Writing Homework Help
University of Maryland Baltimore Sonnys Blues by James Baldwin Discussion
I’m working on a literature question and need guidance to help me understand better.
Some points/discussion questions to choose from: 1) Sonny’s desire to be a musician and how this affects his older brother (the narrator); 2) the two brothers’ relationship dynamic (particularly the responsibility an older sibling has to a younger sibling? generational differences, historical context) ; 3) the first person point of view of the story—how we learn about Sonny and others through the single perspective of the older brother; 4) how Baldwin uses music within the story to enhance conflict and characterization; how music is also used as a form of communication, solace, survival… (for Sonny? even for those in the street revival? etc.) and, 5) ultimately, how music is used as a unifying force for the two brothers at the end of the story. The narrator undergoes change by the end of the story, thus enhancing the literary use of the character arc: how a character changes by the end of the story as the plot unfolds.
