Essays on Blues

Drug addiction and brotherly love. Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin. Drug addiction and brotherly love. Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin. African American literature frequently reveals the suffering of people who live in the world full of racism. The Western society used to put African American people in unfavorable conditions throughout the whole history and life in this condition may lead to tragic circumstances. The following essay concerns the story named “Sonny’s Blues” which was written by James Baldwin. It will discuss the main themes of the story which are struggling of people who live in the ...

Introduction

Even if music can be viewed as a universal language, music still differs from society to society largely due to the culture in which that specific music is associated in. In other words, every separate human society has their more or less unique variant of music, which contributes to the characteristic of their culture in general. For example, Latin Americans are commonly associated with Latino music, the hip-hop genre and the blues was commonly credited to the black culture, among others. One particular popular music of interest is the one that came from the Caribbean Islands, particularly the island ...

Abstract

Radio has definitely been one of the most significant technological devices for more than a century. From the moment of its invention in the early 1800s till new developments in recent years, radio has performed a lot of important functions. Throughout the history, radios helped to supply communication and provide entertainment to many cultures. More than one hundred years already, radio still remains a powerful force in American life that will also retain its potency for some time to come. This unique form of mass media has the potential to reach any people, even the illiterate ones. No matter ...

The Flanuer

In order to understand what the flanuer culture encompassed one first needs to understand what flanuer is. According to Charles Baudelaire, the flanuer is a man who is so enthralled by the urban society/world that the external overpowers the internal, so fascinated with the on goings of others that he temporarily forgets his own self. The flanuer removes him form the on goings of thaw world as he/she strands astride the worlds hearts. There are two schools of thought with regards to the description of the flanuer culture. The first school of thought associates the flanuer culture with a ...

Bebop is a jazz style known for fast paces and complex improvisations based on playing off of harmonies. It developed in the 1940s in the United States of America and symbolized the new stage in the ideas about jazz music and its perception. This paper aims to discuss the history of bebop, its establishment as the major modern jazz movement around the days of the decline of big bands, its fragmentation into the styles of cool and hard bop, and the role African-American musicians played in its development. As Gioia writes, from its beginning, jazz was the genre of ...

"I'm glad there's some folks gettin' interested in the old ways. This new generation don't know such things, but when they find the old songs and the tales, they'll delight in them." --Granny in Grandfather Tales (Chase & Williams, 1948) The Southern Appalachian region has a rich heritage of folklore and songs passed down orally from European immigrants settling in the mountain range situated from New York to Georgia (Abramson & Haskell, 2006) from the 18th to the 20th centuries (Hanlon, 2000). Since the middle of the 20th century, variations of the folktales have been compared to publications such as Grandfather ...

Sister Rosetta Tharpe is an inevitable figure in music, especially when it comes to gospel music. Considered as “the Godmother of Rock and Roll”, Sister Rosetta Tharpe played a significant role in the further development of these genres and was a great influence on music stars such as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Little Richard and many more (Graham, para. 2). Born in Arkansas in the year of 1915, Rosetta was an African-American and was raised by her evangelical mother, Katie Bell Nubin, who was incredibly passionate about the church. In fact, the passion was so great that Katie would ...

Jazz as a musical genre appears to have its roots in slavery which began in 1919 when the first African slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia. Between 1650 and 1900, it is estimated that 10 million Africans came across the Atlantic with almost 4 million coming from West Centre Africa. Despite the many hardships, slaves managed to find opportunities for self expression. For example, they would stay after church services to sing and dance. They also met at secret places to listen to travelling preachers and sing spirituals. About 1850, the Protestant City-Revival Movement created a new song genre ...

John Updike’s “A&P” is an excellent example of realistic prose, because it focuses on a seemingly unimportant episode which takes place in the life of an ordinary young man, which however represents a transformative event. The narrator of the story, nineteen-years-old Sammy, uses the type of language that one would expect from a boy, being both funny and naïve. He gives nicknames to the customers and is ironical towards his co-worker. At the same time, he is fascinated by the young girls in bath suits, and particularly, “Queenie”, whom he describes with admiring words, which betray his ...

