Step 1: Develop a thesis statement that centers around a character analysis of either the narrator or Sonny in “Sonny’s Blues.” Remember the helpful formula I provided in the “Thesis Statements” lecture: What does the work accomplish and how does it accomplish it? Also, take advantage of the additional handout I provide on the list of required readings for this module.

As you learned last week, critical lenses/approaches are ways in which people can read and analyze literature. The reader-response critical lens focuses on the relationship between the reader and the text.  In reader-response, the meaning of a text is not a given. In other words, there is no inherent meaning. Meaning emerges through reading. Reader response, then, at a very basic level, is the interaction between a text and its reader.  What reader-response is not is a narrative about your own life. In a reader response-based literary analysis, your focus will always be on the literature. However, the reader-response critical approach requires you to reflect on how your life and experiences influence your interpretation of the text. ~Professor S

Step 2:  Focusing on the reader-response critical approach and applying it to character and setting in James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues,” write a minimum 200-word response to the following question: How do your beliefs and experiences influence your interpretation of the characters and setting?

Your response should emphasize your interpretation of the story and use your personal beliefs and experiences to explain why you interpret the story in that way. The objective is not to write your life story. Relate your experience back to the text. Note: You do not have to share the same background as a character to relate to or empathize with that character

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