Shad's Essay

Rashad Young

Mr. Salsich

English 9

4.15.2009

Naomi Shihab Nye uses different examples of figurative language to express her feelings about her brother. Nye wrote, “You're Wall Street and I'm the local fruit market"which implies that she is simple and her brother is complicated. Her brother could have become a business leader or even moved to Wall Street. Meanwhile, she is just a fruit market on the street corner. Ms. Nye was feeling in need of her little brother so she confessed to him, “ I’ll take differences over things that match.” She is referring to having things being unique rather than having everything identical (FAST). She needs the differences of her brother to return. Finally, Ms. Nye uses figurative language in the last stanza,” Trying to put them back in some kind of shape so you’ll be able to find everything later.” Here she is referring to all the good times she has had with her brother. Ms. Nye hopes he remembers them.

The passages in “Sonny’s Blues” have relationships with this poem. When Baldwin wrote, “we would certainly have called the doctor, but the fever dropped, she seemed to be all right.”, i was reminded of a passage by Ms. Shihab Nye. When she wrote “ [you] disappeared […] and I realized you’d been serious” she faced similar circumstances as the narrator because she was unaware of his brothers pain. They were in-obvious conflicts at first, but eventually developed into larger ones. Nye’s brother ended up leaving and little Grace ended up dying from polio. The next passage relates to Nye’s brother acting “Small[er], [and] younger.” In “Sonny’s Blues” Sonny was thinking of “only Mama and Daddy.” Sonny was performing his music during this situation and he had only been focused on his music. Therefore when Mrs. Nye was talking to her brother he was focused on the question he had asked her.