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Hannah Staley
English 9
Mr. Salsich
April 14th, 2009

Themes and Similarites
An Essay on a Poem and a Short Story




“The Little Brother Poem” and “Sonny’s Blues” are two very different pieces of writing. One is about the struggles in life and the other is about overcoming jealousy and letting go of grudges. The authors are quite effective in using different writing techniques to get their point across. By taking different approaches they are able to make their points more visible. There is a lot of figurative language in both and many themes are explored, but there are only a few that bring these works together.
In “The Little Brother Poem” by Naomi Shihab Nye, jealousy is the theme. Ms. Nye uses figurative language throughout the poem to emphasize this theme to the reader. For example, when Ms. Nye writes “fingering receipts and stubs….” it could either be taken literally or figuratively. I interpret it as figurative language because I already know what is happening in the poem. When you understand the context of this quote, the author or character in the poem is reminiscing about times that he or she spent with their little brother and how the time they now spend with their brother is not the same. This quote illustrates jealousy and figurative language nicely. Another example of figurative language that relates to jealousy appears right after the aforementioned (FAST) quote. Ms. Nye then writes “Trying to put them back in some kind of shape so you’ll be able to find everything later, when you need it, and you don’t have so much time.” This too illustrates figurative language because the older sibling isn’t actually shaping everything back together. This could be happening in their mind. The characters are trying to show that they are confused about their relationship with their sibling and they might be competing with one another. My last example when Ms. Nye writes “We’re different, always have been, you’re Wall Street and I’m the local fruit market, you’re Pierre Cardin and I’m a used bandana.” Ms. Nye or the person in the poem is having trouble dealing with the success of the younger brother and is feeling the need to let it out. This is the perfect example of jealousy because the older sibling is making a strong statement that they are in control and it has affected them. This quote also shows figurative language because the younger sibling may not have made it to Wall Street but may have achieved something of that sort. Also, the older sibling may not work at the “fruit marker” but they are definitely lower than “Wall Street.” Ms. Nye did an astonishing (FAST) job using figurative language and she clearly delivered her theme of jealousy.
“The Little Brother Poem” connects to “Sonny’s Blues” in many ways. The first passage from “Sonny’s Blues” relates to it due to a theme of loss. In the passage “little grace died in the fall” and in “The Little Brother Poem” the older sibling lost their little brother figuratively. Also, in both of these cases the characters feel the same kind of emotion once they realize something they love so dearly is gone. “The Little Brother Poem” relates to the second passage due to its references to freedom. When Baldwin writes “freedom lurking,” it applies to both writings. In “Sonny’s Blues” Sonny became free of his worries. In Nye’s poem, the older sibling became free of the younger sibling once the jealousy subsided (FAST). The last thing these two writings have in common is love. Sonny, in this second passage, was surrounded by people who wanted him to succeed and do well in life. In the end, the older sibling “was glad” for the little brother and they really do love each other. But siblings can’t help fighting once in a while. “Sonny’s Blues” and “The Little Brother Poem” have a lot in common, but I would never have thought of associating the two.
These two writings are different yet so alike. They both have the same meaning and try to deliver the same message. I would never have thought to compare a short story about handling life’s problems and a poem about loosing a sibling. In fact, I find that it is normally the writings that you think have little or nothing in common that have the most to compare. I really enjoyed this essay because it got my mind thinking about how to find similarities in different pieces of writing.