...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...
Words: 1536 - Pages: 7
...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...
Words: 2012 - Pages: 9
...The story “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin follows the story of a teacher in Harlem and explores the stories of brotherhood behind Sonny and the narrator, their father and his brother, death of a child, and the large themes of “grace” and “struggle”. Although introduced to many characters in the 27 pages, without a doubt the antagonist is the theme of loss. Throughout the short story, the narrator feels pain from loss of people close to him or family. The first example of this is how the narrator's father's brother is run over by a car full of drunk white men. The mother's states as she recites the story of the death “Your Daddy never did really get right again. Till the day he died he weren't sure but that every white man he saw was the...
Words: 314 - Pages: 2
...In the story “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin the story is written in first person style. The story opens up with Sonny’s older brother the narrator reading about reading about his heroin bust in the newspaper. Sonny was a jazz musician. He tried to go on with his day but he could not stop thinking about brother. Sonny had a trouble past, he goes in and out of jail and his relationship with his family is strain. Sonny’s father was a drunk and moody, Sonny and he did not get along. Sonny was quiet and withdrawn. Throughout the story the narrator would have flash backs about growing up with Sonny. One day Sonny went to jail and his brother never written him. It wasn’t until Grace has die that Sonny’s brother decides to write him. Sonny writes his brother a long letter trying to explains how he got in the predicament. The two brothers stay in constant communications .Sonny is released from jail and goes lives with his brother....
Words: 494 - Pages: 2
...The plot in “Sonny’s Blues” emphasizes the importance of the bond between two brothers through the power of music and god. “Sonny’s Blues” displays the daily struggle of societal issues, status, and achievements the two brothers faced in reality. Sonny's brother struggles to understand Sonny and his compassion for music. Music builds this communication that the narrator lacks with his brother but they overcome these struggles through music. The narrator is struggling to bond with his distant brother as a biblical vibe is looking over the narrator and helping him through his life. Music plays a significant role in the brother’s lives as it changes their view of each other. Sonny’s dream of becoming a jazz musician is shunned upon his brother but he doesn’t quit his dream. His brother worried that pursuing a music career won’t help him financially and can’t become...
Words: 1202 - Pages: 5
...Literary Analysis “He don’t want to die. He wants to live. Don’t nobody ever want to die, ever.” (para. 40) This line speaks volumes about the tones talked about in Sonny’s Blues, written by James Baldwin in 1957. The writing is a powerful short story dealing with a young man’s drug addiction and the steps he takes towards recovery, to the public. In addition to recovery, Sonny’s Blues explores the ways in which individuals can cope with suffering, and specifically details how music allow a person to escape, express, and deal with stress in their life. Throughout the story, Sonny, the narrator’s brother, is arrested for heroin use, receives treatment, and released back into the world; he finds different ways to cope with not only his addiction...
Words: 1088 - Pages: 5
...English 175-‐02: Introduction to Literary Genres Instructor: Aaron Schab aschab@uidaho.edu 209 Brink Hall Department of English University of Idaho Course Meets: Life Sciences South 163 Monday/Wednesday/Friday 9:30 am – 10:20 am January 9, 2013 – May 10, 2013 Course Description In this class, we will learn about the basic conventions and terms used to understand and discuss the three major genres of literature: fiction, poetry, and drama. This class will help you understand the sometimes baffling world of literature, and is intended to provide the general student with basic experience in literary analysis. Additionally, I hope this class will lead you to a lifelong appreciation for (and engagement with) reading literature. Although this class features extensive reading and writing, it is not necessary for you to be a bookworm or a writing superstar to succeed in this class – if you ...
