1. In harlem in the 1950's heroin was on the rise in harlem, and the police force had been thoroughly corrupted by bribes from numbers bosses. These bosses became financial powerhouses, providing money for loans for those who did not qualify for them from banks. Remarkably, one of the powerful early numbers bosses was a woman, Madame Stephanie St. Clair. The rise of heroin in harlem creates complications in Sonny's life because he gets mixed up in the addiction which in turn.
2. Black men were allowed in the miltary but they were segrated from the white troops. There were many black troops. They did have their own victories and the north may not have won the civil war without the help of black troops. Its ironic that sonny wants to join the miltary because their father died in a drunken state durning a war.
3. I feel like Stormy Blues by Billie Holiday best represents Sonny because its about struggling but not letting it get you down.
Billie Holiday I've been down so long That down don't worry me I've been down so long That down don't worry me I just sit and wonder Where can my good man be When it rains in here It's storming on the sea When it rains in here It's storming on the sea Every time I come here Everything happens to me I lose my man I lose my head I lose my money Feel like I'm almost dead I need you honey Need you bad as can be I've been down so long That down don't worry me 4. Bebop emerged in the 1940s a as a style of jazz in great contrast to the music of the big bands. It featured a small group of musicians -- four to six players -- rather than the 10 or more associated with the big bands. The smaller size allowed more solo opportunities for the players. The music itself was characterized by more complex melodies and chord progressions, as well as more emphasis on the role the rhythm section. Furthermore, phrases within the music were often irregular in length, making bebop interesting to listen to, but in contrast to music of the big bands, unsuitable for dancing.  The development of bebop is attributed in large part to trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and alto saxophonist Charlie Parker. The unique styles of Gillespie and Parker contributed to and typified the bebop sound. They experimented with unconventional chromaticism, discordant sounds, and placement of accents in melodies. In contrast to the regular phrasing of big band music, Gillespie and Parker often created irregular phrases of odd length, and combined swing and straight eighth-note rhythms within the swing style. Other influential bebop musicians included saxophonists Sonny Stitt and Dexter Gordon, trumpeters Red Rodney and Kenny Dorham, trombonists J.J. Johnson and Bennie Green, guitarists Tal Farlow and Kenny Burrell, pianists Oscar Peterson, Bud Powell, and Thelonius Monk, drummers Kenny Clarke and Max Roach, and bassists Charles Mingus and Paul Chambers. This form of jazz shows the divide between the black community at that times. This opposition can be seen mainly in several conversations between the brothers. First, when the younger narrator confronts the teenaged Sonny about his plans for the future, Sonny avers that he would like to become a musician. Seeing this career goal as an impractical and therefore dangerous choice, the narrator says, "Well, Sonny, you know people can't always do exactly what they want to do--." This quotation sums up the narrator's personality: he is cautious, responsible, willing to deny himself the things he might want so that he can maintain his foothold as a middle class family man. He's also afraid for Sonny, afraid that Sonny will fail or, because he doesn't understand them, that Sonny's goals are not lofty enough. Sonny responds with "No, I don't know that. I think people ought to do what they want to do, what else are they alive for?," (Norton Introduction to Literature 59) indicating his unwillingness to subordinate his dreams and goals to someone else's standard of success. |
Good job, but you needed to use quotation marks when including direct quotes (to avoid plagiarism) and you did not provide enough content in the first two parts of the assignment. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the story during our discussion next class.
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