James Baldwin The Fire Next Time

1. James BaldwinThe Fire Next Time �Once you find yourself in another civilization, you�re forced to examine your own.�

4. Important Tidbits Birth Harlem, August 2, 1924 (grew up in poverty) Family Mother � Emma Berdis Joynes Adopted father � David Baldwin, preacher Strict, religious, troubled relationship between them Oldest of nine children Travels France, Istanbul, America Death France, December 1, 1987 (stomach cancer) Went to France in the 1940s to escape what the felt to be stifling racial bigotry; remained there for the rest of his life Was seen by the French to be one of their own (Commander of the Legion of Honor, 1986), but he described himself as a commuter rather than expatriate Went to France in the 1940s to escape what the felt to be stifling racial bigotry; remained there for the rest of his life Was seen by the French to be one of their own (Commander of the Legion of Honor, 1986), but he described himself as a commuter rather than expatriate

5. Influences Religion Worked as a preacher (14-17 years old) �Those three years in the pulpit � I didn�t realize it then � that is what turned me into a writer, really, dealing with all that anguish and that despair and that beauty.� Look for this influence in his writing (language, cadence, tone, etc.) Literature Spent days reading in Harlem Library � trying to connect his own life to those depicted in the books �I knew I was black, of course, but I also knew I was smart. I didn�t know how I would use my mind, or even if I could, but that was the only thing I had to use.�

6. Friendships/Relationships Richard Wright (author) Mentor/father figure Most famous novel is Native Son Wright helped Baldwin secure a grant to move to Paris and write full time Lucien Happersberger Seventeen-year-old runaway Baldwin fell in love with him Happersberger married three years later � devastated Baldwin Maya Angelou (author) Referred to Baldwin as �friend and brother� Angelou credits Baldwin for setting the stage of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

7. Work Go Tell it on the Mountain (1953) Autobiographical novel About growing up in Harlem Struggles of Black Americans � profound and passionate; unlike anything ever written before Notes on a Native Son (1956) Collection of essays Most of the essays address ideas about race Giovanni�s Room (1956) American man living in Paris Feelings and frustrations with relationships with other men in his life (criticized for explicit homoerotic content)

8. Themes Search for identity Wrote what and how he wanted to write despite criticism Refused to be known as a black author or gay author; rather, he was an American author Race in America and Europe One of the forerunners of the Civil Rights Movement The Fire Next Time � known as the earliest and primary voice of Civil Rights Movement Social and political activism Homosexuality Baldwin was homosexual, but he wrote about heterosexual and bisexual characters as well Universal love and brotherhood Pacifist even when he was angry and disillusioned with the times

9. Genres Prose Fiction (novels and short stories) Nonfiction (essays) Poetry Drama

10. Reading Nonfiction Identify purpose and audience Who is the author trying to persuade? What is he trying to persuade his audience to think or do? Identify how the author achieves his purpose Persuasive appeals Pathos � appeal to emotion Logos � appeal to logic/reason Ethos � appeal to character/values

11. Reading Nonfiction Rhetorical device Technique that an author or speaker uses to convey a meaning with the goal of persuading him or her toward considering a topic from a different perspective Regardless of the technique, the thing to wonder is HOW does the author achieve his/her purpose?

12. The Fire Next Time Published in 1963 Made up of two essays �My Dungeon Shook� �Down at the Cross� Context Civil Rights Movement Black Muslim Movement (aka Nation of Islam)

13. Black Muslim Movement Religious organization (otherwise known as Nation of Islam) Founded in Detroit in 1930 by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad W. D. Fard Muhammad passed leadership to Elijah Muhammad Goal � resurrecting the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of American African American men and women Belief that God will bring about a universal government of peace Non-Islamic independent religion that has adopted Islamic terminology rather than an Islamic sect (differing beliefs about God, race, and prophecy)

14. Black Muslim Movement Beliefs No god other than Allah (who came in the form of W. D. Fard) World society is segmented into three distinct categories 85% of the population are the deaf, dumb and blind masses of the people who are easily led in the wrong direction and hard to lead in the right direction. 10% rich slave-makers are said to manipulate the 85% masses of the people through ignorance, the skillful use of religious doctrine and the mass media. 5% poor righteous teachers of the people of the world who know the truth of the manipulation of the 85% masses of the people by the 10%; at constant struggle and war with 10% to reach and free the minds of the masses of the people.

15. Black Muslim Movement

16. Black Muslim Movement Famous names Malcolm X (later converted to Sunni Islam) Louis Farrakhan Muhammad Ali (later converted to Sunni Islam) Michael Jackson Ice Cube (never a regular member) Snoop Dogg

17. But I still believe that the unexamined life is not worth living: and I know that self-delusion, in the service of no matter what small or lofty cause, is a price no writer can afford. His subject is himself and the world and it requires every ounce of stamina he can summon to attempt to look on himself and the world as they are. - James Baldwin, �Nobody Knows My Name