Did you know that a poem and a short story could sound a lot alike? Naomi Shihab Nye and James Baldwin both write about having problems with brothers. They both use figurative language. Overall they are two very similar writers.


Naomi Shihab Nye uses a lot of figurative language in her poem, "The Little Brother Poem". For example she says, "Today I am cleaning the house." Perhaps she is using personification in saying that she is cleansing her mind. She is not actually tidying up her home but looking through the memories of her younger brother who has been hurt, who has been teased, who has run away. (ASYNDETON). Another example is when she says, "a strange bruise you still carried under the skin." No, she is not saying that there is a visible bruise, but a figurative one. An emotional bruise that her brother had obtained from her teasing. Lastly Ms. Nye says, "fingering receipts and stubs, trying to put them back in some kind of shape." She is not thinking of the actual souvenirs her brother has kept, but the memories. She is "dumping out the whole drawer at once" ,looking at the hurtful things she has said and apologizing.(PERIODIC SENTENCE AND PARTICIPLE PHRASE) The figurative language Naomi Shihab Nye uses makes her poems stimulating(FAST), alluring(FAST), and consequential(FAST).

In "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin, the narrator has similar dilemmas as Nye has is her poem. For example, the narrator says, "where Isabel is weeping against me seems a mortal wound." This quote reminds me of when Ms. Nye says that her brother has a "strange bruise under the skin." Both speak of a imaginary bruise that someone has to deal with. Another example is when Baldwin says, "Freedom lurked around us." This quote sounds like the figurative language Nye used in her poem. Both examples of the figurative writing really help the story. The final example is when Baldwin speaks of feeling his brother's pain when Sonny plays the piano. It relates to how Nye was pulling out the drawer and looking at everything she has done to her brother. The both experience the pain all over again.

"Sonny's Blues" and "The Little Brother Poem" both have many similarities. A lot of figurative language is used in both. The characters see their brothers go through a lot of pain and suffering. These two pieces of writing are both congruous and ingenious(FAST).