mowed lawns. Most of these people are even deprived of the basic needs like a safe community, peace or their sanity. The authors of Young Goodman Brown, The Red Convertible, The Lone Ranger and Sonny’s Blues expose us to an obscure society; one where people find themselves in bleak situations. Life for these people is just a big question mark; a question that doesn’t have a straightforward answer. Many a times, authors hit the touchy topic of God’s existence in their work. Reflected by his puritan heritage, Nathanial Hawthorne wrote about faith, personal salvation and morality in his short-story “Young Goodman Brown”. The main character, Goodman Brown, has an internal battle with his faith throughout the story where he finds himself questioning the very existence of a higher power. Ultimately the bigger question in this story is one that many people ask themselves when they are faced with tough times; Does God really exist? Or is He a mere creation by society to keep face and hide behind their lies? Goodman Brown embarks on a journey against his own will. The author describes this an “evil” journey where Goodman Brown wants to turn back on many occasions but his elderly companion...
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...Throughout history, sibling relationships in different classes, religions, genders, and specific races of the human race have provided humans with an inherent empathizer. Being raised and shaped into distinct characters in the same environment and experiencing the same essential memories of childhood binds siblings together for better or for worse. Likewise, in “Sonny’s Blues”, written by James Baldwin, the narrator and his brother Sonny reunite through their shared origins and finally understand what it symbolizes to them and their entire community. The sibling relationship between the narrator and Sonny demonstrates two different ways in which people of the same background attempt to deal with their shared communities and memories to regain...
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...Community Development Vol. 41, No. 3, July–September 2010, 298–322 Incorporating social justice in tourism planning: racial reconciliation and sustainable community development in the Deep South Alan W. Bartona* and Sarah J. Leonardb a b Downloaded By: [University at Buffalo, the State University of New York (SUNY)] At: 06:29 3 November 2010 Social Sciences, Delta State University, DSU Box 3264, Cleveland MS 38733, USA; The College Board, Chicago, USA Tourism can serve as a vehicle for sustainable community development by contributing to equity and social justice. This happens as tourists learn about marginal groups through educational tourism, engage in development projects with host-area residents, undertake pilgrimages that bring greater meaning and cohesiveness to an ethnic identity, or encounter stories that transform their view of social injustice and spur further action to reduce inequities. Tourism planning can produce a sense of reconciliation when it brings historically divided groups together. An example is found in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi, where a group of white and African American residents are collaborating to develop tourism projects designed around a narrative of reconciliation, while they use the process of tourism planning to work towards racial reconciliation within their community. This case illustrates strategies tourism planners employ and challenges they face when they envision tourism as more than merely a means of economic growth...
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...American Celebration and Conflict: A History of Ethnic Identity and Festival, 1934–1990, by Lon Kurashige 9. American Sensations: Class, Empire, and the Production of Popular Culture, by Shelley Streeby 10. Colored White: Transcending the Racial Past, by David R. Roediger 11. Reproducing Empire: Race, Sex, Science, and U.S. Imperialism in Puerto Rico, by Laura Briggs 12. meXicana Encounters: The Making of Social Identities on the Borderlands, by Rosa Linda Fregoso 13. Popular Culture in the Age of White Flight, by Eric Avila 14. Ties That Bind: The Story of an Afro-Cherokee Family in Slavery and Freedom, by Tiya Miles 15. Cultural Moves: African Americans and the Politics of Representation, by Herman S. Gray Cultural Moves African Americans and the Politics of Representation Herman S. Gray UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Berkeley . Los Angeles . London Chapter 1 appeared as “The New Conditions of Black Cultural Production, Or Prefiguring of a Black Cultural Formation,” in Between Law and Culture: Relocating Legal Studies, ed. L.C. Bower,...
