Music and Literature: James Baldwin

"Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin is an unforgettable story.  I highly recommend printing out a copy of the pdf and marking it up with your notes and comments.

 I clearly remember the first time I read it in the summer of 1988 in preparation for teaching my first college class, now over thirty years ago. Wow. Read the story carefully for Monday's discussion. In particular look for patterns of symbolism in Baldwin's magisterail use of language. Nothing is happenstance. In particular, pay attention to the themes and idea of music and musicality. Later in the semester each student is going to create an original broadside (a poster) that combines image and original student writing into a work of art on the broad theme of "language, art, music." More on this later, but it's not too early to start thinking about possibilities.

Quotations by Baldwin

If you have questions or want to chat, see me or send me an email message at csmith@dcad.edu