"Sonny's Blues" Research Assignment

#1. 1. "Sonny's Blues" takes place in Harlem, NY. during the during the 1950's. The story occurs during the Civil Rights Movement, during segregation and supposedly "separate but equal" accommodations in public institutions. As you can see the narrator and Sonny have grown up in poor neighborhood of Harlem. You'll also notice the way how the characters talk and the type of music likes to listen to gave you an idea of the time period.
http://cai.ucdavis.edu/uccp/sblecture.html#setting
2. The setting affects Sonny’s character when both of his parents died and his brother has no choice but to leave Sonny with Isabel and her family while he was at war. Sonny didn't have anyone to talk but his musician friends. And the only way he fit in was by doing drugs. The heroin affected Sonny on so many levels and later on in the story is when more conflict between him and his brother arises.

#2. 1. In 1945, during the immediate postwar period, the U.S. Armed Forces began developing new racial policies. The need to make the most effective use of all available manpower, demands by civil rights groups, and higher black reenlistment rates were major factors affecting the new policies.
http://www.redstone.army.mil/history/integrate/intchron.htm
The Tuskegee Airmen were America's first black military airmen, at a time when there were many people who thought that black men lacked intelligence, skill, courage and patriotism. They all came from every section of the country. Those who possessed the physical and mental qualifications were accepted as aviation cadets to be trained initially as single-engine pilots and later to be either twin-engine pilots, navigators or bombardiers.
http://www.tuskegeeairmen.org/Tuskegee_Airmen_History.html
2. Sonny wants to enlist in the army or navy because it would take him away from the killing streets of Harlem and by doing this it would give him the opportunity to get a college education on the GI Bill. That enlistment in the Army during a war might seem safer or saner than remaining at home is part of the cruel irony of this family's urban experience.

#3. 1. Billie Holiday : PLEASE, DON'T TALK ABOUT ME WHEN I'M GONE
Please don't talk about me when I'm goneHoney, though our friendship ceases from now onAnd if you can't say anything uptightIt's better not to talk at all, is my adviceWe're parting, you'll go your way, I'll go mineI have just this to doGive a little kiss and hope that it bringsLots of love to youMakes no difference how Jerry carries on (but I'll make it, baby!)Please don't talk about me when I'm gonePlease don't talk about me, honey, when I'm goneThough our friendship ceases from now onAnd if you can't say anything real niceYou better not talk at all, is Jerry's adviceWe're parting, you'll go your way, I'll go mineI have just this to doHere's a little kiss, I hope it bringsLots and lots of love to youMakes no difference how I carry onPlease don't talk about mePlease don't talk about mePlease don't talk about mePlease don't talk about mePlease don't talk about mePlease don't talk about me, honeyPlease don't talk about me when I'm gone
http://www.metrolyrics.com/please-dont-talk-about-me-when-im-gone-lyrics-billie-holiday.html
2. The reason why I chose this song because at a point in the story Sonny and his brother haven’t seen or talk each other in months. They both hated each other. The narrator didn’t want to have anything to do with Sonny and that’s why I chose this song.

#4. 1. After World War II bebop was formed. Bebop is characterized by fast tempos, complex harmonies, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that laid down a steady beat only on the bass and the drummer's ride cymbal. Bebop tunes were often labyrinthine, full of surprising twists and turns. With the focus on improvisation, bebop allowed for an explosion of innovation. Inspired by the more harmonically and rhythmically experimental players in swing era, such as Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Art Tatum, and Roy Eldridge, bebop musicians expanded the palette of musical devices from which to choose while improvising. Bebop musicians played tunes at much faster tempos. “The advent of bebop marked an expansion of the roles of the rhythm section players, who were no longer simply time-keepers, but who interacted with the soloist with their own embellishments”.
http://jazz.about.com/od/introductiontojazz/a/Bebop.htm
2. Bebop means a lot to Sonny. The music Sonny favors represents symbolically the personal gap between the narrator and Sonny. Hopeful that he will ultimately be accepted and respected by mainstream society, his brother plods along obediently, enduring, but not really questioning his goal in life. In the story, bebop has no meaning to the narrator because he doesn’t understand it but at the end he knows why Sonny loves doing music and he accepts him for what Sonny do.