FRIDAY IN CLASS
"A & P"--Good start on discussion; not completed. 

FOR TUESDAY
Starting premise:  The groups have been moved one slot ahead, but there will be more specific directions in a moment, and one group will be shifted away from the basic rotation.  But the new group designations simply using the book elements as they are in Perrine looks like this:
1 -- Point of View
2 -- Symbol/Allegory/Fantasy
3 -- Humor and Irony
4 --  Plot and Structure
5 -- Characterization
6 -- Theme

Now, here is what you need to do for Tuesday. All of the following apply to Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" (179-207) assigned over several days last week.  For the groups that need to write a short analysis (one or two paragraphs should suffice), typing is preferable, but neatly written in ink is okay too. 

1 - POV.
Pick a substantial paragraph from the story that you think is significant in illustrating something important about "how" the first person functions in this story.  You get to select what is significant.  Do not try to copy out the paragraph, of course, but DO indicate the page number(s).

2 - Symbol/Allegory/Fantasy
For Tuesday, I don't want you to think just yet in terms of "symbol."  Instead, consider the concept of a motif:  basically, an element that recurs significantly throughout a narrative.   A motif can be a thing, an image, idea, situation, or action that recurs or is restated in similar ways throughout the work. A motif can have symbolic meaning, of course, but at this point just look for recurring elements that thread throughout the work.  (In Macbeth, for example. blood would be a common motif, along with sleep, clothing, light/dark imagery, and more.) So, for "Sonny's Blues," everyone in this group needs to prepare two lists for Tuesday;  all references to ice for one (include contextual phrase) and then ONE OTHER MOTIF of your choice.  These can be in the form of lists, accompanied by page and paragraph number). 

3 -Humor and Irony
There may be a touch of humor here or there, but most readers would probably agree that there's not much humor in Baldwin's story.  Irony, however, can be found in several ways.  Identify and briefly analyze some element of irony in the story.

4 - Plot and Structure
As usual, you aren't supposed to rehash the plot.  Structure, however, is huge in this story.  What you need to do for Tuesday is prepare a timeline.  Do the homework preparation simply in the form of a straightforward list (vs a horizontal line) that you'll either have to scribble out as a hand-written draft and then copy over neatly once you've got it all in the right order, OR type it, knowing you can add in as needed. Your choice.  But the key thing is, do ALL YOU CAN to include dates (years) with the events of the story (narrated as ongoing action, narrated as something which had occurred earlier, or narrated as flashbacks provided by another character).

5 - Characterization
We see Sonny mostly through the narrator's eyes.  Find a passage in which you think we (as readers) are able to see Sonny most clearly in the most accurate light and explain how that is achieved. 

6 - Okay.  This is the big change.  "Theme" will be deferred until later, and the Plot/Structure people already have plenty to do for Tuesday.  So Group 6, for this story, you will get us started on Setting. 

• First consider TIME--for your purposes, the time frame of the "main story" (starting on the day that the narrator reads about Sonny's arrest and ending with the club gig in Greenwich Village).  When is this?  What are the implications?  You don't need to write up anything formal for this part, just be prepared to talk about it.
• But consider the PLACE setting in detail:  New York.  What borough?  What particular locations?  Find a map.  Print it out.  Mark place names/implied settings on the map.  Have something with you in class on Tuesday to compare with the findings of your group. (Start thinking about the "so what"'s involved in this exercise.)
• Just as a quick thought--what conjectures do you have about the unnamed setting in which the narrator's uncle was hit by a car? (nothing in writing required)