Sonny's Blues

Link about identity and where you are from:

http://www.citylab.com/navigator/2015/10/what-youre-really-asking-when-you-ask-where-are-you-from/411688/
 Outside sources for Baldwin:

http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap10/baldwin.html

http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/03/29/specials/baldwin.html?scp=3&sq=james%20baldwin&st=cse

Baldwin sources:
http://www.literaryhistory.com/20thC/Baldwin.htm

History of Harlemhttp://www.harlemheritage.com/history-of-harlem/

http://www.biography.com/tv/classroom/harlem-renaissance

http://www.history.com/topics/harlem-renaissance

Below is the Bible scripture that Baldwin refers to:
“The cup of trembling”
22
Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again:
23
But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over

1)    At one point the narrator says that Sonny was playing “playing for his life”; what does this quotation mean to you? Explain

2)   Can you find a place in the story where Baldwin makes use of the images of darkness and light? Explain the use of light and darkness

3)   Reread the exchange between the narrator and Sonny's friend. How would you characterize the narrator's behavior and feelings towards Sonny's friend? Is the narrator kind, cruel, compassionate, abrupt, empathic, angry? Explain your view and the evidence supporting it. Why does the narrator react the way he does?

4)   Critics have said that “Sonny’s Blues” is a story about hope but that hope is tempered by knowledge of terrible dangers. Explain what you think that means.