Kimos Essay the Second

Kimo Gray
Hamilton Salsich
9th Grade English
9.22.08

Musical Harmony
An Essay on an Essay
Sonny’s Blues is a tale about a guy who did drugs, got into fights with his family and played music. Well, at first glance, that may seem like the entire story possessed, but if you take a look at Sonny's Blues": A Message in Music, by Suzy Goldstein, a highly educated and talented literary interpreter, you will see that this story holds more. It tells a story of regret, a story of substitution, and a story of hope. But most of all, it tells a story of one of the most powerful forces in the world, music.
Delving deeper into Goldstein’s “A message in Music” we see her thoughts on the relationship between the unnamed narrator and Sonny. In Goldstein’s essay she talks about the use of communication in the story, and the difficulties of understanding when two people collide from different worlds. On the one hand, there is the narrator, the ordinary algebra teacher who wishes nothing else than for Sonny to rise up to the occasion and become a commonplace working man, for he “[only wants] to hear that Sonny is safe and [refuses] to accept the fact that he might not be” (Goldstein). On the other hand, there is Sonny-the dreamer, the musician, the recovering addict- he is all of those things, but with all the brothers’ differences, it seems the only common ground they have with each other is there bloodline. But tunneling deeper into the story, the brothers make numerous attempts to make amends, but their bonds seem far too brittle. And just when all hope seems lost, the story “[Rises] to a thundering crescendo…. [and the] narrator finally hears his brother's sorrow in his music” (Goldstein). This touching scene really defines the power of music that Goldstein expresses in “A Message in Music,” and how the most intimate tunes can mend even the cruelest of relationships.
To say that this essay by Goldstein was good would be a horrifying understatement. Not only does she get her point across about the emotional power of music, but she does it in a way that’s not only entertaining to read, it informs and expands on the nature of Sonny’s Blues message. As I mentioned before, Sunny’s Blues seems like a simple concept in theory, but the talented James Baldwin plays of the stereotype of African American drug dealing musicians, into a touching story that explores the human factor. The first time I read Sunny’s Blues, it seemed sort of cool, but then it intrigued me to read it again, and again, so now looking at Goldstein’s interpretation, I agree with her when she writes “The narrator realizes that their music saves them, for it ‘seemed to soothe a poison out of them ‘ ” (Goldstein). Personally, music has always been a great haven for me to channel all my feelings and thoughts. Be it playing piano or (attempting to) play guitar, or just blaring my tunes on my MP3 player, music has always touched me. So if music is able to help an ordinary person like me to cope with the sometimes difficult challenges of reality, it is more than plausible that it would function the same way for Sonny. Goldstein exploits Baldwin’s use of the two brothers’ musical differences, but how together, the sound is stunning.
Coming to the end of my journey with Sonny’s Blues, I find myself asking, what exactly did I learn from this? I learned from Sonny to never give up on your dreams; I learned from the narrator that understanding is sometimes easier said than done; I learned from Baldwin that a simple stereotype can prove anyone wrong; I learned from Goldstein that the expression of music can be a key to finding peace. “A message in music” brings an entire other side to the story, that contemplates how music helps us, guides us, and inspires us. I know this will not be my last encounter with Sonny’s Blues, be it at the hands of Mr. Salsich, or just a curious thought that prompts me to relive the experience, Sonny and his brother will always stand in my eyes as an example of what music can accomplish.











Works Cited
Suzy Bernstein Goldman. "Sonny's Blues: James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues": A Message in Music." Short Stories for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1998. eNotes.com. January 2006. 22 September 2008.

Scarlet's Essay #2

Scarlet Caruso
Mr. Salsich
English
September 22, 2008


What if you read a book thoroughly and thought that you understood it very well but then you read an essay that brought a whole new light onto the book? That is what happens when you, after reading Sonny’s Blues, read the essay, “’Sonny's Blues’: A Message in Music” by Suzy Goldman. She introduces new ideas, thoughts and meanings into your head, while quietly informing you of the plot. This well written essay could really change the way you thought about Sonny’s Blues.

