Kate Scott
Mr. Salsich
9th grade English
October 6, 2008
Both short stories, “Sonny's Blues”, by James Baldwin and “Winter Dreams” by, F. Scott Fitzgerald's have gains and losses. I feel like sonny, a drug addict had more gains then Dexter the successful man. Sonny’s life was hard but he knew where he belonged, unlike Dexter.


I feel that when sonny has a loss, he ends up with a gain too. The loss that starts the story is when Sonny’s parents die. I think it really hurts him and he hides the pain by playing the piano. With him playing the piano, he skipped school and started using drugs. One of the gains is that Sonny got the respect of his brother. At first the narrator didn’t believe that playing the piano should be the only thing in Sonny’s life, and his job. But the narrator finally hears Sonny playing the piano he realizes that sonny belongs there. Another gain in “Sonny’s Blues” is Sonny’s appreciation for music. This gain is shown through the whole story. It starts at the beginning when his parents die and can be found through out the whole book. When the narrator stopped to listen at the end of the story it made it seem that sonny was going to stop using drugs and his life may turn in to a better life.


I feel that Dexter in the short story “Winter Dreams” has more losses then gains. One gain that he does have is success. When Dexter moved to the city and went to collage he learned a lot it helped him start his own business. The business turned him from a caddy at his golf course to a golfer. When Dexter goes back to gold he sees Judy Jones again and thinks she’s even beautiful them before. He and Judy have a thing for a few days and Judy decides to moves on and leaves Dexter. Loosing Judy was not deters biggest loss, it was that her personality faded when she got married to the man she loved. All though she had the gift of “eternal youth (Burhans)” as the essay, ‘‘Magnificently Attune to Life’’: The Value of ‘‘Winter Dreams’’ says Dexter loved her personally more and the way she got what she wanted. . But now she got what she wanted and her personality was vanishing, disappearing and evaporating. His losses are through out the book and there are only a few gains.


Both of the stories are good and different. They make you think about different things but they are also similar by both having gains and losses. They both teach you a different lesson with there gains and the same with the losses. Both stories and protagonist have gains and losses.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Works Cited
Burhans , Clinton S., Jr.. "Winter Dreams: ‘‘Magnificently Attune to Life’’: The Value of ‘‘Winter Dreams’’." Short Stories for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 15. Detroit: Gale, 1998. eNotes.com. January 2006. 7 October 2008. .
http://www.enotes.com/winter-dreams/magnificently-attune-life-value-winter-dreams