Mr. Salsich
Julie Philippe
Julie Philippe
English 9
October 5th, 2008
October 5th, 2008
Loss and Gain
-an essay on the differences of loss and gain based on “Sonny Blues” and “Winter Dreams”
-an essay on the differences of loss and gain based on “Sonny Blues” and “Winter Dreams”
In everything that we do, loss and gain are two terms that often come up during the course of our lives. There are days that will flow perfectly fine and there are days that we will regret for a long time. The mistakes that we make or the pain that we feel are a part of our lives, but something positive comes out of everything. In both stories, “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin and “Winter Dreams” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, show many examples of sorrow and pain, but both inspiring stories, really show us that we can get through anything.
In “Sonny’s Blues”, Sonny lived a tough life trying to recover from a heroin addiction, but in his story, there was more gain than loss. SD Sonny’s life comprised of pain and secrets and constant judgment. CM The secrets that were kept from him made him feel so unaccepted and unwanted. CM Sonny lost all his confidence and all the light in his life. SD Sonny may have lost his confidence but while trying to get out of this unbearable nightmare, he found something where he could not be judged: the piano. CM His love for music made him feel so good inside and “ For a while, the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn’t any other tale to tell, it’s the only light we’ve got in all this darkness.” (Baldwin) CM The piano keys gave him a chance to express his feelings without being judged. SD When Sonny played music, it wasn’t about life, it wasn’t about agony, it wasn’t about his family, but it was just about Sonny. CM Music gave him a chance to fly away from the mistakes he had made. CM In front of those piano keys, Sonny became a new person that everyone could finally look up to. CS Sonny may have lost confidence and trust, but most importantly, he gained the ability to express himself in a truly inspiring way.
Dexter Green found his true love out of the blue one night, but, when Judy Jones leaves him for someone else, he is desperate for rescue. SD In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Winter Dreams”, Dexter loses what he treasures the most deep down in his heart: Judy Jones. CM Dexter’s love for Judy was so precious, as if it was a piece of string he never let go of. CM He went through such pain and tears, that even Irene, his new fiancée, could not replace Judy’s place. SD However, in this story, Dexter gains so much courage and strength. CM All this suffering and ongoing gloomy feelings only made him feel lost, but in the big picture, it made him a much stronger person. CM He was living what he thought as “ tast[ing] the deep pain that [was] reserved only for the strong” and for that reason, gave him a chance to be courageous for his unknown future. SD In Clinton S. Burhans Jr.’s wonderful essay, he mentions that Dexter was trying to keep past remains alive “by fixing its images out of time and the real world in imaginative present” (Burhans Jr.) CM After Judy leaves Dexter, Judy is only a character in Dexter’s mind. That is, Judy is someone that Dexter holds dear only from imaginary images that come from his memories from their times spent together. CM Seven years later, Devlin comes in and ruins Dexter’s imaginary thoughts about Judy, only to obligate Dexter into coming back to reality.
For a while, both Dexter and Sonny have lost the meaning of their lives, but they have learned from their mistakes. Both gained the strength and the courage to go through such pain both lost the ability to escape from the reality and both learned to deal with the rigidity of the truth. Everything that happens to us everyday are all examples of loss and gain. We just need the strength to accept the loss and make good out of the bad.
In “Sonny’s Blues”, Sonny lived a tough life trying to recover from a heroin addiction, but in his story, there was more gain than loss. SD Sonny’s life comprised of pain and secrets and constant judgment. CM The secrets that were kept from him made him feel so unaccepted and unwanted. CM Sonny lost all his confidence and all the light in his life. SD Sonny may have lost his confidence but while trying to get out of this unbearable nightmare, he found something where he could not be judged: the piano. CM His love for music made him feel so good inside and “ For a while, the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn’t any other tale to tell, it’s the only light we’ve got in all this darkness.” (Baldwin) CM The piano keys gave him a chance to express his feelings without being judged. SD When Sonny played music, it wasn’t about life, it wasn’t about agony, it wasn’t about his family, but it was just about Sonny. CM Music gave him a chance to fly away from the mistakes he had made. CM In front of those piano keys, Sonny became a new person that everyone could finally look up to. CS Sonny may have lost confidence and trust, but most importantly, he gained the ability to express himself in a truly inspiring way.
Dexter Green found his true love out of the blue one night, but, when Judy Jones leaves him for someone else, he is desperate for rescue. SD In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Winter Dreams”, Dexter loses what he treasures the most deep down in his heart: Judy Jones. CM Dexter’s love for Judy was so precious, as if it was a piece of string he never let go of. CM He went through such pain and tears, that even Irene, his new fiancée, could not replace Judy’s place. SD However, in this story, Dexter gains so much courage and strength. CM All this suffering and ongoing gloomy feelings only made him feel lost, but in the big picture, it made him a much stronger person. CM He was living what he thought as “ tast[ing] the deep pain that [was] reserved only for the strong” and for that reason, gave him a chance to be courageous for his unknown future. SD In Clinton S. Burhans Jr.’s wonderful essay, he mentions that Dexter was trying to keep past remains alive “by fixing its images out of time and the real world in imaginative present” (Burhans Jr.) CM After Judy leaves Dexter, Judy is only a character in Dexter’s mind. That is, Judy is someone that Dexter holds dear only from imaginary images that come from his memories from their times spent together. CM Seven years later, Devlin comes in and ruins Dexter’s imaginary thoughts about Judy, only to obligate Dexter into coming back to reality.
For a while, both Dexter and Sonny have lost the meaning of their lives, but they have learned from their mistakes. Both gained the strength and the courage to go through such pain both lost the ability to escape from the reality and both learned to deal with the rigidity of the truth. Everything that happens to us everyday are all examples of loss and gain. We just need the strength to accept the loss and make good out of the bad.
WORKS CITED:
Ernest Hemingway, et al. Short Story Masterpieces. Ed. Robert Penn Warrena, Albert Erskine. New York, New York: Dell Publishing, 1982
2 comments:
Julie,
I loved reading your essay. I thought everything was very clear and understandable with no confusion. I did notice some missing commas in the opening paragraph, but i am not sure if they should be there because i am really bad at commas. I recomend you read that a few more times. I also thing that there should be an 'a' in this sentence. "trying to recover from heroin addiction" this was part of your opening sentence of the second body paragraph. in my opinion, there should be an 'a' after from.
Great job.
Caroline
Dear Julie,
Nice job!! I really enoyed reading this peice of writing. It was so full of depth and it portrayed a whole other perception of these stores that I didnt think about.
There were a few sentences that, while poised and clear, seemed a little long to me. Sometimes mixing up sentence length adds a nice effect :)
In your opening paragraph (which I LOVED), the last sentence felt a little bit off to me as well.
"In both stories, “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin and “Winter Dreams” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, show lots of examples of sorrow and pain, but both inspiring stories, really show us that we can get through anything." I really like the messege that you send with this statement, and some of the phrases you used are beautiful, but maybe a little editing would make it flow better.
All in all, your essay was wonderful. :)
Love, Anna
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