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Fifth Avenue Uptown Summary

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James Baldwin “Fifth Avenue, Uptown” (rpt, in Santi V. Buscemi and Charlotte Smith, 75 Readings Plus, 10th ed. [New York: McGraw Hill 2013] (49-52) tells a story about Harlem, a neighborhood he once lived and a neighborhood he watched experience a rollercoaster-ride. His story shows his deep connection with the neighborhood because he has the ability to share every detail about the place he once lived. It creates a very vivid image of a bittersweet experience for him. At first Baldwin shows a guanine connection with his city. Baldwin describes his neighborhood as a friendly place, he made it seem as if it was best place to live. Baldwin describes the people on his block as family “All along the street there are people who watched me grow up, people who grew …show more content…

They felt segregated because they live in a completely different world and they were only noticed because they did the work the white man wouldn’t. some had plans of establishing a separate economy while others went along with the flow of working and coming back to the projects. “they struggle to instill in their children some private sense of honor or dignity which will help the child survive” (51) it was important to some not to crumble under the suffering of their situation but to strive and make a better path for their children. “they must struggle, stolidly, incessantly, to keep this sense alive in themselves, in spite of the insults, the indifference, and the cruelty they are certain to encounter in their working day” (51) despite all the struggles these people had to endure, some of them kept strong because that’s the only thing they had to make their life worthwhile. Harlem is still full hard working people that still do the work of the white man. Hard has travelled down from those who instilled it into the cities

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Although the characters in the story are fictional, what kids growing up in Harlem and similar neighborhoods face is not. By making Harlem

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They do not know Harlem, and I do. So do you." (Baldwin) In Baldwin 's work, he describes the function of society in America designed in a way to where he observes the oppression in America and its impact on his brother.

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The short story “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin is about a young man whom is struggling in life. The narrator, who is unnamed throughout the story, and Sonny’s older brother tells the readers in depth about his brothers battle. In the late 1900s during poverty and systematic oppression, many African Americans were subjected to one specific area in modern day known as Harlem. Not only is story about discrimination African Americans faced, it is about two brothers gaining a better understanding on each others lives. Baldwin demonstrates that acceptance over a family member’s decisions can strengthen the bond between two estranged brothers.

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The Harlem Renaissance was a time of black individualism, a time marked by a vast array of characters whose uniqueness challenged the traditional inability of white Americans to differentiate between blacks. In fact, the Harlem community is made up of African-Americans and Western Indians. These blacks number more than 10,000 protested against racial discrimination and injustice from the white American society. Many changes took place during the emergence of Harlem, where many blacks came to Harlem, although they were mainly immigrants from the countryside and agricultural south to urban industrial centers in the north such as Harlem. The majority of Blacks have settled in Harlem.

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The narrator explains how his father tried to give him more. He goes to say, “As a matter of fact, he was always on the lookout for “Something better”, but he died before he found it” (Baldwin). Earlier in the story the narrator’s parents were discussing moving to a new neighborhood. The dad felt that no neighborhood was safe in Harlem. The dad wanted something more for his wife, and children, but did not have the money to give his family anything better.

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One of his most powerful aphorisms reads as follows: “You were born where you were born and faced the future that you faced because you were black and for no other reason” (Baldwin 7). This aphorism makes the reader (his nephew) feel like a victim

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Character analysis essay of the short story “Sonny’s blues” by James Baldwin James Baldwin is considered as the most well-known writer of the 20th century. His writings were mainly concerned by the problem of racism in America since he was one of the figures of the civil rights movement. “Sonny’s blues” is one of his greatest literary works, where we will notice how the persistent racism the writer experienced has had a great impact on his devoted writings. “Sonny’s blues” takes place in Harlem, an Afro-American neighborhood in New York City. Harlem plays a crucial role in this short story, because it is depicted as place where the narrator and his brother must struggle to escape the hustle and bustle of their own reality.

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James Baldwin’s short story, “Sonny’s Blues,” tells the story of two brothers living in 1950s Harlem. The story depicts the relationship of the brothers as the younger brother, Sonny, battles to overcome a heroin addiction and find a career in jazz. In “Sonny’s Blues”, Baldwin’s shifting portrayal of Harlem mirrors the changing relationship of the two brothers: while both the city and the relationship were originally with dark uncertainty, by the end of the story, the narrator has begun to find peace both within his surroundings and his relationship with his brother. At the beginning of the story, before Sonny returns to Harlem, the narrator never describes his surroundings, only the people in them.

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He shines a light on how society has forced us to think that we must have unconditional love for our families and if you are the eldest sibling in a family, you are expected to be more responsible and be a role model. Baldwin shows us that this isn’t always how it is. This is something that the readers can relate to and through the story and characters we can learn something about ourselves. In the same way, Baldwin uses class to show us that even though you are middle class, you can still suffer, and even though you are lower class, you can still succeed. Without the prospects of creed and class, the story would not have the same relatable factors and

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He begins to bring in his personal experiences as he faces racism within America with the intro into part two. The title of, “The Harlem Ghetto” depicts Harlem of being claustrophobic and being an expensive place to live at. Baldwin switches his topic of the location of Harlem towards Negro leaders. James Baldwin describes Negro leaders as they try to help their communities, but they do not attack the bigger issues within the Black communities. Baldwin then acknowledges that they majority of leaders cannot make it into congress due to racism.

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One will constantly face temporary conflict throughout life, but ultimately they can overcome through a will to on and pursue what makes oneself happy. Baldwin was able to create a picture in the reader's mind due to his personal relation to his characters, he was able to understand the harsh times for an African-American male. It also reflects on the care that siblings have for one another and how even though they have good intentions, they can't always help their loved one follow a positive

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The fascination with Harlem was accompanied by the new objectification of the Negro as an exotic icon” (Watson, p.105). Although there was so much attention brought to the Harlem Renaissance from many, there wasn’t any changes on the need for economic equality nor racial inequality (Watson, p.

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"I have begun this letter five times and torn it up five times. I keep seeing your face, which is also the face of your father and my brother" (1) indicates that Baldwin put time and effort into making this work as heartfelt as possible to make his message clear. The writing style he used in this message is one that shows that he is familiar with his audience, his nephew. At the same time, this language style is familiar because this letter can be used to address African-American teens other than his nephew James. Baldwin 's language in A Letter to My Nephew shows that he is pacifying his nephew for being born into the environment that he is in, but at the same time passing the blame onto the United States for creating such an environment.

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The anarchical nature of the international system forces states to make worst-case assumptions about the motives of others. As a result, steps that one state takes to enhance its security, such as forming or bolstering an alliance, may “turn tomorrow’s potential adversary into today’s certain one” and “trigger a spiral of insecurity that heightens the prospect of war between alliance members and non-signatories.” United States clearly, focus on outward looking, especially when the Cold War with the USSR, where it causes the boom of The Korean War. USSR and the PRC through North Korea trying to invade South Korea, and the US later became the backbone of the South Korean military needs. Good US relations with South Korea, which began in the Korean War US aid is finally evolving in the Mutual Defense Treaty in 1953 which explains that the US would assist South Korea in the face of all foreign aggression (Frank, Kim, & Larry, 1975: 12), This fact shows the geopolitical United States in the field of defense and security in East Asia, especially Korea.

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