In Suzy Goldman’s essay about Sonny’s Blues she tells the story in a brief but informative way. Goldman starts off by giving us background information about the story, it’s theme, when it was written and more. The story that was written in 1957, still, “carr[ies] vital social message[s] for us today”. She also introduces us to the two main characters, an unnamed narrator and his brother, Sonny. She explains what Sonny is going through and his brother’s feelings and opinions about it. Goldman also helps us understand why and how the narrator reacts the way he does. Overall Goldman helps you comprehend the characters and the story in a way that could not be achieved by just reading the book.

I think that Goldman’s writing helped understand the book a lot more. I believe anyone that has read Sonny’s Blues should read this after words, it helps explain the main story and what each section means. When Goldman said, “He has begun, finally, to sympathize, to understand (Sonny’s problems)” it made me realize that it didn’t take the brother until the end to understand his problems but he began to in the middle of the story. Also when she pointed out that finding out that your brother had been arrested through a newspaper was so impersonal, I didn’t even think about it before hand. Goldman writing was so in-depth; she understood the figurative and literal meaning of every situation. For example, when she mentions that the musicians were having dialogue and she explains how the narrator understood it and how it made him realize how bad Sonny’s blues really are. Furthermore she mentions the relationship between the two brothers and how incredibly far apart they are. Overall Suzy Goldman truly understands the message and meanings in the book Sonny’s Blues.

Suzy Goldman’s essay, “A Message in Music”, is chock full of anylizations and true meanings in Sonny’s blues. She thoroughly explains the plot and when it was written. She also helps you understand the book’s meaning while explaining the relationship between Sonny and his brother. In conclusion this is a well-written essay that would help anyone who has read Sonny’s Blues.



Suzy Bernstein Goldman. "Sonny's Blues: James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues": A Message in Music." Short Stories for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1998. eNotes.com. January 2006. 22 September 2008. .

Essay

Kate Scott
MR. Salsich
22 September 2008
9th grade English
A Place in the World:
An Essay about an Assay By, Suzy B. Goldman

The essay by Suzy Bernstein Goldman is talking about how music plays a large part in “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin. Music brings the brothers back together after a long time of not being close. Goldman believes that music and communication are the major themes in James Baldwin’s story, I disagree. I believe that having a place in the world is the main theme.

The essay by Suzy Bernstein Goldman is telling us about two themes, communication and music. The first theme that Goldman is telling us about is communication. I think the author of the essay says that this is a theme because the two brothers never really communicated until the narrator went to hear Sonny play the piano at a night club. That is when the narrator finally heard “Sonny Speak for himself” (Goldman 4) while playing the piano. The other theme found in Goldman’s essay is music. Music plays a big part in “Sonny’s Blues”. Music is one of the reasons why the brothers started to fight and drift apart, and it is also the reason why they come back together.

I agree with Goldman’s point in her essay, that music is a theme. After reading her essay I can see how music brought the two brothers together. But I disagree with her other theme, communication. I feel that there is a stronger theme in “Sonny’s Blues” that she did not mention. One theme that she did not mention is that everyone has a place in the world. Just because the narrator doesn’t approve of Sonny’s place, it still exists. At the end of the story the narrator can see it too. Sonny’s place is behind a piano.

While Suzy Bernstein Goldman points out two themes and summarizes them quite eloquently, I feel that there could be a third theme, that every one has a place. The author’s summary is just her understanding of the story and other readers may find new interpretations. One of the nice things about reading is that we can share our different thoughts about the reading and agree or disagree.
Kate Scott
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Work Sited

Suzy Bernstein Goldman. "Sonny's Blues: James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues": A Message in Music." Short Stories for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1998. eNotes.com. January 2006. 19 September 2008. .

