The Fire Next Time

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

ACTIVITY 1: “Epistolary Writing: Letters as Vehicles for Expression and Healing,” Part A

In this activity, students will analyze other epistolary texts and compare them to The Fire Next Time, specifically “My Dungeon Shook.”

“My Dungeon Shook,” the first essay in The Fire Next Time, is an epistolary essay, written as a letter to Baldwin’s nephew. Analyze another example of an epistolary text and compare it to “My Dungeon Shook.”

Work with a partner to analyze one example of an epistolary text. You will co-write a short reflection that shows a critical understanding of the text itself and discuss it in relation to “My Dungeon Shook.” Consider overlaps in speaker/audience, tone, mood, theme, and intent.

• Choose one epistolary text. Some possible options include the following:

o “Will V-Day Be Me-Day, Too?” by Langston Hughes

o “This is Just to Say” by William Carlos Williams

o Excerpt from On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

o Excerpts from The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank

o Excerpts from Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

• Read the selection independently, annotating for imagery, mood, tone, theme, intent, and author’s purpose. Share your analysis with your partner and work together to hone your thoughts.

Synthesize your pair’s thoughts into a short, 1-to-2-page co-written reflection in which you analyze the message of your chosen epistolary text and how that message is conveyed. Make sure to include the similarities and differences between your chosen text and The Fire Next Time.

Teaching Suggestion: It may be helpful to remind students that while their chosen epistolary text will be very different from The Fire Next Time, there will likely be similarities in terms of theme, tone, and author’s purpose; they might begin their analysis by addressing those elements in a 3-column chart. The goal of the activity is to explore the letter as a specific genre of creative expression.

ACTIVITY 2: “Epistolary Writing: Letters as Vehicles for Expression and Healing,” Part B

In this activity, students will write their own epistolary work or series of works and reflect on the epistolary form in relation to their own work and that of James Baldwin.

In this activity, expand upon the Personal Connection Prompt that you engaged in prior to reading the novel. Write your own epistolary text or series of texts, in which you write a narrative in letter format to a person or entity.

• You may choose to write a poem, essay, journal/diary, short story, or memoir.
• You may also create a multi-genre text.
• Consider who you are writing to and what you want to say to that person. Like Baldwin, the audience of your text is likely to expand beyond the named recipient.
• You may choose to write either fiction or nonfiction, and your final work may be a series of interconnected narratives instead of one singular piece.

The class will celebrate each other’s epistolary texts with an “open studio”-style gallery walk. Afterward, complete a short written reflection in which you comment on how the epistolary form can help writers explore certain topics and convey certain messages in unique and purposeful ways; additionally, make connections between your own work, the work of your peers, and of James Baldwin

Teaching Suggestion: It may be helpful to consider using a writing workshop protocol like this one from the National School Reform Faculty as students are drafting and revising their epistolary pieces.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students who benefit from support with organization, it may be helpful to provide a checklist of steps and goals as they construct their epistolary pieces.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. In “My Dungeon Shook,” Baldwin discusses the concept of freedom in a complex and nuanced way.

• How is the freedom of both Black and white Americans interconnected? (topic sentence)
• Analyze the ways in which the freedom of both Black and white Americans is inexorably linked. Cite direct evidence from the essay to support your ideas.
• In your concluding sentences, connect your thoughts to the theme of The Transformative Power of Freedom.

2. “Down at the Cross” explores the tension Baldwin feels concerning religion.

• What is Baldwin’s relationship to Christianity, and how does he navigate his complex feelings? (topic sentence)
• Analyze and discuss the ways in which Baldwin’s views on Christianity shift over time in support of your topic sentence. Cite direct evidence from the essay to support your ideas.
• In your concluding sentences, explain how your topic sentence and points connect to the theme of The Failure of Religion.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by textual details, and a conclusion.

1. Analyze the concept of love in “My Dungeon Shook.” What role does love play in Baldwin’s message to his nephew, and, by extension, other young Black Americans? In what ways does love become a force for acceptance, change, and, ultimately, freedom? As you compose your essay, cite at least 3 direct quotes from the essay to strengthen your points of discussion.

2. In both essays in The Fire Next Time, Baldwin discusses the concept of acceptance. Compare and contrast the ways that acceptance is presented and explored in both “My Dungeon Shook” and “Down at the Cross.” How must Black and white Americans, at various points, be both those accepting and those being accepted? How is the concept of acceptance a vehicle for conveying one of the text’s main themes? As you compose your essay, include at least 3 citations from the text to strengthen your thoughts.

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which adjective best describes the tone of the opening sentence of “My Dungeon Shook”?

A) Unsure

B) Reflective

C) Confident

D) Confused

2. What does the word “truculent” mean as used in the opening paragraph of “My Dungeon Shook”?

A) Insensitive

B) Aggressive

C) Passive

D) Understanding

3. Which phrase best describes Baldwin’s relationship with his brother, as described in “My Dungeon Shook”?

A) Paternal and caring

B) Aloof and detached

C) Strict and inflexible

D) Playful and lighthearted

4. In “My Dungeon Shook,” Baldwin says, “Well, the black man has functioned in the white man’s world as a fixed star, as an immovable pillar.” What literary device is used in that passage?

A) Metaphor

B) Hyperbole

C) Simile

D) Personification

5. Which phrase best describes the tone of the conclusion of “My Dungeon Shook”?

A) Joyful and excited

B) Skeptical and unsure

C) Frustrated and bitter

D) Hopeful and resolute

6. Which statement describes Baldwin’s perspective on the impact of religion in Black communities as shown in “Down at the Cross”?

A) It offers empowerment.

B) It perpetuates oppression.

C) It provides comfort.

D) It leads to assimilation.

7. A sense of displacement and disconnect is best shown through the repetition of what word from page 34 (The Dial Press 1963 edition)?

A) “Fled”

B) “Before”

C) “Speculations”

D) “Ruined”

8. What prevailing feeling preceded Baldwin’s experience of being “saved” in a church service?

A) Frustration

B) Belonging

C) Alienation

D) Curiosity

9. How does Baldwin feel when he looks at the Black and brown faces of the young children in Sunday school, as he continues to reflect on the role of the church in Black life?

A) Supportive

B) Hypocritical

C) Uncertain

D) Defeated

10. Which of the following best describes the word “elucidation” as used on page 57 of “Down at the Cross” (The Dial Press 1963 edition)?

A) Development

B) Uncertainty

C) Obfuscation

D) Clarification

11. With what tone does Baldwin conclude the first section of “Down at the Cross”?

A) Adamant

B) Uncertain

C) Conflicted

D) Sympathetic

12. What does the Nation of Islam offer to Black followers that Baldwin sees as lacking in Christian doctrine?

A) Forgiveness

B) Community

C) Power

D) Wealth

13. Which statement best describes Baldwin’s perspective of the Nation of Islam as a force for Black communities?

A) He is optimistic.

B) He is disillusioned.

C) He is skeptical.

D) He is comforted.

14. Baldwin asserts that color is not a “human or personal reality.” What kind of reality is it?

A) Political

B) Social

C) Racial

D) Economic

15. What Black writer and activist does Baldwin quote at the end of “Down at the Cross”?

A) Martin Luther King Jr.

B) Malcolm X

C) Frederick Douglass

D) W.E.B. Du Bois

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating textual details to support your response.

1. What is “the crime of which” Baldwin accuses his “country and [his] countrymen,” and how does this crime speak to Baldwin’s larger message in “My Dungeon Shook”?

2. How does the title “Down at the Cross” carry symbolic meaning in the context of the essay?