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...LICENCE LANGUES, LITTÉRATURES ET CULTURES ÉTRANGÈRES ET RÉGIONALES SPÉCIALITÉ ANGLAIS DESCRIPTIF DES ENSEIGNEMENTS Année universitaire 2014-2015 Page 1 SOMMAIRE L1—PREMIERE ANNÉE SEMESTRE 1 CULTURE DES PAYS ANGLOPHONES 1 E11 AN5 (6 ECTS) LANGUE 1 E12 AN5 (4 ECTS) CIVILISATION 1 E13 AN5 (4 ECTS) VERSION 1 ET LITTÉRATURE AMÉRICAINE 1 E14 AN5 (4 ECTS) PROJET PROFESSIONNEL PERSONNALISÉ (P.P.P.) E1P AN5 (1 ECTS) 5 5 6 8 10 13 SEMESTRE 2 CULTURE DES PAYS ANGLOPHONES 2 E21 AN5 (5 ECTS) LANGUE 2 E22 AN5 (4 ECTS) LITTÉRATURE BRITANNIQUE 2 E 23 AN5 (4 ECTS) CIVILISATION BRITANNIQUE 2 ET TRADUCTION (VERSION) 2 E24 AN5 (5 ECTS) PROJET PROFESSIONNEL PERSONNALISÉ (P.P.P.) E2P AN5 (1 ECTS) 14 15 17 18 20 2 L2—DEUXIEME ANNÉE SEMESTRE 3 LANGUE 3 E31 AN5 (6 ECTS) CIVILISATION AMÉRICAINE 3 E32 AN5 (5 ETCS) LITTÉRATURE BRITANNIQUE 3 E33 AN5 (5 ECTS) TRADUCTION (VERSION) 3 ET PRISE DE PAROLE EN CONTINU 3 E34 AN5 (6 ECTS) PREPROFESSIONNALISATION : MÉTIERS DE L’ENSEIGNEMENT DES LANGUES VIVANTES ÉTRANGÈRES ET RÉGIONALES 3 21 21 23 24 26 29 E3PF12L5 (6 ECTS) SEMESTRE 4 LANGUE 4 E41 AN5 (5 ECTS) CIVILISATION BRITANNIQUE 4 E42 AN5 (6 ECTS) LITTÉRATURE AMÉRICAINE 4 E43 AN5 (5 ECTS) TRADUCTION (VERSION) 4 ET PRISE DE PAROLE EN CONTINU 4 E44 AN5 (6 ECTS) PREPROFESSIONNALISATION : MÉTIERS DE L’ENSEIGNEMENT DES LANGUES VIVANTES ÉTRANGÈRES ET RÉGIONALES 4 30 32 34 36 39 E4PF12L5 (6 ECTS) 3 L3—TROISIEME...
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...[pic] The Firm John Grisham [pic] • Chapter 1 • Chapter 2 • Chapter 3 • Chapter 4 • Chapter 5 • Chapter 6 • Chapter 7 • Chapter 8 • Chapter 9 • Chapter 10 • Chapter 11 • Chapter 12 • Chapter 13 • Chapter 14 • Chapter 15 • Chapter 16 • Chapter 17 • Chapter 18 • Chapter 19 • Chapter 20 • Chapter 21 • Chapter 22 • Chapter 23 • Chapter 24 • Chapter 25 • Chapter 26 • Chapter 27 • Chapter 28 • Chapter 29 • Chapter 30 • Chapter 31 • Chapter 32 • Chapter 33 • Chapter 34 • Chapter 35 • Chapter 36 • Chapter 37 • Chapter 38 • Chapter 39 • Chapter 40 • Chapter 41 • About the Arthor The Firm by John Grisham Chapter 1 The senior partner studied the resume for the hundredth time and again found nothing he disliked about Mitchell Y. McDeere, at least not on paper. He had the brains, the ambition, the good looks. And he was hungry; with his background, he had to be. He was married, and that was mandatory. The Firm had never hired an unmarried lawyer, and it frowned heavily on divorce, as well as womanizing and drinking. Drug testing was in the contract. He had a degree in accounting, passed the CPA exam the first time he took it and wanted to be a tax lawyer, which of course was a requirement with a tax firm. He was white, and The Firm had never hired a black. They...
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