I'm still working on the questions. Students will have a choice, answer a few questions using citations, one per response. The second choice is to respond to one question in a 500 word essay. This morning in the 9-10 a.m. class, I gave students a copy of the Literature and Its Times, Vol. 5 essay on James Baldwin's "The Fire Next Time." It is a great literary analysis. I also gave the second class a series of questions to think about. I will list them here. I am not certain if I will be able to get the essay questions posted by 3 p.m. I am falling asleep at the terminal :-) If you want me to consider your question for the essay, email me this afternoon or this evening.
Questions for reading
1. What themes reoccur in this essay? Why do these issues concern the writer?
2. Describe how Baldwin uses repetition of certain key words or terms to drive his point home.
3. Race and power are spoken of endlessly in this essay. Locate 4-8 places in the text that defines and fleshes out these terms.
4. Analyze the style and form of this essay. Talk about the writer's literary devices or craft. What does Baldwin do well as a writer--his writing demonstrates his verbal precision, there's poetry in this work and this is remarkable considering who's succeeding and how's failing.
Questions for reading
1. What themes reoccur in this essay? Why do these issues concern the writer?
2. Describe how Baldwin uses repetition of certain key words or terms to drive his point home.
3. Race and power are spoken of endlessly in this essay. Locate 4-8 places in the text that defines and fleshes out these terms.
4. Analyze the style and form of this essay. Talk about the writer's literary devices or craft. What does Baldwin do well as a writer--his writing demonstrates his verbal precision, there's poetry in this work and this is remarkable considering who's succeeding and how's failing.
posted by Professor Wanda's Posse at 2:21 PM
20 Comments:
Rudy Gonzales
8-9am Mon-Thurs
Question 2
Throughout James Baldwin's essay The Fire Next Time there are several key words and phrases in repetition to bring his point around full circle. One of these key words is "home". Baldwin uses "Home!" (B.C.E., 318)to make the reader think of this word. The reader now much meditate what home means to them. For most people, home is a safe and comforting place, but as Baldwin suggests for blacks the word brings up negative images in the land the supposedly live.
Another example, Baldwin uses the key phrases, "Whose little boy are you?" (Baldwin: Collected Essays, 303). He uses this phrase to talk about how life constantly tries to pull you in different directions. One must be cautious to how he answers this question. Ironically, Hon. Elijah Muhammad asks him the same questions when they meet (B.C.E., 323).
These repetitious words and phrases continue to bring the essay back to a certain factor of why Baldwin wrote it. I believe that he wants the reader to contemplate who they are as a person and why or how they got there. This is a great question for any of us to think about.
Moreover, are we proud of the person that we present to this world?
Dung Le
9-10am
3/20/2008
What themes reoccur in this essay? Why do these issues concern the writer?
There are many different themes that reoccur throughout Baldwin’s “The Fire Next Time” essay, one of the dominant theme is oppression. As Baldwin stated,
“My friends were now “downtown,” busy as they put it, “fighting the man.” They began to care less about the way they looked, the way they dressed, they things they did; presently, one found them in twos and threes and fours, in a hallway, sharing a jug of wine or a bottle of whiskey, talking, and cursing, fighting, sometimes weeping: lost, and unable to say what it was that oppressed them, except that they knew it was “the man”-the white man.
The oppression caused by “the man” had great effect on the Blacks; the prelude impaction crippled them, leaving them with a lasting effect that’s very devastating. Many Blacks used the oppression as an excuse to degrade themselves, blaming “the man” for all their faults.
Aiko Nillo
Eng.1a
9-10am
A reoccurring theme in James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time is the sense of false hope. As a child Baldwin was determined not to fall into the slums of Harlem because it had no future for him but “a hallway, sharing a jug of wine or a bottle of whiskey, talking, cursing, fighting, sometimes weeping…”(pg. 19) Baldwin’s explores this false hope with education. His father tried to force him to drop out of school and start working but he refused; thinking that education had something else in hand for him. But he already knew that education had no future because he knew people that went to college that became nothing but “college-graduate handymen.”
Another encounter of false hope was with the church. This was another way out of the slums of Harlem. But as he found out about education he also saw the cracks of the church. Baldwin saw that the churches and the streets were equally the same; people in church sought in God for savior and the people on the streets sought in drugs and crimes for savior. The preachers were like the drug dealers; preaching “the word” and profiting by the donations made by church-goers. After he realized this Baldwin knew he had to get out. As he recalled, “…I also knew that if I continued I would soon have no respect for myself.”(pg. 38)
The Nation of Islam; a nation in which consisted of thousands of followers all believing in Elijah Muhammad. He as well spoke in false hope. Though the Nation of Islam had many triumphs it also had its own troubles. Like the church profiting from their participants. The Nation of Islam profited from their thousands of followers.
Mike Dacoron
English 1a
9-10
Freewrite
In the book The Fire Next Time from James Baldwin the theme of home is often mentioned. When I think of home the word safety always go with it but James Baldwin compares the word “ safety” with the word “religious” p(16) because when James Baldwin was fourteen he was preacher. Just like his father Thank God segregation already passed by then but home was still not a safe place because of all the crime that was being committed and racism was still alive and crazier than it has ever been. James Father who was strict on his religious beliefs punished and hit James when he brought a Jewish friend over after he noticed that racism is just as close to home where your supposed to feel safe. So home was still not a safe place to be at times and so James did preaching for a while but gave up on it soon after.
One key phrase James uses is “he reacts to the fear in his parent’s voice because his parents hold up the world for him and he has no protections with out them”. p (27) This is so true for a parents and children because we as the children fear of our parents especially once we hear their voices calling for us. parents are the ones who will provide the protection for us and they try so hard to give the whole world for us so we can have a better future but when our parents aren’t a reliable source of protection like James father was it was difficult. James didn’t preach at the same church as his father and when his father strike him for brining a Jew home his father was vaguely mentioned ever since the whole essay. But it seems as if James was always trying to outdo his father or in other words be better then him.
Yolanda Gil
English 1A 9-10
Free write (Baldwin, James)
Question 2
The repetitions of key words used by James Baldwin in the essay entitle “Down At The Cross” are aim to send a message to the reader. His intention from repeating key words was to remind the reader of the significance of the essay. While I was reading the essay, words such as crime, Christianity, power, integration, and God were used frequently.
The key words kept me relating back to what I have read in the previous pages. The word crime is used many times through out the essay. However, the word crime is used to describe not only physical crime but moral crime as well. The word crime was not referred to only the acts of whites but the acts of blacks, too. One example where he describes himself as committing a crime was “When I watched all children, their copper, brown, and beige faces staring up at me as I thought Sunday school, I felt I was committing a crime in telling them to reconcile themselves to their misery on earth in order to gain the crown of eternal life” (57). He feels he was committing a moral crime because he knew what he was saying to the children was not the real truth.
Another example of the word crime he used in the essay is criminal power. He mentions “white people, who had robbed black people of their liberty and who profited by this theft every hour that they lived, had no moral ground on which to stand. They have the judges, the juries, the shotguns, the law-in a word, power. But it was criminal power….” (36) Baldwin’s techniques of repeating key words are a great way to stimulate the reader to analyze the meaning he is trying to convey.
Marty Burgess
English 1A, 9-10AM
Freewrite
3. Race and power are spoken of endlessly in this essay. Locate 4-8 places in the text that defines and fleshes out these terms.
In “Down At The Cross” race and power are common themes that Baldwin often speaks of in tandem. Race and power have long been associated with each other in the United States. People in power and positions of authority have been white since the beginning of this country and have been reluctant to give up that power. In many cases prior to the end of the civil rights movement, violently so. Baldwin said, “they had the judges, the juries, the shotguns, the law—in a word, power” (23). This power disparity between races fueled feelings of inadequacy in some and superiority in others. “White people hold the power, which means that they are superior to blacks (intrinsically, that is: God decreed it so)” (25). This view was unfortunately, widely held by those in power as well as by those who feared this power.
Baldwin was not one to accept these long-held beliefs. He knew they were unjust and “in any case, white people, who had robbed black people of their liberty and who profited by this theft every hour that they lived, had no moral ground on which to stand” (23). Baldwin said what many were afraid to; he spoke out against the many injustices that had been put upon by blacks over the years. He challenged society’s belief system and illustrated that “the power of the white world is threatened whenever a black man refuses to accept the white world’s definitions” (69). Many great civil rights leaders also illustrated this point and in turn, made great strides towards changing our country’s belief system and eliminating the power disparity between the races. It is still an issue today but the changes that have been wrought are powerful and hopefully are indications of future strides in the right direction.
Christina Thoss
English 1A 9-10AM
Freewrite: Question # 1
In the essay, "The Fire Next Time" written by James Baldwin, there are several reoccurring themes throughout the text. One of the main themes that continue to appear in Baldwin’s essay is oppression and the racist discrimination towards blacks. He talks about the humiliation that he and other African Americans endured on a daily basis on the streets of Harlem where he lived. Even policemen, the people who are supposed to enforce justice throughout the cities in our nation, would harass blacks and make cruel statements towards them. “I was thirteen and crossing Fifth Avenue on my way to the Forty-second Street library, and the cop in the middle of the street muttered as I passed him, ‘Why don’t you niggers stay uptown where you belong?’ When I was ten, and didn’t look, certainly, any older, two policemen amused themselves with me by frisking me, making comic (and terrifying) speculations concerning my ancestry and probable sexual prowess, and for good measure, leaving me flat on my back in one of Harlem’s empty lots.” (Baldwin Collected Essays 298)
Another important reoccurring theme throughout James Baldwin’s essay is religion and good versus evil. Baldwin speaks a lot on religion and how he turns to Church and God to help keep him from the “Avenue” where many of his friends had ended up; beginning to drink and smoke and commence in their sexual careers as pimps and whores. “I would have to give myself something to do, in order not to be too bored and find myself among all the wretched unsaved of the Avenue…very shortly after I joined the church, I became a preacher--a Young Minister--and I remained in the pulpit for more than three years” (Baldwin Collected Essays 305)
Teneya Turner
3/20/08
English 1A, Freewrite
9-10 am
There are several themes that reoccur throughout the essay, "The Fire Next Time". Baldwin makes sure to drive "home" these themes so that we as readers can visualize and understand what was going on at this time in his life as well as what was going on for most if not all blacks due to racism in America.
One major theme is the sharp contrast between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Both came at a time when blacks were looking for a religion or belief system that offered them hope that one day there would be at least equality if not superiority in America for them. Baldwin could appreciate the advances made by Dr. King by using "Passive Resistance." King ordered nonviolent movements throughout the south during the 1960's. Even after his house had been bombed, King told a group of angry followers, “If you have weapons, take them home, if you do not have them, please do not seek to get them." For some at a time like this non-violence seemed the only way to make advancements.
Malcolm X however believed "Any time dogs have bitten black women, bitten black children, and the one who advocates himself as their leader is satisfied in making a compromise or a deal with the same ones who did this...it's a sellout."
Baldwin could see the pros and cons of each of their teachings and chose not to follow either of them, choosing instead to focus on writing.
Faraj Fayad
9-10am
English 1a
3. Race and power are spoken of endlessly in this essay. Locate 4-8 places in the text that defines and fleshes out these terms.
“White people, who had robbed black people of their liberty and who profited by this theft every hour that they lived, had no moral ground on which to stand. They had the judges, the juries, the shotguns, the law-in a word power. But it was criminal power, to be feared but not respected, and to be outwitted in any way whatever.” James Baldwin also makes it clear that whites robbed black people for their liberty and profited from this theft every hour they lived.
“A white man’s heaven,” ‘sings a black Muslim minister,’ “is a black mans hell.”
This states that if a white person is living a happy life then a black person is living in hatred, which they felt was happening at the time.
At this point Baldwin like the Nation of Islam believed there was a time where Allah went one way and led blacks, and God went another way and led whites.
“We human beings now have the power to exterminate ourselves;
this seems to be the entire sum of our achievement.
We have taken this journey and arrived at this place in God’s name.
This, then, is the best that God (the white God) can do.”
5. What does the term "fire" imply here? What is the burning? Who's at greatest risk?
This is a fast draft. I'll post the completed essay in the March 20 slot.
A few students and I were speaking about the term "fire" and what Baldwin meant by his reference. What, in fact was burning. When Baldwin references burning or fire, I think about the passions of youth and the aspirations and dreams young Baldwin had which were dashed or killed when he found out that he wasn't allowed the same access as white children. The early pages of this second essay look at his peers, adolescents who were also similarly burning. He notes or observes this energy or fire dashed or watered with fear, a fear that led Baldwin's father to suggest his eldest child join the church. Baldwin writes that what he recalls as a choice was really not an option; it was either choose the church or leave home—which he eventually did. A question which arises is how can one keep up a gimmick if one's integrity is at stake? Baldwin was honest and couldn't lie to himself or others, including his father, whom he feared and despised for long.
So this fire, is a pronouncement Martin King reflected also in his Dream speech. There is much in Down at the Cross which agrees with Martin King's pronouncements in I Have a Dream. King said if this nation continued to ignore the rights of black people he couldn't guarentee a peaceful outcome. That black people would use his tactics of nonviolent resistence only as long as they saw measurable results, slow was okay, as long as they weren't dying in vain.
The fire here in the essay has lots of references: biblical references to a firey end to the evil doers. The earth was destroyed by water the last time, wasn't it? The rainbow sign refers to Noah's party and how they knew they were about to see land. I think there was also a dove, which today symbolizes peace. It also has more social consequential references.
America is burning. There is gun fire in the inner cities where youth are killing each other and there is fire abroad where America is burning other nations for the sake of peace. The irony is inescapable: since when does one burn down a country for peace? When is tyranny a recipe for goodwill and brotherhood?
In the 40-50 years after Baldwin wrote this essay it's still hot--a hot topic and a firey message. This inequality and scapegoating of certain populations just because the powerful always seems to need a boogeyman seems unending. Why this is, Baldwin says is because white Americans have not addressed their inhumanity, that we will not transcend this moment in our collective development as nation until we realize that what is at stake—that the arc of the covenant in this case is a lie, an illusion (104).
He says: "White Americans have contented themselves with gestures that are now described as "tokenism." (86). He then uses the judicial decisions, the 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown vs. the Board of Education as a case in point. He says that "progress" is really nothing more than "tokenism" when one surveys the public educational system in this country, then and now, and sees how unequal education was between the two peoples. Now, in 21st century America we can add class, so the divide is between the rich and the poor. He writes, "[The] evidence that supports this way of stating [the obvious] is not easily refuted.... The sloppy and fatuous nature of American good will can never be relied upon to deal with hard problems" (87).
He then juxtaposes the term "independence" with that of "integration," and says the two are the same. Fire is burning in Africa because of this meaningless use of the term. Fire is burning in America because separate and unequal is still the prima facie use of the term integration. Nothing had changed when Baldwin wrote this post 100 anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation (1963) and 45 years later we see how far this nation still has to go (87).
Question 2
Free Write
On
James Baldwin
*Astounded
After reading The Fire Next Time a key word that stood out to me that he used over and over was astounded. In the book Baldwin talked how whites were astounded by the holocaust in Germany. Then he mentions the word again when he talked about how he remembered being astounded by the quietness, the ease, the peace, and the taste. This can all be found on pages fifty two and sixty two.
Marcus Lee 03/20/08 eng 1A 9-10AM
Rudy Gonzales
8-9am
Response to two students
First to Mike Dacoron:
Mike, I thought similarly that "home" was a word that James liked to use to bring up many images about how it could represent safe or chaos depending on was using the word. I also thought that you touched on a really good point about "fear" as a reoccuring word throughout this essay. I think it is true that we know the tone of our parents voice and we know when they mean business. I would have liked if you could have expanded on the idea of Jame's father being difficult when you said, "when our parents aren’t a reliable source of protection like James father was it was difficult." Did you mean that it was scary for Jame's when he no longer had his father's protection?
Second to Marcus Lee:
Marcus, I will have to go back through the essay to catch the times that Baldwin writes "astonded", but I do believe that I recall that word more than once. What does astounded actually mean? Well, astounded is: to fill with sudden and overpowering surprise or wonder; amaze; atonish; bewilder. Interesting word that Baldwin chose to use. I was not sure about the latter time you wrote he uses the word, but it would be interesting to find if he uses that word when talking about the White American. Just food for thought.
Great job guys, good luck on your midterms.
IM SORRY TO SAY THIS BUT MY FIRST FREE WRITE WAS TO PUT SOMETHING UP WHILE WORKING ON THE REAL ONE.
Free Write
faraj Fayad
9-10am
english 1a
3. Race and power are spoken of endlessly in this essay. Locate 4-8 places in the text that defines and fleshes out these terms.
In James Baldwin’s book The Fire Next Time, one of the issues which we go through while reading the second essay “Down At The Cross“, is how white people had more power than black people did and took advantage of that, Baldwin quoted, “White people, who had robbed black people of their liberty and who profited by this theft every hour that they lived, had no moral ground on which to stand. They had the judges, the juries, the shotguns, the law-in a word power. But it was criminal power, to be feared but not respected, and to be outwitted in any way whatever” (23).
“A white man’s heaven,” ‘sings a black Muslim minister,’ “is a black mans hell.” (45)
This states that if a white person is living a joyful and relaxed life then a black person is living in hatred and anger. This was how the Nation of Islam felt living with all the racism being pushed on them by whites. At this point Baldwin like the Nation of Islam believed there was a time where Allah went one way and led blacks, and God went another way and led whites.
As Baldwin talks about us humans questioning the “meaning of man’s history,” he quotes
“We human beings now have the power to exterminate ourselves; his seems to be the entire sum of our achievement. We have taken this journey and arrived at this place in God’s name. This, then, is the best that God (the white God) can do” (57). What he meant by this quote is that a human being has enough power to destroy himself but not enough to destroy racism.
After saying how a policeman’s humanity is not more real to him then his uniform. Baldwin also says, “ No doubt I am guilty of some injustice here, but it is incredible, since I cannot risk assuming that the humanity of these people is more real to them than their color.” (68) I chose this quote because it seemed very catching with the metaphores used in it, but also because it showes that by the racism Baldwin went through he had to say a racist comment.
“The brutality with which Negroes are treated in this country simply cannot be overstated, however unwilling white men may be to hear it. In the beginning and neighther can this be over stated a Negro just cannot believe that white people are treating him as they do; he does not know what he has done to merit it.And when he relizes that the treatment accorded him does nothing to do with anything he has done, that the attempt of white people to destroy him-for that is what it is-is utterly gratuitous it is not hard for him to think of white people as devils.”(69) I have to say this was probably my favorite quote in the book because Baldwin explains a very strong excuse for a black man to believe a white man is a devil.
Nadia Hassan
English 1A
8-9
free write
1. what themes reoccur in this essay? why does these issues concern the writer?
The themes that reoccur in this essay is religion because all james talk about is about how he grew up preaching in the church to The Nation of Islam. He talks about the christianity and how growing to become a preacher he was expected to prepare at least one sermon a week. And then he talk about Nation of Islam and how they believed that white men were devils and which i thought that was a little to much because Islam is not about white men being devils. And they thought Elijah Mohammed was the prophet sent from Allah"
These issues conerns the writer was because James went through these experiences with these types of religions.
Yolanda Gil
English 1A 9-10
Responses to students’ free write
Christina Thoss
Mike Decaron
Christina in your free write you mention about James living in the time of oppression and racism. James grew up with white people that humiliated him every opportunity they had. I feel that you made good points in regards of the way he lived. I still see in our time that the kind of humiliation still exists towards minorities. I do not think it has change as much. It is sad to live in a time where racism and oppression does exist. But reality is different. One example of oppression is what the news shows. It only shows minority people doing something wrong like shooting on the streets or robbing a gas station store, things of that sort. Whose faces appear on the TV screen and whose last names are mention? The perpetrators are the group of minorities. But the major crimes are corporate crimes and the perpetrators are whites. Enron is an example of that.
Mike Decaron, you mention two good points. One is the meaning of “home” that should be a place where safety exist but James didn’t feel that way after his experience with his father.
Second point that you mention is how important to listen to our parents is. We listen to our parents because we trust them and believe they would not lie to us.
2. Describe how Baldwin uses repetition of certain key words or terms to drive his point home.
Baldwin uses repetition of certain key words or terms to prove his point. He used the words love and freedom very often and mixes the two so that they correlate with each other. The word love is used because they truly believe that that only way to successfully reform the American society where blacks are treated fairly, nonviolence must be used. Freedom is used to here because the black man has always been chained to segregation and their rights stripped away. So freedom shed light and gave hope the Negros. God and Allah is also used in his essay, the notion of a spiritual deity also shed lights of hope to the oppressed people of the world. Religion also gives ones comfort from the daily oppression they faced in their own society. The term Negros is constantly being used because they are the victims being addressed is the essay.
Kenton Low
3/24/08
1A: MTWR – 8 – 9 AM
Professor Wanda Sabir
James Baldwin Midterm 1: Question #4 – What does Baldwin means by love and freedom?
Are there any other terms in this essay? What lend themselves to critique and greater analysis?
The saying "Love conquers all" is commonly known, heard in our daily lives. Ironically, this is necessarily not true in the way James Baldwin views our society. In his argumentative autobiography, The Fire Next Time, he brilliantly perceives the idea that love, instead of fear, liberates society. To truly "liberate" society, one must discover his/her individual and personal identity by learning to love.
Baldwin emphasizes a specific example, The Nation of Islam being overrun by Whites. Because The Nation of Islam feared a complete overhaul of their culture, instead of answering the call to end continued power struggles with hate and violence, they people relied upon love. Baldwin states that liberation is love, and "love is more important than color" (71). The bigger picture is to realize that fear should not be met with more fear, hate, and violence, but with love and acceptance.
However, Baldwin does not just limit himself to a concrete example. His style of writing includes many key literary devices, including allusions and complex sentence structure, which allows for a more elevated diction; in turn, this aids the communication between Blacks and Whites. This shows his devotion not only to his craft, but coming to terms that he must speak in a language Whites understand. His heavy use of allusions, particularly biblical allusions, shows him to be a well-educated, Christian man who draws extensively on the rich oratorical heritage of the African-American Church. Much like Jesus, these allusions added to Baldwin’s original critique that love liberates society.
Baldwin, in his later studies, learned that the Church and its teachings were usually not geared toward Blacks. In his life, Baldwin used the Church to escape from friends who drank and smoked. The Church, in his eyes, "supposed that God and safety were synonymous" (16). However, timidity blinded him to believe that following God's words shielded him from the evils of society. He realized that the teachings of the Church were strictly about the teachings of White people; the Word discriminated and chained him and his community to even more hardships.
To finalize, Baldwin clearly mentions that to be free, to be liberated from the chains of society, one must not deliver words of hate, but rather practice love. Rather than put up arms of violence, one must exercise the patience of love. Love, as a tool, can penetrate even the greatest evils and withstand violence. People are moved by emotions, as love speaks to their inner soul. Violence and hate on the other hand only serve to demolish, never to repair. If people can learn to love others, then we can truly hope for a more tolerant and accepting society.
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