The Fire Next Time

Choose one of the themes in the two essays. How does that theme inform your understanding of the African American experience? How does the African American experience affect all Americans?

What role does love, in its many forms, play in the resolution of African American oppression? Do you agree that Baldwin’s belief in love is a path to equality or not? Explain.

What is the purpose of Baldwin’s essays? How are these essays relevant to a current discussion of racism and African Americans oppression?

Why and how does religion fail to address African American oppression and racial injustice? Explain.

Choose one of the motifs or symbols commonly used in the essays, such as fire. What is its relevance in terms of the overall meaning of the essays? What makes the use of the motif or symbol effective?

What is Baldwin’s goal in writing these essays? Explain in terms of specific examples from the text compared with current examples of racial injustice or oppression in America?

Do you believe that White people can only be free when Black people are truly free? Explain.

How does Baldwin define freedom in these two essays? Choose examples from both essays.