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TAKE NOTES How are contradictory emotions important to the form of the blues? c TAKE NOTES Review the author’s list of blues subjects. What attitude do blues songs express about these subjects? 744 unit 7: the language of poetry 30 40 50 But another saying knows the opposite is true: the blues ain’t nothin’ but a bad woman (or man) feelin’ good. b . . . As Langston Hughes often said, the blues are “laughing to keep from crying”; the fact that this line also appears in the song “Trouble in Mind” tells us that even when there’s trouble, we still can laugh about it. We must, the blues insist. Ralph Ellison puts it this way: The blues is an impulse to keep the painful details and episodes of a brutal experience alive in one’s aching consciousness, to finger its jagged grain, and then transcend it, not by the consolation of philosophy but by squeezing from it a near-tragic, near-comic lyricism. As a form, the blues is an autobiographical chronicle of personal catastrophe expressed lyrically. Indeed, for me the blues provide a fresh way to express the lyric poem’s mix of emotion and intensity, all the while evoking not so much strict autobiography as a personal metaphor for life’s daily struggles. “You’ve been a good old wagon, but you done broke down.” The blues can be about work, or the lack of it; about losing hope or your home, your lover or your mind or your faith; or all of these at once! The blues are unafraid of talking about violence, whether of the physical kind (as reflected in Hughes’ “Beale Street Love” and Ma Rainey’s “See See Rider Blues”) or the often more troubling psychological sort. Still, the heartbreak the blues rails against and trains us to overcome is never far from ironic and even comic, and for every “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out,” Bessie Smith declares “Tain’t Nobody’s Business if I Do.” That Nobody sure is fickle. c The blues ain’t polite—they don’t say please, though sometimes they say “Good Morning.” They are, in the end, often more loyal than the sweet mistreater whom the singer loves but wants “to lay low”. . . after feeling low for days. Or nights—the blues after all, began as Saturday night entertainment, making us laugh and move and maybe even forget our troubles, not by pretending everything’s all right, but by admitting it’s a hard road full of forks and crossroad devils. By finding out that the powerful voice onstage, or on the jukebox, or coming from the radio, has been there too. The blues are loyal to a fault.
Comprehension 1. Recall According to Young, what do the blues describe? 2. Recall What are some typical subjects found in blues music? 3. Clarify According to Ralph Ellison, how do the blues help us transcend personal tragedy? Critical Analysis 4. Analyze Notes Review the details you recorded in your chart. Based on these details, what are the main characteristics of blues music? 5. Identify Tone What tone, or attitude, toward blues music does Young convey in his essay? Cite specific words and phrases that help convey this tone. Read for Information: Evaluate Poems writing prompt Of the three poems on pages 736–740, which best matches Young’s description of the blues? Use excerpts from the poems and descriptive details from the essay to support your response. To answer this prompt, follow these steps: 1. Review your chart to make sure you understand Young’s main points about the blues. Restate his main points in your own words. 2. Analyze the poems to see how many characteristics of blues songs you can find in each. Decide which poem best matches Young’s description of the blues. 3. State your conclusion(s) in a topic sentence. Then, support those conclusions with ideas and details from the poems. Characteristics of the Blues Characteristics of Poem 1 Conclusion: Characteristics of Poem 2 Characteristics of Poem 3 Reading for Information reading for information 745
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unit 7 Literary Analysis Workshop C
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Page 11: There Will Come Soft Rains Sara Tea
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Page 55: 10 20 FOREWORD BY KEVIN YOUNG There
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