Sonny’s Blues
description
Transcript of Sonny’s Blues
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.”