“Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin

Format: This essay should be a well-developed essay including an introduction ending in a thesis statement, a minimum of three (3) body paragraphs headed with a topic sentence, and a conclusion that draws your ideas to a close. It should be a minimum of 700 words.
Follow MLA formatting using the MLA header (see syllabus), double space, with one-inch margins. On the first page include your name, the class, my name, and the date in the upper-left hand side, and follow with a creative title centered on the line below this header.
Page Numbering: After the first page, place the pager number in the header on the right side with your last name in front of the number, for example Smith 2.
Content: For this essay, you will develop a thesis and support with examples. The examples should be well developed with specific details and focused on supporting your thesis.
Organization: begin with an introduction that ends with a well-developed thesis statement. Follow with a minimum of three body paragraphs that provide detailed examples supporting your thesis. Select a sufficient range of examples and arrange them carefully in order to make your thesis convincing. End with a conclusion that reinforces the essay’s main idea and purpose for your essays. The closing sentence should provide an insightful idea that provides the reader “food for thought.”
Topic: Focus your essay on one of the following topics:
Choose a short story we have read in which the author uses metaphors and similes as literary devices. Determine what each is comparing and then analyze the relationships between both the comparison and with one another. What if anything do the similes and metaphors have in common? What patterns, if any do they establish between them and for the overall meaning of the story? Are they a prominent aspect of the story’s style? How would the story change if the author had not used these literary elements?
Describe how Baldwin uses jazz as a literary element in “Sonny’s Blues.” Examine his use of musical elements before the reader knows that Sonny wants to be a musician. What is the effect of music on the story as a whole? What is the narrator’s attitude towards jazz? Does that attitude change over the course of the story?
Compare and contrast the use of music in “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin and “Where are you Going, Where have you been” by Joyce Carol Oates. Why do the authors of these two short stories use music the way they do? Does music play a part in the overall meaning/theme of the short stories? Is music used as a way to organize the flow of the story? If so, how?
Choose a short story we have read and analyze the author’s use of one or more literary elements such as use of character, setting, plot, figurative language, symbolize, etc. Be sure to “show” your reader how this short story uses this element(s) and how its use affects the context and effect of the story.
Citations: Your sources including interviews must be cited in text and in a Works Cited.
The University of Western Australia MLA Guide provides excellent examples of MLA citation. You will find that guide at the following address.
https://guides.library.uwa.edu.au/mla/8th-ed

Last Completed Projects