Blues is a genre of music that is influenced by country music and the American folk culture. Moreover, the music draws from work hollers and songs, folk ballads, European hymns, traditional songs, and a rich mix of African-American spirituals. The first recorded blues was published as sheet music in the 1910s when the music had taken the form of AAB lyrical structure, 12 bars, and an unprecedented scale with the seventh and third notes flatted (Jackson 14). Blues is also an evolution of West African music that was brought to the United States by slaves who used it to ...

Armstrong’s recording of Hotter than that is entirely based on his music prowess. He uses nonsensical syllables but produced solo brilliance which makes the track desirable to the ear and soothing to the heart with a combination of various musical instruments tones such as trumpet, piano, guitar, clarinets and alto saxophone which introduces the track. However, the trumpet dominates the whole track with the sound of other instruments playing distantly in the background. This is boring as there is no smooth flow of the tones. Armstrong’s trumpet solo is characterized by poor quality tones as he plays ...

[First Name Last Name]

Sonny Blue is a short story by James Baldwin writing in 1957 incorporating the major themes of suffering, artistic expression and segregation in a society. It is a story about the narrator who has been successful in creating a secure and stable profession of teaching for himself despite the disparaging pressures that have seen so many black American lead astray (Baldwin 394). The narrator explains his bond with his brother in this story that was hit by stages of separation and return. The book starts when the anonymous narrator of the story while reading the ...

The story “Sonny’s Blues” provides the reader with information about the hard and complicated relationship between two brothers. The narrator of the story is a person who leads a normal life. He is a teacher of algebra who obviously has to work with little children. Therefore, a reader has a certain amount of trust towards the narrator. At the same time, a reader can see the story of Sonny who appears to be narrator’s brother who is always in trouble. The story shows the reader how brothers go from being close and then fighting which leads them ...

Indescribable charm of the Rolling Stones is closely linked with a bright and multi-layered personality of Mick Jagger. Its importance for the group, so long staying on top of glory, not only limited to the fact that Mick almost single-handedly generates the energy that spurts from the stage during concerts the Stones, sings, writes lyrics and has been actively involved in the creation of new compositions. Surprisingly multifaceted and somewhat contradictory nature allows Jagger to perform at least significant duties and in the background. Rolling Stones do not use the services of the manager - because they have Mick ...

The three impressionist paintings I have chosen include the works of Caillebotte, Monet and Conder. I chose these three artists as they are very different from one another in their styles and their use of color. I think that a variety in the office will give the office more life and leave an impression on visitors. Paris Street; Rainy Day by Gustave Caillebotte is one of my favorite impressionist period paintings. Caillebotte painted this is 1877. The painting depicts a rainy day in urban Paris. In the forefront of the painting is a man holding an umbrella with a ...

Question One

In Invisible Man, it is only when the narrator realizes and embraces his invisibility that he turns alive in his own eyes. Then he sees "the darkness of lightness" (6), sense "the Blackness of Blackness" (9), feel the exhilaration of the blues and experiences the visibility of invisibility. Through recognizing the blackness in blackness, the invisible man evokes and invokes the aesthetic of the blues. By remembering the death of Lighting Hopkins, Mackey appropriately signifies on the foundation of the blues. Ellison's narrative also articulates linguistic musicality, as his narrator signs of the invisibility. In the 60 years span ...

Introduction

The Half-blood Blues narrates the story of a black band who successfully recorded a jazz album in the midst of World War II. It centers on a group of jazz musicians whose ambition to become great in their art was dampened by the war. The war did not only deter them from pursuing their musical aspiration as a group, but it also shattered their dreams forever. On the other hand, the Slaughterhouse-Five is considered as an anti-war novel, and centers on the life of Billy Pilgrim. Most of the stories in this novel were based on the experiences of ...

Rock and roll began to emerge shortly after the Second World War somewhere in the mashup of cultures and peoples that comprise the American South. It is a hybrid form whose mixed heritage is marked by poor blacks singing Delta blues, hillbilly descendants of Scots-Irish immigrants, working-class factory heroes, Christian country folk, and urban teens crooning a cappella on street corners. Its journey of 70 or so years has taken it from the margins of society to the center of today’s multi-billion dollar global music industry. Its course can be charted by examining a select handful of the ...