Words: 4621 - Pages: 19
...“THE GODFATHER IS A STAGGERING TRIUMPH...THE DEFINITIVE NOVEL ABOUT A SINISTER FRATERNITY OF CRIME...” --Saturday Review “YOU CAN’T STOP READING IT, AND YOU’LL FIND IT HARD TO STOP DREAMING ABOUT IT!” --New York Magazine THE GODFATHER THE GODFATHER Mario Puzo Copyright © Mario Puzo 1969 All rights reserved For Anthony Cleri THE GODFATHER BOOK I Behind every great fortune there is a crime. --BALZAC Chapter 1 Amerigo Bonasera sat in New York Criminal Court Number 3 and waited for justice; vengeance on the men who had so cruelly hurt his daughter, who had tried to dishonor her. The judge, a formidably heavy-featured man, rolled up the sleeves of his black robe as if to physically chastise the two young men standing before the bench. His face was cold with majestic contempt. But there was something false in all this that Amerigo Bonasera sensed but did not yet understand. “You acted like the worst kind of degenerates,” the judge said harshly. Yes, yes, thought Amerigo Bonasera. Animals. Animals. The two young men, glossy hair crew cut, scrubbed clean-cut faces composed into humble contrition, bowed their heads in submission. The judge went on. “You acted like wild beasts in a jungle and you are fortunate you did not sexually molest that poor girl or I’d put you behind bars for twenty years.” The judge paused, his eyes beneath impressively thick brows flickered slyly toward the sallow-faced Amerigo Bonasera, then lowered to a stack of probation reports...
Words: 172795 - Pages: 692
...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...
Words: 25678 - Pages: 103
...Proceeding for the School of Visual Arts Eighteenth Annual National Conference on Liberal Arts and the Education of Artists: Art and Story CONTENTS SECTION ONE: Marcel’s Studio Visit with Elstir……………………………………………………….. David Carrier SECTION TWO: Film and Video Narrative Brief Narrative on Film-The Case of John Updike……………………………………. Thomas P. Adler With a Pen of Light …………………………………………………………………… Michael Fink Media and the Message: Does Media Shape or Serve the Story: Visual Storytelling and New Media ……………………………………………………. June Bisantz Evans Visual Literacy: The Language of Cultural Signifiers…………………………………. Tammy Knipp SECTION THREE: Narrative and Fine Art Beyond Illustration: Visual Narrative Strategies in Picasso’s Celestina Prints………… Susan J. Baker and William Novak Narrative, Allegory, and Commentary in Emil Nolde’s Legend: St. Mary of Egypt…… William B. Sieger A Narrative of Belonging: The Art of Beauford Delaney and Glenn Ligon…………… Catherine St. John Art and Narrative Under the Third Reich ……………………………………………… Ashley Labrie 28 15 1 22 25 27 36 43 51 Hopper Stories in an Imaginary Museum……………………………………………. Joseph Stanton SECTION FOUR: Photography and Narrative Black & White: Two Worlds/Two Distinct Stories……………………………………….. Elaine A. King Relinquishing His Own Story: Abandonment and Appropriation in the Edward Weston Narrative………………………………………………………………………….. David Peeler Narrative Stretegies in the Worlds of Jean Le Gac and Sophe Calle…………………….. Stefanie Rentsch...
Words: 117240 - Pages: 469
...Salman Rushdie Midnight's Children First published in 1981 Excerpts from the Koran come from the Penguin Classics edition, translated by N. J. Dawood, copyright (c) 1956, 1959,1966,1968,1974. for Zafar Rushdie who, contrary to all expectations, was born in the afternoon Contents Book One The perforated sheet Mercurochrome Hit-the-spittoon Under the carpet A public announcement Many-headed monsters Methwold Tick, tock Book Two The fisherman's pointing finger Snakes and ladders Accident in a washing-chest All-India radio Love in Bombay My tenth birthday At the Pioneer Cafe Alpha and Omega The Kolynos Kid Commander Sabarmati's baton Revelations Movements performed by pepperpots Drainage and the desert Jamila Singer How Saleem achieved purity Book Three The buddha In the Sundarbans Sam and the Tiger The shadow of the Mosque A wedding Midnight Abracadabra Book One The perforated sheet I was born in the city of Bombay ... once upon a time. No, that won't do, there's no getting away from the date: I was born in Doctor Narlikar's Nursing Home on August 15th, 1947. And the time? The time matters, too. Well then: at night. No, it's important to be more ... On the stroke of midnight, as a matter of fact. Clock-hands joined palms in respectful greeting as I came. Oh, spell it out, spell it out: at the precise instant of India's arrival at independence, I tumbled forth into the world. There were gasps. And, outside the...
Words: 217909 - Pages: 872
