Friday, 22 May 2009 - 8:28 PM EDT

 The narrator starts out being in control of his life. Being the teacher of these young boys. Then comes the news of Sonny. He is lost about what to do, what to think. He struggles just to make contact, because he doesn't know what is going on. So when Sonny and him finally get back in connection, he is lost in what Sonny is going through. He never really understands, until that last moment at the club. When he hears Sonny playing, he truly hears the music. He hears what Sonny hears, he finally understands what Sonny went through and is going through.

Sunday, 24 May 2009 - 7:08 PM EDT

For most of the story, the narrator doesn't understand Sonny's choices. Sonny thinks that his brother may listen to him, but never truly understands the meaning what he is talking about. The narrator and his wife don't get how Sonny can just be a "sound," just sitting and playing piano all day. The narrator has no clue why Sonny joined the army, and the only reason Sonny gave him was that he wanted to get away from Harlem. Sonny tries to tell him in words how playing music is the only thing he can do, how it is a part of him. He talks to him about how being under the influence of drugs helps his music to flow out of him so much easier, and how it gives him meaning. The narrator doesn't understand what Sonny is trying to tell him and until he sees Sonny play at the club. He sees that when Sonny plays, he's free from his own personal suffering, he finds some sort of closure for the awful things that have happened to him. Sonny helps the narrator to come to terms with his own life, too.

Monday, 25 May 2009 - 11:28 AM EDT

I think that although the narrator is a teacher, he is a student for most of this story. He learns from his students but he sort of pushes this knowledge aside. Then when Sonny comes back he has this wall up and has an idea of the person Sonny is. A failure. I agree with Bridget when she says that the narrator and his wife don't understand Sonny and his passion for music. When Sonny is finally on stage and the narrator wathces him they both forget about everything else and they become free from all the hurt and suffering that they've had to endure. He learns that people are different and that they go through things that can be really dark times in their life, but when they emerge they can be a much stronger person. You have to believe in people nad give second chances.

Monday, 25 May 2009 - 5:02 PM EDT

I think that by making the narrator a teacher, the author shows that people always have more to learn no matter how educated they are. I think the narrator views himself as Sonny’s teacher because of his education and steady job, but in the end it’s he who learns from Sonny. The narrator doesn’t understand why Sonny would choose a career that doesn’t guarantee success. He tries to be supportive by encouraging him to learn piano instead of drums, but the tension of the narrator not wanting Sonny to choose this life is still there. This frustrates Sonny because there’s no way he can explain his reasoning to his older brother. He wants him to understand, but since he hasn’t gone through what he has, he can’t. Finally, the narrator has a chance to see Sonny’s life style. They go to a nightclub and the narrator sees how accepted and a part of this crowd Sonny is. When he hears Sonny play he finally understands why he wants to be a musician so much. When playing, Sonny lets out all of his past troubles and let’s everyone know that struggling is nothing new, but just that these are his struggles. The narrator sees that this is the only time Sonny is free from his struggles and that he couldn’t understand it until he heard it. In the end he accepts Sonny’s fate, and Sonny knows he understands by the drink that he buys him.

Monday, 25 May 2009 - 7:23 PM EDT

I think the narrator can be considered a student in this story because of the things he learns. At first, he doesn't understand why Sonny was the way he was, or why he did the things he did. He never understood why Sonny joined the army, but learns later on that he did so in order to avoid drugs.

The narrator never really understood what Sonny was talking about when he gave his reasons for being on drugs. He tried to explain that being on drugs made making music easier. It also gave the music life, and meaning. The narrator came to understand this when he saw Sonny play at the club. By understanding all of this, the narrator understands a little bit more about himself.

Monday, 25 May 2009 - 7:49 PM EDT

First and foremost the narrator takes the role of a teacher within the context of this story. He is the older and more sophisticated of the two brothers. Because the narrator hasn't been involved with drug usage, he has more of a real life experience, and has suffered the hardships in his true mindset, whereas Sonny has had an escape with his use of heroin.

  Sonny has been through life quite differently. He isn't what his brother expects of him and has different aspirations in life. His brother seems to think that there is a certain path through life because that is all he has really ever been exposed to. He has always lived in the same neighborhood, and he says himself in the story that the people are really the only different thing.

  Sonny on the other hand has taken an alternate route and wants to pursue music as a career. The narrator wants Sonny to be successful and so he tries to change his mind; he doesn't realize how important it is to Sonny. As the story progresses the narrator tries to see life in a different aspect, the way that Sonny sees it, and in the end he finally gets it. Something clicks when he sees the way that Sonny connects with his music, and how Sonny puts his life story into it as a way to express the hardships he has had, and ultimately prevailed through.