Question 1

One of the most conspicuous thematic elements of the films made in the Asian region is the conflict between the individuals and the social influences or practices. Many directors hailing from different Asian cultures have come forward to make films dealing with such themes. These films have also gained much critical acclamation and popularity all over the world as they are very aptly made to reach out to the emotions and aesthetic sense of the masses. If one explores a few iconic films of Asia, it would become very clear how the makers have inserted elements of dichotomy in ...

The role of music in the life of American society cannot be overemphasized. Today, we are seeing, how the music made its way into all sectors of society and is wholly or partially present in the various activities of ordinary Americans. It is hard to find anyone in the US and around the world, who would not love to listen to music. Ever since the Ancient Greeks, people began knowing music not only as just a set of sounds, but as the whole phenomenon with its complicated structure, classification and other things. Throughout the conscious history, music accompanied mankind, ...

Question 1

It needs to be reckoned that the films made in Asia over the past decades have truly come to excel in the form of cinematic art, and have gained enormous popularity as well as critical acclaim all over the world. If one delves into a few of the iconic Asian films ever made in the history of cinema, it can be comprehended that these films explore the thematic content of the dichotomy between the spirit of emancipation of the individual and the constrictions of the societal norms or the cultural community. A close scrutiny of a few iconic films ...

After The War is considered to be one of the most iconic and ground breaking works of influential playwright Philip Kan Gotanda, who was appointed as a tenured faculty member at the University of California Berkeley's department of theatre, dance and performance studies in 2014. The staging of Gotanda’s play at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum that I viewed recently was markedly different and unique from how the play was first enacted on stage at the American Conservatory Theatre in the 2006-07 period. The play was renamed After The War Blues, and instead of being presented as ...

The purpose of the paper is to write Feldman art critic on the three art works, describing them in detail, analyzing the visual elements and the principles of design. An interpretation of each artwork would be made in order to understand what the artist is trying to say.

Jacob Lawrence’s The Card Game Description

“The Card Game” shows two men and two women playing cards and are seated around a bright red table. They are deeply engrossed in their game and the indigo blue of the background contrast with the white ivory curtains. One can recognize the women with their colorful clothing and embellishments in ...

“Music is a world within itself with a language we all understand.” These are the words of the legendary musician, Stevie Wonder. It goes to show the extent of the impact of music not only regarding entertainment but also regarding its psychological effects. Music has the power to stir the deepest of emotions and thoughts. In the recent past, the study of music psychology has increasingly become the focus of psychologists and other researchers who opine that there is a positive co-relation between the functioning of the psychological processes and singing, composing or merely listening to music (Zbikowski, 77). ...

Among the myriad of cultural phenomena which proliferated and become immortalized to define the electric social atmosphere of the “roaring 20’s”, there is perhaps no better example of a form of artistic expression which at once defined and immortalized the social attitudes and realities faced by individuals living during the period than the genre of Jazz music. Jazz has undoubtedly had a fundamental impact on not only the evolution of artistic expression as seen through the birth of an innovative and vibrant form of musical composition, but also on the transformation of the social status quo of the ...

I was very excited to go to the Getty Museum on Sunday along with a group of friends. We reached the museums at about 11.a.m. Entry to the museum was free, but we paid $15 f or parking our car. We made to the Getty Center where we wanted to explore the exhibition on “The romance of Black in the 19th-Century French Drawings and Prints.” French artists were improving their skills and range of works, including their inspiration to explore the new subject of the darkened realms. The artwork that I have chosen to discuss in the paper is “ ...

Introduction:

Music has always been part of the human and society system. It makes the various occasions to be more meaningful. It also mirrors human emotions as various music relay the internal thoughts and emotions rooted from the different experiences of man. In fact, music is part of the day to day activities of man. There are various types and genres of music. Some are made and played for specific reasons while there are some that can be aired and played at any moment of time. Whereas the number of music accelerates rapidly in today’s generation, there is a ...

Rock music has evolved over the ages and can be traced back to the years of the 1940s. Rock music emerged after fusion of different music genres like country music, jazz, blues western swing, rhythm and blues amongst other (Covach 3). The early rock musicians are like Little Richard, Bill Haley, and Chuck Berry. They are credited with the popularization of rock music in the world as they presented unique fashion styles, dance moves and even integrated pop culture in their music. Though this genre of music was in existence in early 1940, it came to acquire its name ...