Parker Verhoeff

Mr. Salsich

9^th grade English

21 September 2008

Two Brothers:

An Essay on an Essay by, Suzy B. Goldman

The essay, “James Baldwin’s ‘Sonny’s Blues’: A Message in Music”, by Suzy B. Goldman, a writer for Negro American Literature Forum, talked about how you have to listen to each other to understand each other. It was extremely well-written and she explained her thesis very well. This was, truly, a captivating read. The essay shows how two brothers, who are not alike in anyway, can eventually appreciate one another.

Goldman tells us about the complex theme in, “Sonny’s blues”; you have to listen to each other. Sonny and his brother didn’t see eye to eye at first. Goldman explains they tried to understand each other but there was no way the older brother could even comprehend Sonny’s pain, and vice versa. His mother finally tells the eldest one about their father’s brother. Their uncle was killed one night, after being hit by a car full of drunken white men; it was catastrophic for the father. The mother just wanted to tell the narrator to keep sonny close, because you’ll never know when you’ll lose him forever. This prompted the narrator to get in touch with Sonny and finally here him play his music. It, in turn, made him finally realize what Sonny had to go through, by listening to his music he finally, “hears, that is, ‘Sonny’s Blues’” (Goldman).

I agree with the message that Goldman was trying to point out because it was so true: listen to each other; you need to make yourself heard, before it’s too late. Sonny was, Goldman says, “unheard by [his] fellow men”, he was out there playing his heart out for so long while nobody listened to him. He was in a time of need but he didn’t know it, and the narrator couldn’t sense it. Goldman explained that it’s a story about communication between people, or lack there of, and how it can really make or break a relationship. I realized the two brothers didn’t understand each other at all; the oldest didn’t know what was going on in his brother’s life, and Sonny just wanted to do what he wanted to do. I finally became conscious of the terrible relationship these two brothers had. You could tell that the brother regretted it but, It was too late he had lost him a long time ago. But there was hope, one small chance that he could finally hear Sonny play his heart out, he wanted to be there when Sonny made himself heard. In the end he did, he felt his little brother’s pain, he could see his sorrow, and he at last listened to, “Sonny’s blues”.

This essay really brought into light the true values of life. You have to understand each other. There’s no worse feeling in the world, then being unheard by your one and only brother. But you are the only person that can change that, make yourself heard, take time to just appreciate and listen to one and other, before you lose each other forever.

Works Cited

Suzy Bernstein Goldman. "Sonny's Blues: James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues": A Message in Music." Short Stories for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1998. eNotes.com. January 2006. 19 September 2008. .

Kimo Gray

Hamilton Salsich

English

16 September, 2008

The Change that Binds Us

A comparison of two quotes

“Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.”

These words were first written down back in 1903, by the poet, Rainer Maria Rilke, and still today, these words have meaning. When we find ourselves caught up in all the pain and suffering that seems to define us and our questions are unable to be answered, it is always best to stop, breath, and live your life to the fullest of your ability. Rilke tells us that we need to slow down in the present to plan for a better future, but it seems impossible to slow down in our lives; the ancient philosopher Heraclitus once said, “There is nothing permanent except change.” These two quotes oppose and relate to each other in different ways, but both relay the same message, in order to achieve peace, we must have a balance.

While Rilke talks about slowing down throughout our lives, Heraclitus talks about the craziness and confusion that holds us back from achieving peace. When you think about it, it seems so simple to just sit down one day, evaluate your live, and then plan out your life so that you can be both efficient in your daily routine but yet retain the ever-too precious peace. This is far from a reality. There is too much confusion and unpredictability in our lives for us to function like that, for peace is an emotion that comes at a price. But this does not mean we have absolute no control upon our lives. We are lucky to live in a society in which change is easily accepted and adaptation is something we go through numerous times a day. So while change can often seem like a thing to be afraid of, it actually helps us to work towards our goals and to address the questions that make up who we are at the time they are meant to be answered. So while our lives can sometimes seem crazy and wild much like the music in Sunny’s Blues, change is a thing that can be calmed and manipulated to ride out like the cool jazz of a piano.

