“Sonny’s Blues” Make-up for English II PAP Summer Reading

All students must do part A and part B to receive credit.

PART A

Choose ONE of the two quotations and complete the writing assignment that goes with it. All page numbers correspond with the numbers on your handout of the story.

One boy was whistling a tune, at once very complicated and very simple, it seemed to be pouring out of him as though he were a bird, and it sounded very cool and moving as though he were a bird, and it sounded very cool and moving through all that harsh, bright air, only just holding its own through the other sounds (123).

  • Write a multi-paragraph essay of at least 300 words in which you explain how this particular quote contributes to the meaning of the story as a whole. You may want to consider how it speaks to a central theme of the story or to Sonny’s character. In other words, although this quote depicts a single, seemingly fleeting observation made by the narrator early in story, it has some fairly obvious resonances seen throughout. Explain a couple of them, making sure to support your essay with at least two direct textual references.

…Sonny isn’t any of those things; but it was as though he were wrapped up in some cloud, some fire, some vision all his own; and there wasn’t any way to reach him (137).

  • What does the narrator mean by this? In a well-developed essay of no fewer than 300 words, explain what you think the narrator means and whether the description applies to Sonny throughout the story. Be sure to support your essay with at least two examples from the text.

PART B

Write a relatively brief (175—225 word) style analysis over the passage that begins with “Yet, watching Creole’s face…”(147) and ends with “…and that trouble stretched above us, longer than the sky” (148).

Choose one of these questions to answer in the style analysis, making sure to include at least two, preferably three, textual references:

  • How does Baldwin use either syntax or figurative language to capture the experience of Sonny’s playing? In other words, how does the passage’s language mimic the experience of music?
  • Identify how Baldwin uses a particular literary device to develop tone throughout the passage. By the way, there is a significant tonal shift in the passage in which the narrator’s initial feelings change to something else. Explain the various tones and where and how Baldwin achieves this tonal shift.
  • What is the central theme of the excerpt and how is it developed?