Sonny’s Blues

Harlem 1950s Harlem Today

Contrast these two images.

Objective

• Students will build necessary background knowledge for reading

“Sonny’s Blues” by viewing related non-print

text.• Students will begin

reading “Sonny’s Blues”.

Agenda• Bell Work• Share Out• Background for Sonny’s Blues• Group reads “Sonny’s Blues”

together• Independent reading of

“Sonny’s Blues” –Complete Guided Questions

while reading• Clean Up

Agenda

Gallery

Gallery

What is the setting?• Post World War II Harlem• Artists establish Greenwich Village as cultural

capital – Responding to the crisis caused by the war

• 50s leading up to the radical 60s • African American soldiers returning home from

the war and heading north towards Harlem– instead of finding new job opportunities and equal

rights, they found newly constructed housing projects and vast urban slums

HARLEM SHADOWSby Claude McKay

HEAR the halting footsteps of a lassIn Negro Harlem when the night lets fallIts veil. I see the shapes of girls who passEager to heed desire's insistent call:Ah, little dark girls, who in slippered feetGo prowling through the night from street to street. Through the long night until the silver breakOf day the little gray feet know no rest,

Through the lone night until the last

snow-flakeHas dropped from heaven upon the earth's white breast,The dusky, half-clad girls of tired feetAre trudging, thinly shod, from street to street. Ah, stern harsh world, that in the wretched wayOf poverty, dishonor and disgrace,Has pushed the timid little feet of clay.The sacred brown feet of my fallen race!Ah, heart of me, the weary, weary feetIn Harlem wandering from street to street.

Blues

• The blues became a dialogue between a human being and his guitar

• Comes from slave spiritual songs

• Expresses the sadness and hardships experienced by people

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgaxYEsEVVY

Jazz • Breaks the traditional

conventions of music• Music that relies on

instinct, not structure• Derives from the Blues• Originated in southern

black communities • Famous musicians: Louis

Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnoKOlMomqA

FlashbackA narrative technique that allows a writer to present past events during current events, in order to provide background.

By providing background information, the writer provides the reader with insight into a character's motivation and/or background to a conflict.

After we read together…

• Continue to read independently.• Complete the guided reading

questions.

Bell Work

“The seven years' difference in our ages lay between us like a chasm: I wondered if these years would ever operate between us as a bridge. I was remembering, and it made it hard to catch my breath, that I had been there when he was born; and I had heard the first words he had ever spoken. When he started to walk, he walked from our mother straight to me. I caught him just before he fell when he took the first steps he ever took in this world” (Baldwin, P. 6).

(50 words minimum)

What do these details reveal about the narrator’s attitude towards Sonny?

ObjectiveStudents will analyze character relationships through the use of allusion in “Sonny’s Blues”.

Allusion

A r e f e r e n c e i n a l i t e r a r y w o r k t o a p e r s o n , p l a c e ,

o r t h i n g i n h i s t o r y o r a n o t h e r w o r k o f

l i t e r a t u r e .

Turn and TalkCain spoke to Abel his brother. And

when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed

him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He

said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” And the Lord said,

“What have you done? Do you think Cain really asking if it’s his job to be

concerned about his brother in a loving, compassionate fashion? OR is he reacting in a sarcastic manner?

Being Your Brother’s Keeper

• Allusion to Cain & Abel– Like people kept/cared for sheep, the

brother takes care of his brother• Means that we have an obligation to

care for our family members

Evaluate

"You got to hold on to your brother," she

said, "and don't let him fal l , no matter

what it looks l ike is happening to him

and no matter how evi l you gets with

him. You going to be evi l with him many

a t ime. But don't you forget what I told

you, you hear?” (Baldwin, P.11)

The last time the narrator sees his mother, she makes him promise to “hold onto his brother”.

Read the following passage from the text. What is she expecting the narrator to do?

After we read together…

• Continue to read independently.• Complete the guided reading

questions.

