Today's Prompt: Background Information for "Sonny's Blues"
You will be conducting background research for James Baldwin's short story, Sonny's Blues. Your group will be responsible for creating a Slides presentation on your assigned topic. Presentations should have as many slides in them as there are members of your group. Your group will be making your presentation at the time in the story where your research is relevant. Here are the topics below:
- James Baldwin: a brief biographical sketch
- Harlem in the 1940s. What was it like to live there? Can you find any pictures from that time? How was it a center of African American culture?
- Louis Armstrong, origins of jazz (include an audio sample)
- Charlie Parker, bebop (include an audio sample)
- "If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again"--history, lyrics, meaning of song (include an audio sample of black gospel version)
- "Am I Blue"--history, lyrics, meaning of song (include an audio sample of jazz version)
- Isaiah 51:22. "...I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling... thou shalt no more drink it again." What is the context, what is the meaning of this passage?