Research Essay 1 on “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin
Title: Research Essay on “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin
Write a research essay (minimum 5 pages) on James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues.” Your essay must accurately discuss and properly reference the sources from forums 1 – 5 (listed below).
Albert, Richard N. “The Jazz-Blues Motif in James Baldwin’s ‘Sonny’s Blues.’” College Literature. Vol 11., No. 2 (Spring, 1984): 178-185. Print.
Baldwin, James. “Sonny’s Blues.” Reading and Writing about Literature, 2nd ed. Ed. Phillip Sipiora. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2002: 79-99. Print.
Baldwin, James. “‘Fifth Avenue, Uptown.” Esquire. 1 July 1960: 70-76. Web. 2019.
Reilly, John. “’Sonny’s Blues’: James Baldwin’s Image of Black Community.” Negro American Literature Forum, Vol. 4, No. 2 (Jul., 1970): 56-60. Print.
Sipiora, Phillip. “Analyzing ‘Sonny’s Blues.'” Reading and Writing about Literature, 2nd ed. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2002: 99-102.
Based on the researched facts and interpretations by experts that you have read in these sources, develop your own research essay on the meaning and relevance of “Sonny’s Blues.” The research essay must have an introductory paragraph that logically leads to a clearly defined and well-developed thesis or main idea that your discussion of the assigned sources from forums 1-5 will prove. Your body paragraphs must use details and examples from the assigned sources to develop your thesis toward a logical concluding paragraph that shows how your paper’s discussion of the sources along with your own interpretations prove your thesis. (Be sure your conclusion does NOT merely repeat the thesis.).
The forums are set up so you can start the research essay assignment by using all five of your forums in your paper. Add an introduction and thesis at the start of your paper, then add transitions/topic sentences between your discussion of each source, then a well developed concluding paragraph. Do not just copy and paste your forums, however. You will need to reword and further develop the portions of your forums that fit your thesis to make sure they make sense and flow logically. You will also need to write your essay for a general college-educated audience, and not just this class or me as your audience.
Your paper might focus on one of the main themes in the story, on what readers can learn from the characters in the novel, on key symbols and what they mean, on universal themes in the story, etc.