In a sense, any rock music is revolutionary. By its very beat and sound it has always instinctively rejects restrictions and celebrates freedom and sexuality. At first, this music was not taken seriously by anyone. It was thought that this is another fashion that will soon disappear, as it was the case with charleston, boogie-woogie and twist. But this music very fast “won” the world. In the development of the music of the late 1960s trends towards an increase of its role in society, characteristic for the 1960s, manifested especially evidently: from another means of entertainment rock music through ...

"Sonny’s Blues" is a classic short story by James Baldwin. The story is centered on Sonny, story's protagonist, a young man searching for meaning in life by questions about his own identity. In his search for his identity, Sonny finds purpose in music while living in Harlem, NYC. Sonny is black, loves jazz and plays piano. Throughout, Sonny experiences many conflicts. In so doing, music underlies not only his life but also story's main events. Music, or blues, is a means by which Sonny ultimately resolves his own conflicts and finds redemption. Sonny is a young man struggling ...

Music could be one of the greatest inventions that happened in our history. It is a form of art and a form of cultural activity which is created out of various elements such as pitch, rhythm, dynamics, and even the audible qualities of texture and timbre. There are many types of music that were created that may have started in the early days. One of which is the Jazz music. This type of music represents a perfect combination of music components and elements in order to create an audible sound that many people have been enjoying since the early ...

Rock and roll is one of the most important genres in the history of modern music. The signature guitar styles, drum rhythms, and powerful electric sound allowed this genre to singlehandedly change the way that music was created, presented, and performed. Rock and roll techniques and styles are present in almost every single genre on the radio today, and the traditional rhythms helped to form the basis for other styles of music. Bo Diddley was a rock and blues legend who was so intriguing that he spent over 60 years on the road playing his songs. Born in Mississippi, ...

Sonny's Blues by James Baldwin (1957) “Sonny's Blues” by James Baldwin is a popular story, in which are metaphorically emphasized musical elements. Closer consideration of blues and jazz forms application and use of musicians such as Creole, Charlie Parker and Louis Armstrong by Baldwin shows that the basic motives of the story are supported by these themes. The blues, as music and state of being, can be considered as basic to story’s structure. Richard N. Albert says, “In this story, content (message) of the blues is all important,” because by a number of blacks they are considered to ...

Album Review of ‘Here’s Little Richard’

One of the most revolutionary albums that was released during the 1950s and was the most liked rock n roll albums, ‘ Here’s Little Richard’ is the debut album that was released in the year 1957. Having been directed and sung in a raspy voice by Little Richard (Richard Wayne Penniman) himself, the album holds the place in the top 50 of the greatest albums ever, even today. Despite having made five decades ago, this album is possibly the greatest rock n roll hits, which people love to listen and remember even today. This particular album of Richard was ...

“Sonny’s Blues” is a story by James Baldwin written in 1957. The story describes a position many adolescents find themselves in when they are in high school. They have to listen to teachers, parents, elder siblings, etc.; however, they have their own opinions, ideas, and passions. Adolescents become very frustrating when they feel that dear people do not understand them or take seriously. This is what happens with the protagonist, Sonny. His brother does not understand his desire to become a musician or join the military. In general, the story is about family, overcoming difficulties, music, and human ...

Description of the Class

The prenatal class was interesting. It covered various childbirth classes and their benefits. The study was presented in a clear and comprehensive manner that made the topics easy to understand. The professor used a lecture as the teaching strategy that entailed the interaction of two students and the instructor. The teacher was good at teaching, and I believe that she did an excellent job.

Benefits of Attending a Childbirth Class

In childbirth classes, one can comfortably air out their fears and concerns regarding labor and birth. They provide a relationship where one can reach out to the childbirth instructor with particular concerns as one prepares ...

Blues for Mister Charlie, a term used to refer to “white men”, is a thriller based on Emmett Till’s case, a young African American man who met his death in cold blood in Mississippi in the year 1955. He was killed for an alleged act of whistling at a white woman. Interestingly, the murdered was soon after let free. This play is cyclical in structure. The play begins with and ends in the murder of one character in the name of Richard, while at the same time, occasionally making use of a series of flashback approach to establishing ...