Bell WorkDo you think the

narrator is successful at being Sonny’s

keeper? Use evidence from the text to

support your opinion.

Bell Work

Would you describe yourself as someone who reacts to different events in l ife, or someone who doesn’t let occurrences affect them?

50 words minimum. Provide examples.

Bell Work

How would you describe yourself (a loyal friend, a

prankster, a leader, nosey sibling etc.)?

50 words minimum. Provide examples.

Bell Work

If you were a character, would you be flat or round? What traits contribute to your personality?

50 words minimum. Provide examples.

Bell Work

Do you think people’s personalities change over the

course of their l ives? Why or why not?

50 words minimum. Provide examples.

Objective

Students will be able to distinguish between static, round, flat, and

dynamic characters by completing a characterization chart.

Static Character • Does not change much during the course of the story.

• They typically remain the same.

Dynamic Character• Changes in some

important way as a result of the story’s action.

• These characters show changes in personality and attitude.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQKlstAGqzU

Flat Character• Has 1 or 2 personality

traits • They are 1-

dimensional, like cardboard

• Can be summed up in one phrase: loyal sidekick, the nosey neighbor, the buffoon

Round Character• Shows emotional

and psychological development

• Complex, like real people with multiple dimensions to their personalities

Types of Narratives:• Linear: plot structure that

runs in a chronological or logical cause-and-effect sequence.

• Episodic: plot made up of loosely connected events

Character QuizThe protagonist from the tell-tale heart is a…

a)Flat characterb) Dynamic character

Character QuizDoodle, from “The Scarlet Ibis” is a

a) Flat characterb) Round Character

Character Quiz

Lizabeth from “Marigolds” is a a)Round characterb) Flat character

Character QuizJohn Burke, Ms. Lottie’s son, from “Marigolds” is a

a)Static Characterb)Dynamic Character

Sonny’s Blues Characters

Complete the characterization charts for “Sonny’s Blues” in

your packet.

Bell WorkWhich of the following struggles would be the most difficult to overcome? Explain.

Getting through a blizzard during a power outage

A fist fight with Mike Tyson Losing records of your identity to a

super computer Managing your midlife crisis Living in a country with an unfair

government 50 Words minimum

Bell WorkAnalyze the following passage. Which

type of conflict is presented?“Most of the houses in which we had grown up had vanished, as had the stories from which we had stolen, the basements we had first tried sex, the rooftops we had hurled bricks. Boys found themselves encircles by disaster. Some escaped the trap, most didn’t. Those who got out always left something behind, as some animals amputate a leg and leave it in the trap.” (Refer to P. 7)

50 Words minimum

ObjectiveStudents will be able to analyze conflict using print and non-print

texts.

What is Conflict?A struggle between opposing forces

• There are 2 types of conflict:– External– Internal

External Conflictstruggle between a literary or dramatic character and an outside force such as nature or another character

Internal Conflicta conflict involving opposing forces within a person’s mind

Man vs. Man• Character struggles with another character • Ex: arguments, conflicting desires, opposing

goals, physical confrontations or emotional dilemmas

• External Conflict

Man vs. Nature• Character vs. the

forces of nature that are out of the characters' control

• Ex: diseases, animals, land, and weather conditions

• External Conflict

Man vs. Society• Character

disagrees with society’s laws, beliefs, or values

• External conflict

Man vs. Technology• Character

struggles against robots, super computers, or other types of advanced technology

• Usually in fantasy, science fiction, and supernatural books

• External Conflict

Man vs. Self• Character

struggles with moral dilemmas, emotional challenges or desires

• Takes place within the character’s soul or conscious

• Internal Conflict

Protagonist

The central character in a story, the one who initiates and drives the action

Antagonist

• The force that struggles against or blocks the protagonist in a narrative

• Does not always have to be a person– Can be nature (an antagonistic storm)

THE PROTAGONIST IS NOT NECESSARILY THE HERO OR THE “GOOD GUY.”

THE ANTAGONIST IS NOT NECESSARILY THE “BAD GUY.”