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Sonny's Blues Literary Devices

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Zach Mawby Professor McAuley English 1202 4/20/2023 Imagery in “Sonny’s Blues” and How it Contributed to the Development of the African American Voice Across Media Abstract James Baldwin’s use of literary techniques like imagery in the short story “Sonny’s Blues” reflects the influence of the Harlem Renaissance, coincidentally the setting of the story. This research paper examines the role the use of literary techniques played not only in the literature during but also after the Harlem Renaissance, as evident in “Sonny’s Blues.” Additionally, this research paper makes the connection between the Harlem Renaissance and the civil rights movement, as the literary techniques made popular during the era inspired the leaders of the civil rights …show more content…

James Baldwin is one of the many writers whose success was made possible following the Harlem Renaissance, and “Sonny’s Blues” is Baldwin giving the cultural movements its “flowers.” His success was not only literary, as Baldwin was also an important civil rights activist. The civil rights movement that followed the Harlem Renaissance was not sheer coincidence; as African American literature gained wider recognition during the Renaissance, it provided a platform for the African American community to express their concerns and perspectives. In other words, “The Harlem Renaissance instilled in African Americans across the country a new spirit of self-determination and pride, a new social consciousness, and a new commitment to political activism, all of which would provide a foundation for the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s” (National Museum of African American History & Culture). As time went on, the platform for African Americans to express their concerns would develop from primarily literary, to primarily literal, as civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X sought to use their voices to push for change. Without the development of the African American voice through literature, it would not be possible for the development of the African American voice through vocal means, such as speeches and protests, to …show more content…

“Sonny’s Blues” The Oxford Book of American Short Stories edited by Joyce Carol Oates, Oxford University Press, 2013 pp. 483-513. Mar 2, 2020. • Sherard, Tracey. “Sonny’s Bebop: Baldwin’s ‘Blues Text’ as Intracultural Critique.” African American Review, vol. 32, no. 4, Winter 1998, pp. 691–705. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.2307/2901246. • R Miller. “The Art and Imagination of Langston Hughes.” The University Press of Kentucky, 2015. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=e900xww&AN=938376&site=eds-live • Bernard, Patrick S. “A ‘Cipher Language’: Thomas W. Talley and Call-and-Response during the Harlem Renaissance.” African American Review, vol. 52, no. 2, 2019, pp. 121–42. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26795186 Accessed 12 Apr. 2023. • “News and Views: The New Modernists; African American Writers of the Harlem Renaissance.” The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, no. 28, 2000, pp. 27. ProQuest,

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