               Even with the ongoing battle that seems to always go on with change and peace, the two of them must 
coexist, as a person cannot ever hope to function without both, and they both benefit our lives. We cannot be
negligent about change, for without it, our lives would be nothing but an endless string of repetitive nothing, and
our lives would have no meaning. We also cannot live without peace, for without it we would be drones, of 
which desired nothing but the next task. It is nice to enjoy either one of them individually, but we must always
appreciate what both have to offer. Peace and Change both play an integral part in our life, but at different times.
It seems that, when we our younger we experience change in every shape and form, for in this fast moving
world, everything is changing for us, from the technology, to the lifestyle, to our personalities. But as we reach an
elder age, we start to begin to accept the peace that we have so graciously earned throughout all our long
struggles with misery and sadness. To quote William Wordsworth, “He is by nature led to peace so perfect that
the young behold with envy, what the Old Man hardly feels.” So even though we fight off change in our lives, we
know that one day it will bring peace.

               Personally, I favor peace to change any day. There is nothing that sounds more appealing to me than
just spending a day inside reading a good book, or watching one of my favorite movies-but I know that
whatever happens, there will always be subtle change. And I know that whatever that change is, be it good or
bad, that it will help me to achieve a greater peace one day, one that can only be achieved by the wise and
experienced. So listen to Rilke, try to calm down and live your questions now, for as Heraclitus puts it, the
“inevitable change” will one day help guide you to your answers.
loose sentance= blue
fast word = brown

Kate Scott
Mr. H. Salsich
9th grade English
16 September 2008
One Day At A Time;
Comparing two quotes

The Quotes, by Abraham Lincoln and by Rainer Maria Rilke are similar because, they are about living life in the present. Rilke is telling us not to search for the answers but to live life and come across the answers. Lincoln is almost saying the same that the future comes one day at a time and you can not rush it. Both people believe that living life in the present is the best way to live life.

Abraham Lincoln is telling us when you go through life always searching for the future then you’re not really living in the present. The only way to enjoy your future is to enjoy each and every day. If you worry about tomorrow you will never really appreciate today. Once in awhile you have to stop and enjoy each moment no matter how small or large the moment may be. My friends talk about next year and where they will be going to high school. But while they have their mind set for next year they’re missing the present. We need to stop and focus on today not tomorrow. These two quotes have a similar theme, you shouldn’t spend your time searching for all the answers, just experience the moment. The future will find you when you’re ready.

Rainer Maria Rilke quote is pointing out a lesson to live by .This German poet feels you have to live questions to find the answers. I think the author means there are some questions you can’t rush the answer to. You may not be old enough to understand certain questions. Therefore you won’t understand the answers. A young child whose parents divorce may ask him self repeatedly ask, “Why did this happen?”. This child can not comprehend the reasons why his parents divorced. He is too young to search for this answer at this point in his life. When he is older and has experienced more life he will then be able to understand the answer. Someone could also tell you some thing that you’re not ready to know. When you are young, you may not have “lived the questions” long enough to actually understand them. But when you are ready the answer will come to you. This is what can make you unique and different.

After comparing these two quotes and thinking about the similarities they share, I feel that I am going to live my life more in the present. I’m not going to get bogged down worrying about not finding the answers today. Especially answers I’m not ready to hear yet. The best thing about the future is that I’m now ready for it.
Key
Fast words= Green
Loose sentences= Orange

Dream
A comparison between two quotes
An essay by Scarlet Caruso

When you have questions, you want answers and you’ll usually do anything you have to in order to get them. What if you let the answers come to you? What if you asked the opposite thing from everyone else? The quote from Rainer Maria Rilke’s, Letters to a Young Poet and the quote from George Bernard Shaw both exhort you to do those things.

