Julie Philippe
Mr. H. Salsich
English 9
September 20th, 2008
Sonny lived a hard life: his heroin addiction, his father’s secrets that were kept from him, and his loneliness kept him from finding what he really loved. His brother was not of any help until he realized that Sonny was not just a heroin addict, he was his brother and he needed help. Suzie Goldman writes an essay about Sonny’s Blues which truly takes us into the reality: Everyone has the “blues” once in a while and everyone makes mistakes. We just need to accept ourselves and find something “to soothe [the] poison out of [us]” (Baldwin).
TS In Suzie Goldman’s essay, Goldman rephrases the story of Sonny’s Blues with two major themes. SD Goldman’s first theme is “hear and listen” in which she talks about the miscommunication between Sonny
and his brother, the narrator. CM After Sonny is arrested for drug addiction,
the narrator lets Sonny back into his life, only to discover more about his brother. CM As the never ending discussions between the two brothers continue, the two seem to be parting from each other instead of helping each other through their problems. SD Goldman’s second theme is music in which she describes that the only way Sonny expresses himself, is through music. CM Sonny understand himself through “[his] desperate commitment to the piano” (Goldman). CM Sonny plays music not only, to let go of his feelings, but he also wants to be heard and understood. CS The two themes that Goldman describes in her essay, communication and music, saves Sonny and the narrator as they go farther into their lives.
TS This essay made me realize that these kinds of things happen in every day life, whether it is miscommunication between two people or feeling the “blues”, but there is one theme that Goldman defines so well in her essay: Finding yourself. SD Miscommunication played a big part in Sonny’s life as Sonny never listened to what his brother had to say and the narrator, never gave Sonny a chance to express himself. CM The only way Sonny expressed himself was through his music and “[while] playing his own song, Sonny [found] a way to listen” (Goldman). SD Sonny finds himself by playing music. CM That is, when he played music, he could finally feel good about himself as others accepted the way he was. CM Not only did he express himself while playing the piano, his brother was listening without judgment. CS “Sonny’s music stirs special memories in the brothers’ lives, but these blues belong to all of us, for they symbolize the darkness which surrounds all those who fail to listen” (Goldman).
Goldman’s essay not only summarizes the story of Sonny’s Blues, but she also depicts things that happen to everyone. Everyone feels “blue” once in a while and we all need that one person to listen to us. No one ever listened to Sonny except when he played music. Sonny begins to accept himself through his talent and the only thing the narrator can do is listen. We’ve all got our darkness and our sorrow, all we need to do is “to release the storm” (Baldwin).
Works Cited
Suzy Bernstein Goldman. "Sonny's Blues: James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues": A Message in Music." Short Stories for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1998. eNotes.com. January 2006. 21 September 2008.
Mr. H. Salsich
English 9
September 20th, 2008
Sonny’s Blues:
an analysis of Sonny’s Blues and Suzy Goldman’s essay
Sonny lived a hard life: his heroin addiction, his father’s secrets that were kept from him, and his loneliness kept him from finding what he really loved. His brother was not of any help until he realized that Sonny was not just a heroin addict, he was his brother and he needed help. Suzie Goldman writes an essay about Sonny’s Blues which truly takes us into the reality: Everyone has the “blues” once in a while and everyone makes mistakes. We just need to accept ourselves and find something “to soothe [the] poison out of [us]” (Baldwin).
TS In Suzie Goldman’s essay, Goldman rephrases the story of Sonny’s Blues with two major themes. SD Goldman’s first theme is “hear and listen” in which she talks about the miscommunication between Sonny
and his brother, the narrator. CM After Sonny is arrested for drug addiction,
the narrator lets Sonny back into his life, only to discover more about his brother. CM As the never ending discussions between the two brothers continue, the two seem to be parting from each other instead of helping each other through their problems. SD Goldman’s second theme is music in which she describes that the only way Sonny expresses himself, is through music. CM Sonny understand himself through “[his] desperate commitment to the piano” (Goldman). CM Sonny plays music not only, to let go of his feelings, but he also wants to be heard and understood. CS The two themes that Goldman describes in her essay, communication and music, saves Sonny and the narrator as they go farther into their lives.
TS This essay made me realize that these kinds of things happen in every day life, whether it is miscommunication between two people or feeling the “blues”, but there is one theme that Goldman defines so well in her essay: Finding yourself. SD Miscommunication played a big part in Sonny’s life as Sonny never listened to what his brother had to say and the narrator, never gave Sonny a chance to express himself. CM The only way Sonny expressed himself was through his music and “[while] playing his own song, Sonny [found] a way to listen” (Goldman). SD Sonny finds himself by playing music. CM That is, when he played music, he could finally feel good about himself as others accepted the way he was. CM Not only did he express himself while playing the piano, his brother was listening without judgment. CS “Sonny’s music stirs special memories in the brothers’ lives, but these blues belong to all of us, for they symbolize the darkness which surrounds all those who fail to listen” (Goldman).
Goldman’s essay not only summarizes the story of Sonny’s Blues, but she also depicts things that happen to everyone. Everyone feels “blue” once in a while and we all need that one person to listen to us. No one ever listened to Sonny except when he played music. Sonny begins to accept himself through his talent and the only thing the narrator can do is listen. We’ve all got our darkness and our sorrow, all we need to do is “to release the storm” (Baldwin).
Works Cited
Suzy Bernstein Goldman. "Sonny's Blues: James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues": A Message in Music." Short Stories for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1998. eNotes.com. January 2006. 21 September 2008.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2008
Julie's Essay
Julie Philippe
Mr. H. Salsich
English 9A
September 15th 2008
Mr. H. Salsich
English 9A
September 15th 2008
Questions and Answers
- an essay comparing 2 quotes
Everyday, we wake up with questions. Questions that we try so hard to answer, but as minutes become hours and hours become days, the questions never seem to be answered. It almost seems as if they were just questions without answers. As we grow older and become more experienced with life, we also realize that “the essential is invisible to the eyes. We can only see with the heart”. I believe that the questions are the “essential” of life and the answers will come deep down from our hearts.
I believe that everything you do for someone else or the questions you answer come from the heart. SD If we live our life following our hearts, the answers will come. CM Sometimes, our heart will guide us through the unthinkable. CM Without even knowing it, we will have lived through our
questions, only to find the answers. SD We can only live the big questions with a big heart. CM The things you do for someone come from the heart. CM The things you share with someone comes from the heart. SD Our lives are full of questions and mysteries. We must let our hearts lead us through our answers. CM We must let our hearts lead us through life. CS Only the heart contains all the questions and we must let it give us the answers.
Life without questions would be like a wallet without money. Life would be hollow and plain and there would be nothing to dream for or nothing to live through (loose sentence). SD Many people have a warm and giving heart. CM They are ready to help the people in need, live their way into the answers. CM They are ready to give their heart and altruism so that others can also have answers to their own questions. SD Unlike a big vast open ocean, the heart is a “locked room” which contains the deepest and hardest questions of life. CM Our questions are locked and unanswered so that we can have a chance to live everything- the good and the bad. CM No one knows what is in a heart until questions are asked. SD A wallet without money is like a heart without questions. CM Questions are meant to be asked, only to be answered from the heart. CM Questions are part of our life and we must wait for the answers to come. CS The questions are what makes our life whole and our heart full.
Our eyes only help us see what we look for in a world. Our heart lead us through our questions. Our heart contains everything, so much kindness, so much warmth, and so many questions (loose sentence). The heart lets us live through everything and answers our questions. Every night, we fall asleep with new questions but we don’t search for the answers, we let life take us through them.
