CRA draft:

Introduction:

James Baldwin’s novel “Sonny’s Blues,” tells the story of a young black man named Sonny through the perspective of the narrator, his unnamed brother. We learn about their difficult lives in Harlem during the 1950s, particularly Sonny’s, who has recently been released from prison, where he was sent due to his heroin addiction. Throughout the story, there is a heavy feeling of gloom, sadness, and failure in which society paints over Sonny. He has a difficult time finding his place as a Black man with a dream to be a musician in a society that sees him as a failure who will always go back to addiction. Baldwin portrays that the faithlessness of Sonny’s outside environment makes it hard for him to succeed as a young Black man, and while looking at it through a Freudian perspective, Sonny’s artistic gift as a Jazz pianist was his way of breaking free from the norm that he would be subjected to failure.

Two outside articles: I found one about addiction specifically in the African American community and the ideas of society towards them and how its affected young teens. 

Draft 2 of thesis statement: James Baldwin argues that the faithlessness of Sonny’s outside environment makes it hard for him to succeed, and while looking at it through a Freudian perspective, Sonny’s artistic gift was his way of breaking free from the norm that he would be subjected to failure. (In the intro talk about how society is painted with darkness but Sonny changes this himself towards the end of the story)

( I want to talk about how society conducts this idea of how African Americans are subjected to having a less of a good life due to their skin color and due to the stereotypes people have created around them)

I really want to make it clear how the story changes

Body 1:  I will talk about society and the effects its had on sonny and his life

During the 1950s, Sonny, an African American character, was unhappy and began taking heroin. At times, he was subjected to failure by society, his own friend, and even his brother. Society makes it hard for a person like Sonny to actually believe in himself and people of color are usually fed the stereotypes people create around them. James Baldwin portrays this when Sonny’s old friend says to sonny’s brother “ “You mean – they’ll let him out. And then he’ll just start working his way back in again. You mean he’ll never kick the habit. Is that what you mean?” “That’s right,” he said, cheerfully. “You see what I mean” (3). Sonny’s old friend is voicing the idea that the outside world has created the belief that even though Sonny was to get out of jail sober he’s just going to get back into drugs again. This belief that Sonny will remain a failure is held not only by the world outside of Harlem but by the people of Harlem themselves, who have been fed the stereotype that once a black man has made a mistake, he is unlikely ever to make a success of his life. The stereotypes made on young black Americans has been brought up in an article called “Stereotype or Reality: Another Look at Alcohol and Drug Use Among African American Children” by Linda E. Bass and Edna Kane Williams. The authors talk about young black Americans and the use of drugs and alcohol. On page 78 the authors write “Many see African American communities….as being devoid of basic decency, devoid of hope, where the citizens are so consumed by the deviance and social disorganization” ( Bass and Williams 78).

 

Body 3: (I will be talking about how artistic gift is presented in the story)

Sonny overcomes the darkness between society and himself with his talent and his dream to become a musician. Even after being labeled as an addict and a young man whos troubled he was able to overcome this. His addiction to heroin and going to jail isn’t something that is socially acceptable and Sonny was able to get out of jail and put this “addiction” into something else which is music. This is called the artistic gift which Freud talks about in his fifth lecture. He describes the artistic gift as  ( I will be talking about Freud concepts and how this connects back to him overcoming the darkness)

 

Annotated essays for peers: