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Two-Part Title
Your Name
Prof. Name
ENG 101
Due Date
Two-Part Title
(For example, Homemakers and Farmhands: Gender Roles in Alice Munro’s “Boys and Girls”)
THESIS STATEMENT: This essay assignment requires you to choose a short story from those we have read this semester, identify a main character, and write an argument giving your interpretation of his or her personality traits, either as the character evolves (grows) from the beginning of the story to the end, or an explanation of how your understanding of him or her evolves (changes) as you read. To focus your ideas about this character into a clear and solid thesis statement, answer two questions that will become a two-part thesis statement: (a) How does the character (or your understanding of this person) evolve based on what he or she experiences in the story? In other words, how does this person grow and change, or how does your understanding of the character grow and change? (b) What type of readers would appreciate this story for the life lesson they will learn from this character’s experience and evolution? Please be specific about the kind of readers you envision; do not say anyone or people in general—be very specific about the readers who should read this story and be very specific about what they will learn from it. Answer both questions for a complete thesis statement written in no more than two sentences and be sure to place this two-part thesis at the end of the introduction paragraph described below. Your thesis will point your readers toward the direction of your argument, and your argument will lead your readers to be persuaded by your interpretation of the main character’s journey and the significance of the story’s lesson.
INTRODUCTION PARAGRAPH: Start your essay with an introduction to the short story you are examining by giving its title and author by name. Briefly explain the setting (the time and place where the story happens), and briefly list a few of the most important characters and explain their relationship to one another. Identity the story’s main character. This might be either the narrator such as Brother in Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” or it might be Sonny himself, depending on which character’s journey you wish to examine. If your story is told by a first-person narrator, this might be the character to write about (Poe’s Montresor, for example), but if the story is told by an omniscient (all knowing) narrator like the one in Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” or the narrator in Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown,” it is better to focus on Emily herself, or YGB himself. After introducing all the elements above in this opening paragraph, place your thesis, as you worked it out according to the directions above, at the end.
Include an IMAGE of the author here.
Crop to an appropriate size so it enhances your written text instead of distracting from it.
BODY PARAGRAPHS
Pro Tip: You must open each of the essay’s body paragraphs with topic sentence, which is easy to do if you reverse the question being asked and make into a statement. Add the literary term from the question itself to the topic sentence to make clear the concept you are working with in responding to the writing prompt.
Pro Tip: Do not end with any paragraph with a quote from the story. Incorporate the quote into your explanation of the concept you are dealing with, and end the paragraph with your own words by explaining how the quote itself relates the character you are examining.
Write a paragraph describing the story’s basic plot to give readers unfamiliar with it just enough background context for a basic understanding of the narrative without explaining every detail. Name the person who is narrating the story and explain if it is a first-person narrator, or an omniscient, all-knowing narrator. What does the narrator tell readers about the main character you are examining in this argument? Quote the narrator saying something about this character in this paragraph. For example: The omniscient narrator in Hawthorne’s story describes Young Goodman Brown as “A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man.” Remember to start this paragraph with a topic sentence that introduces the use of the literary term(s) in bold face in relation to the character you are examining and end this paragraph with your own words relating how this quote pertains to the character.
Write a paragraph describing the story’s setting, the time and place situation where the story takes happens. Where do the events of the story happen, both in terms of a geographical location on a map and a specific time-period in history. How does the setting shape the main character’s sense of self and situation? Quote the narrator saying something about this character in this paragraph. For example: Montresor, the first-person narrator of Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” describes the creepy atmosphere of the catacombs: “We could see the bones of the dead lying in large piles along the walls. The stones were wet and cold.” Remember to start this paragraph with a topic sentence that introduces the use of the literary term(s) in bold face in relation to the character you are examining and end this paragraph with your own words relating how this quote pertains to the character.
Write a paragraph describing problems in the story. How does the main character face a personal dilemma and how is he or she in conflict with other characters in the story? Quote the narrator explaining the dilemma faced by the main character in this paragraph. For example: In the opening scene of Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues,” the first-person narrator known only as Brother, explains his distress in learning that Sonny was sent to jail for a drug related offensive while he’s trying to get through his workday: “I felt my guts were going to come spilling out or that I was going to choke or scream.” Remember to start this paragraph with a topic sentence that introduces the use of the literary term(s) in bold face in relation to the character you are examining and end this paragraph with your own words relating how this quote pertains to the character.
Write a paragraph explaining how the main character confronts the problem he or she is facing. How does this character’s action in confronting the problem move the story toward its climax (highest point of the narrative)? What is the epiphany (new realization) that results from this climax, either for the main character him or herself, or for the reader? Quote the narrator’s explanation of this climax and/or the resulting epiphany. For example: The narrator in Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” recounts the moment readers understand that Homer Barron had in fact been living with Miss Emily for many years since it had first been assumed that he left town so many years before: “The man himself lay in the bed…we saw a long strand of iron-gray hair.” Remember to start this paragraph with a topic sentence that introduces the use of the literary term(s) in bold face in relation to the character you are examining and end this paragraph with your own words relating how this quote pertains to the character.
CONCLUSION PARAGRAPH: End your essay by explaining three ideas: (a) How does the title of the story reveal something important about the character you are examining? (b) How has the character (or your understanding of this person) evolved by the end of the story? (c) What is the life lesson readers should learn from the story? Remember to be very clear about the specific audience you would recommend this story to, how they should perceive the character’s journey and evolution, and what message they should come away with from this text as they understand its title on a deeper level.
Works Cited
Include a works cited page at the end of your essay for both the PDF of story itself and the image of the author you found online. Use www.zbib.org for both.
Everything in bold above will be counted as earned points for this writing project.
Company Factors
Company Factors
NIO is a leader in the premium electric vehicle market in China. Marketing managers at NIO need to make an assessment of the internal weaknesses and strengths of the organization before making any marketing decisions. According to Kang, Ren, Feinberg, & Papalambros (2016), every organization in the automotive industry has different needs including internal capabilities and resources suited to different niche and broad markets. Company factors such as culture, the human resource function, financial position, and the research and development (R&D) capabilities are important elements in determining the welfare of NIO in its bid to acquire a larger market share of the EV sector. The culture at NIO is presented by Jiang, Wei, Guan, & Yang (2021) to be strong, in accordance to the Chinese strengths of process and product innovations. For example, NIO has made a name for itself by being the first EV automaker to have the capacity to switch batteries to reduce the time required for charging. The human resource (HR) function is also important for the organization. A quality HR function creates and manages effective campaigns, including the attraction and retention of top talent in the industry to improve the skills level of the workforce.
Due to its success under a relatively short period, the company has received a lot of backing from other domestic giants such as Baidu and Tencent (Jia, Kenney, Mattila, & Seppala, 2018). It is now a leader in the EV market in China. Jiang, Wei, Guan, and Yang (2021) note that the 2nd half of 2020 saw the company’s stock price skyrocket making it the 5th largest automaker globally by market capitalization. The company employs innovative solutions unique to the Chinese market as its main motivation. By dominating the Chinese EV market, the company intends to take over the world, occupying a large market share that has predominantly been available to global giants such as Tesla. Currently, NIO is focused on entering every major car category including sedans, station wagons, SUV, and basic to premium vehicles. It is also focused on being more environmental conscious through other processes such as manufacturing and raw materials acquisition, a move that the company hopes will add to its portfolio.
NIO’s financial position as well as an availability of marketing resources improves its internal strengths. With a strong financial position, Przychodzen, Leyva‐de la Hiz, & Przychodzen (2020) found that companies are able to utilize opportunities in the overall industry as well as working internally to reduce weaknesses and expand the strengths. NIO uses its position to make meaningful partnerships with other industry leaders with an aim of creating a seamless customer experience. It is able to spend significant amounts on the launch of new products and venture into new projects with relative ease. The same applies for its R&D spending. Relative to its financial position, NIO spends huge amounts of its resources on being the next innovative leader in process optimization, building a stable IT network, product design, and marketing strategies that support the organizational objectives.
Collaborator Factors
NIO has several external stakeholders who have interests in the company and team up in mutually beneficial partnerships. Collaborators are an essential part of the success of a company. Collaborators may include supply chain partnerships both in the downstream and upstream in the value chain (Huang, Han, Macbeth, 2020). For NIO, collaborators help the company to figure out factors including its bargaining power against the collaborators, what suppliers offer to the company, agility and flexibility of the supply chain, and the sharing of revenue. For example, domestic giants such as Baidu and Tencent. Other agencies, distributors, business partners, and suppliers regarded as collaborators include Mobileye (NIO Inc., 2019). The partnerships that NIO hopes to get out of collaborators include better ways of conducting business, ability to penetrate other markets, and a desire to provide solution in more industries than one. For example, the partnership with Mobileye is set to offer better levels of autonomous driving vehicles. The consumers in China and elsewhere in the world are the main targets as the company collaborates with other brands. The capabilities, performance, and issues of collaborators are important for NIO as it seeks to attain competitive advantage in every possible field.
Some of the key collaborator factors that NIO considers include the risk to patents and intellectual property rights, the number and ability of the suppliers, management of delivery services in a timely manner, position and bargaining power, and the flexibility of the supply chain. Research by Huang, Han, & Macbeth (2020) found collaborators to add a significant risk to an organization. For example, they may expose NIO to theft of intellectual property in overseas operations leading to negative consequences. Additionally, the number of suppliers that NIO partners with and their abilities determine how the company performs in the long term. Delivery services are also important because they may add to the supply chain and logistical risks. All these issues combined add to the loss or gain of the position of the company and its bargaining power in the value chain because a high bargaining power against the collaborators means more sustainable margins and the vice versa is also true.
References
Huang, Y., Han, W., & Macbeth, D. K. (2020). The complexity of collaboration in supply chain networks. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/123996/1/SCM%20Han%20et%20al%202019.pdf
Kang, N., Ren, Y., Feinberg, F. M., & Papalambros, P. Y. (2016). Public investment and electric vehicle design: a model-based market analysis framework with application to a USA–China comparison study. Design Science, 2.
Jia, K., Kenney, M., Mattila, J., & Seppala, T. (2018). The application of artificial intelligence at Chinese digital platform giants: Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent. ETLA reports, (81). https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/201363/1/ETLA-Reports-81.pdf
Jiang, Q., Wei, W., Guan, X., & Yang, D. (2021). What Increases Consumers’ Purchase Intention of Battery Electric Vehicles from Chinese Electric Vehicle Start-Ups? Taking NIO as an Example. World Electric Vehicle Journal, 12(2), 71. https://www.mdpi.com/2032-6653/12/2/71/pdf
NIO Inc. (November 5, 2019). NIO Inc. Announces Strategic Collaboration with Mobileye to Bring Level 4 Autonomous Driving Vehicles to Consumers in China and Beyond. Available at https://www.nio.com/news/nio-inc-announces-strategic-collaboration-mobileye-bring-level-4-autonomous-driving-vehicles
Przychodzen, W., Leyva‐de la Hiz, D. I., & Przychodzen, J. (2020). First‐mover advantages in green innovation—Opportunities and threats for financial performance: A longitudinal analysis. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 27(1), 339-357.
Light and Darkness Developing Each other in James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues”
Your Name
Prof. Name
ENG 101
Due Date
Light and Darkness: Developing Each other in James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues”
The most essential relationships in our life flourish when one person enables the other to develop in their own manner and pursue the dreams that they have in their hearts. As with many of his writings, “Sonny’s Blues,” a short story set in Harlem, was published in 1957. “Sonny’s Blues,” tells the narrator’s story, who remains anonymous, and how his life altered after discovering his brother’s drug use. Throughout the novel, “Sonny’s Blues” focuses on the concept of light and dark, the battle of brotherly love, and the challenges the narrator and Sonny confront as brothers since they were reared the same yet went their ways. Images of light and darkness are used in the topic of “Sonny’s Blues” to convey to us as readers what is good and what is terrible. On Sunday afternoons after church, the narrator recounts his brother Sonny as a youngster and how his face lighted up due to the pleasant and gracious occurrences that occurred.
The light serves as a beacon of hope and inspiration throughout the novel. When the brothers reconcile after the narrative, the light shines even brighter. Light is a metaphor for all of life’s uplifting experiences. The narrator’s views about his brother’s way of life and his grief at the death of his daughter are all examples of the darkness that permeates the story. They were growing up in a hurry, and their heads slammed against the low ceiling of their real capabilities with wrath,” the narrator begins as he stares out at the young boys in the story’s initial paragraphs.
It’s hard to read “Sonny’s Blues” without considering how much pain it contains. There are so many tragedies in this community, from the narrator’s daughter being killed to Sonny’s drug addiction to the cold-blooded murder of the narrator’s uncle. As Sonny fervently asserts, there is no escape from pain. The darkness that creeps into the narrator’s family and community’s lives and must be ensured throughout the work represents this suffering. Heroin is an escape from the pain that would otherwise paralyze him, says Sonny. Both art and redemption necessitate the experience of pain. Sonny thinks the reviving artist must have gone through a lot of pain to sing so beautifully. It’s reasonable to assume that similar gloomy events influence Sonny’s music. When used creatively, suffering and darkness can yield works of art that are simply breathtaking. True compassion for others is essential for salvation, which can only be achieved through suffering. The narrator’s journey to salvation begins only after losing his daughter in a tragic accident.
Sonny’s Blues” has a dark undercurrent of racism. It’s not talked about much, but it’s always there. For example, Baldwin refers to the “rocks in the middle of the boiling sea” that rise out of Harlem’s decrepit housing projects. Racism has a tangible effect on a community when it results in housing policies that discriminate based on race at the local and federal levels. Likewise, much of the narrator’s anxiety on behalf of his students can be attributed to the fact that they, like Sonny, are young African American men living in a system that ruthlessly and endlessly discriminates against them.
Much of the darkness and suffering in the story can be attributed to the effects of racism; the narrator speaks of suffering as something inherited from one generation to the next in the African American community. The continuous and subtle effect of racism suddenly becomes concrete and evident when the narrator’s mother describes how inebriated white men killed her brother-in-law. She cautions the narrator that a similar tragedy may befall Sonny, indicating her anxiety that racism is still a very serious danger to the family.
Even though both the narrator and Sonny were raised in the same home, their paths in life, in my opinion, diverged despite their shared upbringing. Affluent yet non-disruptive, the storyteller was one of the family’s sons. He was the kind of kid who excelled in school and aspired to be a successful person by putting in the time and effort required. Sonny was the antithesis of this when it came to achieving greatness through hard work.
In “Sonny’s Blues,” Baldwin employs light and darkness to illustrate the warmth, optimism, melancholy, and despair that characterize the lives of his protagonists. According to Baldwin’s description, a room full of people after church brings out the warmth in Sonny’s face. All of life’s pleasant and optimistic aspects are represented by light. Additionally, there is a spiritual undertone to it. In addition to representing life’s greatest aspects, light also signifies salvation and grace. A life lived in the light is a life lived following one’s values. The darkness continuously threatens the story’s protagonists, which stands in direct antithesis to the light. Many societal and personal issues are represented by the darkness that may be found in every corner of the world. As night falls, the characters in the novel become vividly aware of the shadows surrounding them. Despite being in jail, Sonny’s drug use and the overall status of Harlem may all be attributed to the gloom. Despite how ubiquitous darkness may be; it is always countered by a glimmer of light. In the end, light comes to represent rescue, comfort, and love, while darkness symbolizes the terror and despair that threatens to extinguish it all.
In the Civil Rights Movement context, “Sonny’s Blues” has a larger political significance. Focusing on embracing one’s heritage and community in the context of racial tensions was extremely timely for the African American community during this period. The narrator must re-establish ties with his family and wider heritage to be redeemed. Trying to fit in with the dominant white culture has done him no good. Only if he understands and accepts his roots can he be granted a respite. Baldwin probably wanted his listeners to take this lesson and apply it to their own lives.
Works Cited
Baldwin, James. Sonny’s Blues and Other Stories. Penguin, 1995.
Redirect Notice. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.biography.com%2Fwriter%2Fjames-baldwin&psig=AOvVaw1d21ET6Z05Lz9Op9Gf8_xw&ust=1649885982670000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAoQjRxqFwoTCKiZnrG-j_cCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD. Accessed 12 Apr. 2022.
Tackach, James and Marquette University Press. “The Biblical Foundation of James Baldwin’s ‘Sonny’s Blues’:” Renascence, vol. 59, no. 2, 2007, pp. 109–18. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.5840/renascence200759214.