War is a game of bloodshed, filled with feelings of enmity and hatred. Although this statement is involved, some people fight for their honour and love of their country aswell as pride, glory, and of course acknowledgement. The passage "Three Day Road" by Joseph Boyden brings us behind the eyes of a man in the battle of Vimy Ridge, World War 1. The nature of world war 1 is about using long range guns, resources, unexpected attacks, heavy artillery and of course the mood of this battle was melancholy, bitter and nerve-racking.…
The poem ¨The Highwayman¨ is about a bandit called the Highwayman. He falls in love with a girl named Bess. The Highwayman tells her that he has a job to do and will bring her back gold. He promises that he will be back by moonlight. A man named Tim who loves Bess overhears their conversation. Tim decides to tell the authorities, who were British soldiers where the Highwayman was going to be. Tim does this because he is jealous of the highwayman and Bess’s affections for him. When the Redcoats come they capture Bess for bait. Bess shoots and kills herself to warn the highwayman that the redcoats are there to capture him. When the highwayman hears what has happened to Bess he tries to avenge her death. While riding to the redcoats he gets shot…
John Gospel Singers. During this time, the blues was considered “the devil’s music” so he was not…
Luke Bryan's performance in Nashville for Charlie Daniels' all-star Volunteer Jam didn't go smoothly for the singer. Bryan faced off with a man in the front row that flipped the singer off with his middle finger mid-song. Bryan made his move off the stage to take his shot at the man while he was still singing.…
The story “Sonny’s Blues” was written by James Baldwin in 1957. The story is narrated by Sonny’s elder brother, however the narrator’s name is never mentioned in the entire text. The story revolves around two African American brothers from New York who were trying to understand one another on an emotional level. The younger brother Sonny is a musician, who gets subjugated with heroin abuse in the beginning of the story. However, Sonny’s elder brother, the last remaining member of his family, worries and bring Sonny into his home after he finished his period of rehabilitation. The elder brother reminds himself of the promise he made to his mother to protect Sonny before her untimely demise. Further creating a sense of responsibility of the elder brother towards the younger, due to the past insecurities caused by Sonny; his elder brother pondered about his goals and ambitions. However he finally understands what Sonny is capable off musically…
James Baldwin’s short story “Sonny’s Blues” exemplifies suffering as the major theme depicted through the struggle of two brothers as they try to understand one another. Baldwin’s underlying message deals with the hardships that African-Americans endured through the mid twentieth century, a time when race determined your status in society.…
Baldwin’s choice of the motifs of music and shaking or trembling reveal and reinforce the theme that life is full of suffering and show that Sonny has control of his and other people’s suffering by using those motifs to show the control in which Sonny has recently gained.…
Randall Jarrell, poet, critic, essayist, and former Poet Laureate of the United States, was born in 1914 in Nashville Tennessee and attended Vanderbilt University in that same city. There, Jarrell received his BA and MA studying under John Crowe Ransom and Robert Penn Warren. His poetry is influenced by W.H. Auden and Robert Frost and often uses what poets call “the common dialogue of Americans.” He passed away October 14th, 1965.…
Scott-Heron calls himself a bluesologist. He is sixty-one, tall and scrawny, and he lives in Harlem, in a ground-floor apartment that he doesn’t often leave. It is long and narrow, and there’s a bedspread covering a sliding glass door to a patio, so no light enters, making the place seem like a monk’s cell or a cave. Once, when I thought he was away, I called to convey a message, and he answered and said, “I’m here. Where else would a caveman be but in his cave?”…
In James Baldwin’s short story, “Sonny’s Blues,” the narrator provides multiple expressions and ideas to give us readers a better understanding of what is going on throughout the story. The narrator not only gives us thorough information, but displays major themes as the story changes roles. The term conflict really stood out to me as I was reading through the story. Playing the role of a big brother was not all that easy for the narrator, in which he found out first handed how big of a role it really is. Also in “Sonny 's Blues,” the narrator is reflecting his experiences with family members such as his mother and his younger brother. A special promise was made by the narrator to his mom; “Promise me when…
Musicians possessed both the ability to perform, and in many cases manufacture their own instruments. Traditional homemade instruments in the blues culture such as one string guitars, and “diddley bows,” drums and fifes all had direct connections to West African musical culture. But the strongest vehicle for expressing the blues, was the human voice. Lyrics of the blues expressed African American’s frustration toward a myriad of difficulties. Singers of The Blues gained important social stature which helped bolster their standing among their peers. Blues men who sang possessed a distinctive advantage when finding a place to live, and competing for women. While the blues men sought shelter and companionship, others in society found entertainment in their songs, and comfort in their lyrics. Words to original and improvised Blues songs depict the strained relationship between men and women, the difficulty of their times, and speak directly to the emotions of all members in the…
"The Weary Blues" speaks of a person hearing a Negro playing the blues on a piano "Down on Lenox Avenue the other night,". The poem is centered around this event, explaining "He did a lazy sway He did a lazy sway " It seems that Hughes was addressing the common link of Negro's, urban life, and the blues music seventy years ago; quite a different approach than his other work.…
Have you ever gone out on Saturday night to hear someone sing the blues? Have you ever gone to a Baptist church the next morning and heard a joyful gospel song? You may think the two musical expressions have nothing in common, but if you listen closely and study their histories, you will find some surprising similarities.…
A high school algebra teacher and a drug addict brother. Two different personalities who want nothing but a brotherly relationship. The unknown narrator cares about his brother Sonny but blames himself for who his brother has become. He wishes he could have protected his brother more and in doing so, prevent him his brother’s drug addiction. Sonny and his brother’s relationship is nowhere close to perfect but tries to prove that people can change. In Sonny’s Blue’s, Baldwin uses symbols of Jazz and Blues music, and colors of light and darkness to show their brotherly relationship and their capability of having a good relationship.…
Sonny’s Blues presents numerous biblical themes that strongly correspond with the Holy Bible. The biblical themes of salvation, redemption, forgiveness, light and darkness, and the cup of trembling are displayed throughout the narrative. Biblical themes of brotherly love, bondage, and the prodigal son are also discussed by Baldwin in the story. Each biblical theme articulates the struggles that Sonny dealt with in his life concerning his troubled past and his willingness to escape from these intense storms. A musical theme of the blues is also displayed throughout the narrative to help Sonny to experience redemption, which is available through the music. Sonny’s Blues offers biblical themes and a single musical theme in order to express the…