When you have questions you shouldn't resent the fact that you can’t answer them. Instead try to love the questions, “as if they were locked rooms”. Enjoy the questions, enjoy looking for the answers in every lessons and experience you have. Also maybe it’s okay if you have different questions to answer than other people. Don’t worry, live your life in order to answer your own questions. You should, “live your way into the answers”. Instead of wanting to know, dream the possibilities. You should always, “dream things that never were”. “Live the questions” instead of searching for the answers.

There are also a lot of differences in the messages in these two poems. Firstly, Rilke wants you to take your time in finding answers while Shaw wants you to think of all the possibilities and just go for it. For example Shaw want you to dream it and think ‘why not?’. On the other hand Rilke says, “have patience with everything unresolved in your heart”. Another difference is that Rilke wants you to look for the answers and find them in things that are known but Shaw says dream the answers. Shaw says, “Dream things that never were” or dream the impossible, create your own answer. Wait for your answers in the books you read and in the things you learn is what Rilke tells us to do. Lastly when Shaw says work and pursue for your dreams Rilke tells us to be patient and to wait. I “dream things… and say ‘why not’ ” shouts Shaw. Rilke writes, “don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now”.

There are just as many things alike in this poem as there are differences. Don’t hate your questions love them and think ‘why not’ instead of ‘why’. Dream your answers or wait for them to come. Overall don’t worry about the little questions let them come to you or dream your way into them.

Submitted by:
Scarlet Caruso
September 16, 2008
Pine Point School


bold= FAST word

italics= loose sentence

Parker Verhoeff

Mr. H. Salsich

9^th grade English

15 September 2008

In The Heart:

A Comparison between Two Quotes

What does German poet, Rainer Maria Rilke, have in common with Helen Keller? Well both of them have some of the most intriguing quotes. Rilke talks about keeping your questions in your heart and Keller states that the most important things are found in the heart. In other words, the most vital and/or beautiful things, lie inside yourself.

Don’t let go of your most cherished fixations, considering that you won’t have anything to live for after words. Rilke explains, “I would like to beg you […] to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart.”, he wants you to keep these questions, no matter how long it may take to get the answers. Keller states, “The best and most beautiful things in life […] are felt in the heart.” e.g. the questions that Rilke was talking about. You must persist on keeping them because you don’t want the answers now. You want to, “live the questions”, first, so you can, “live everything”. If you find out the answers now, you might not even understand them, however, most importantly, there’s no point to life anymore. The questions are meant to be answered with age. When you do wait, and the answers come, you will acquire a much deserved result, which will be far greater then obtaining them prematurely. You will understand the answers, they will make perfect sense. They will become, “The best and most beautiful things”, in your heart. All of which, will- in the end- make your life worth living.

I agree with Keller entirely: the greatest, most breath-taking and important things in life are, “felt in the heart”. Rilke explains to have patience with them. Let the key things, e.g. questions, be, “unresolved”, for now. Rilke also says, “[..] love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language.”, so you can decipher and study them, which requires love and dedication. On the other hand, “Don’t search for the answers,” Rilke exclaims, “which could not be given to you now”, because you would not be able to find them anyway. Let the questions linger there in your heart. As Keller said, “[they] are felt in the heart.”, you just have to feel them, they, “cannot be seen [or] touched”, so don’t worry or fret. The questions won’t go anywhere. You have to have trust in yourself that, “someday far in the future”, you will have attained those answers. Rilke finally states, “You will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.”

It’s admirable that Keller and Rilke can teach us about exceptional values on how to live our life. Just feel and keep the beautiful questions, fixations and ideas in your heart. Just, “live everything”, Rilke tells us, and in time you’ll find the answers to everything.

Key

------ = loose sentence

----- = F.A.S.T word

WELCOME!!!

Hello,
We are 9th grade students at Pine Point School. We will be posting all of our essays from English class. Hope you enjoy!

Sincerely,
Parker Verhoeff, Kate Scott, Kimo Gray, and Scarlet Caruso