Monday, 25 May 2009 - 9:34 PM EDT

At first, the narrator doesn't understand Sonny. He doesn't agree with the choices Sonny has made. He also tells Sonny what he thinks he should do. He doesn't consider how Sonny feels. The narrator lacks faith in Sonny's dream to become a musician. In the end, the narrator switches roles. Instead of being a teacher, he becomes a student. He thought he knew what was best for Sonny. Then he watched him play at the nightclub. The narrator finally understands why Sonny wanted to be a musician. This story shows that it doesn't matter how old or intelligent you are. You can learn something new everyday. Watching Sonny play in the nightclub is when the narrator truly knew who Sonny was. Music helps him let go of his past and everything he has been through. Now the narrator really understands.

Monday, 25 May 2009 - 9:36 PM EDT

The narrator is being the teacher with a steady job, and is in control of his life. When the narrator hears of Sonny, he doesn’t have much in common with him since their lifestyles differ so much. The narrator doesn’t understand what Sonny is going through, and why he made some of the decisions that he did—especially using heroin and not finding a steady job. Then, at the nightclub, when Sonny plays the music, it all clicks a little better, and they realize where the other person is coming from. This is when Sonny becomes the teacher and the narrator becomes the student. Both Sonny and the narrator learn valuable lessons on not judging a person until they truly know them.

Monday, 25 May 2009 - 9:58 PM EDT

When the narrator was a boy he was "the student", and learned things by watching and listening to his mother and father, now that he is a teacher he assumes he always understands people and knows what they are thinking or trying to say. The first time he becomes "the student" again is when he learns of Sonny's misfortune in the newspaper, and then from Sonny's old friend, who tryes to teach the narrator what Sonny went through and is going to go through in the future. He ultimately becomes the student once again toward the end of the story when Sonny comes back and takes him to the night club to hear him play. He finally really learns/understands what Sonny does, and more importantly why he does it.

The only way he could have really ever learned from Sonny was by seeing it for himself. The narrator is settled down, has a good job, and Sonny is more of a free spirit. They are so different that he couldn't possibly understand Sonny untill he saw for himself what made Sonny want to do this and why he ended up where he is now.

Monday, 25 May 2009 - 9:59 PM EDT

     I'm going to agree with Renee and Amanda (Wood) and just add on.  I think that the narrator can definitely be looked at as a student in this situation.  I agree with Renee in that no matter how educated somebody is, they always have something to learn.  You can tell that, however hesitant or caught off guard he may be, the narrator does want to understand Sonny's lifestyle.  In the end, you can tell that he understands and accepts Sonny by buying him a drink.

Monday, 25 May 2009 - 10:07 PM EDT

At the beginning of the story the narrator is very protective of Sonny and tries to control everything he does. The narrator doesn't understand why Sonny wants to become a musician. He thinks it's just a phase he is going through and that it will never last. When the narrator goes to the club to listen to Sonny play, he finally realizes what the music really means to Sonny. For Sonny, music is the one thing that helps him relax and forget everything. You can tell it's something that he really enjoys. Now the narrator can see why music is so important to his brother after all these years.

Monday, 25 May 2009 - 10:12 PM EDT

At the beginning the narrator is a teacher. He doesn’t fully understand what is happening to Sonny. He thinks that he knows what is best for Sonny and doesn’t really have confidence in him. Once the narrator hears Sonny play at the club he gets a better understanding of why he wants to be a musician. This is when he is more of a student. He learns that when Sonny plays he just lets go of his problems and sufferings. The narrator is both a student and a teacher in the story. I think he is more of a student, he learns things even though he is older and thinks he knows more.

Monday, 25 May 2009 - 10:13 PM EDT

The narrator doesn't understand Sonny's choices, especially since the narrator isn't like Sonny. He wants to teach Sonny to be a good person but the narrator ends up learning from him. It seems Sonny is learning from himself. In his letter to his brother he talks about how he's wanted to write to him for a while. But, he didn't because he knew he hurt his brother. The reason for his use of drugs was escaping from things but knew it was wrong. The narrator learned what Sonny went through and what he's going through now.

Monday, 25 May 2009 - 11:48 PM EDT

Like most people have said, at the beginning of the story the narrator was the teacher. With teaching kids himself and helping them get the life started off. But everything changed when he found out the news about Sonny. He questions why Sonny did some of the things he does. Why a musician? or Why go into the army? He then would have to take a step back and realize why he did some of the things and become the student. A student isn't just about learning the facts, it gives you a different perspective to look at things. As the narrator becomes the student he learns that it was for the better. So just take a step back and look at something through a different perspective.

Monday, 25 May 2009 - 11:58 PM EDT

This story is really written to tell the reader that even though we may think we know everything we really don't and that there is always room to learn and grow. I think the author was also trying to tell us to look at other people's lives, the people who we think have their life off track and see how they see their own lives and in most cases our impression of them will change.

This is exactly what happened with the narrator and his family, none of them really understood Sonny and the choices he made, they just saw his as the less fortunate younger brother. The narrator doesn't see why Sonny would make some of the life choices he did such as the drugs and the drums, he (the narrator) thinks that Sonny is making a bad financial choice by doing this and tries to sway Sonny into playing the piano which would be a more practical choice.

The narrator is so set on this view of Sonny until he goes to one of the clubs Sonny plays at and he sees the reaction the crowd makes to the band. This is were the teacher becomes the student, here the narrator sees that it's not how much money you make in life but, how happy you are with what you do and the narrator saw how accepted and happy Sonny was at the club and it all made sense to him why he did what he did.

Tuesday, 26 May 2009 - 12:42 AM EDT

This is going to sound repetitive, since you guys covered almost everything, but I just got done with the final project and it's sweet so you guys better like it! :)

I'm going to comment about the teacher:student relationship if that makes sense. When you think about it, everybody can learn from other people. Whether it be age, sex, race or anything, that is how we learn. So in this particular situation, the narrator is the teacher but ultimately learns from Sonny.

It's a hard concept to grasp, really. How can a teacher learn from a student? But Sonny's love and passion for music is really inspiring. So the story proves that a teacher can really learn from a student. In fact, I believe teachers even at our high school learn from us every single day, because we are smart people. When you think about how much a teacher goes through each day to teach us something, even if it is just a simple concept, it's inspiring in itself. Because we would be nothing without them. But to think that they are learning from us also is a strange thing, because as much as we hate to admit it, we look up to them and count on them to answer every single question we might have. So to think that they rely on us sounds crazy, but it's the truth!

Tuesday, 26 May 2009 - 12:51 AM EDT

I think the narrator acts as if he is trying to be in control of Sonny’s life. When Sonny wanted to pursue a career in music, the narrator didn’t want to accept it. After the narrator sees Sonny play at the club, I think it set him at ease for him to know and realize how much music really did mean to Sonny and that Sonny seemed to be in a whole new world with all of his struggles being let out as he played. The narrator’s opinions of Sonny pursuing this music career changed after he experienced this. Even though he thought he was looking out for Sonny’s best interest, he knew he was wrong after seeing him perform at the club.

Tuesday, 26 May 2009 - 1:33 AM EDT

First off, I would like to congratulate our team, Jenna, Erika, and myself for completing our final project.

Now onto the story.  I have to agree with, I believe it was Renee, in really applauding the author for the putting the narrator in the position that he did.  I fully believe that certain teachers don't always like to receive information from students as knowlege, but rather disregard it as usless opinions.  In other cases, teacher's just can't always have a quick fix, which if you ask me is only human.  I love how the author let's the narrator finally understand Sonny by experiencing his talent and love first hand.  I think the point being made is that sometimes you just have to feel it.  Try not to think and judge but, just go with it and see where it takes you.  For the narrator, it led to the understanding of one of his students.

Tuesday, 26 May 2009 - 9:02 AM EDT

      It is interestinghow the author decided to write this stor. I found it interesting from the perspective of the narrator. It kind of creates a distance between the reader and sonny.Howver, you can really see how Sonny struggles.

Tuesday, 26 May 2009 - 10:51 AM EDT

Sorry my other blog kinda cut me off and the spelling got all messed up. Anyway... I think in some ways that the narrator learns alot from Sonny and also those othes that are involved in the story. He really doesn't seem to grasp some of Sonny's decisions and really questions some of these decisions. The narrator eventually does come to a relisation that Sonny made these decisions, in some situations, to better his life.

Also, I think that the narrator really had a hard time understanding why Sonny used and abused drugs. I think that reader can grasp that the narrotor sort of accepted this towards the end when he saw Sonny play at the club. Aslo another sign of acceptence, when he bought Sonny a drink at the bar.

Tuesday, 26 May 2009 - 8:43 PM EDT

In the beginning of the story the narrator thinks he is the teacher, but in the end Sonny is the teacher. Nobody understands Sonny and all the choices he makes in his life (like his drug addiction for example). The narrator thinks he knows whats best for Sonny, even though he clearly doesn't understand him.
But when he sees Sonny play and the crowd watching him, he sees where Sonny is coming from. He sees that when Sonny plays it helps him emotionally, and it is how he shines through so people can see who he is.