112 pages • 3 hours read
Jesmyn WardThe Fire This Time
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2016A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Before You Read
Before You Read
Summary
“The Tradition” by Jericho Brown
Introduction by Jesmyn Ward
“Homegoing, AD” by Kima Jones
“The Weight” by Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah
“Lonely in America” by Wendy S. Walters
“Where Do We Go from Here?” by Isabel Wilkerson
“‘The Dear Pledges of Our Love’: A Defense of Phillis Wheatley’s Husband” by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
“White Rage” by Carol Anderson
“Cracking the Code” by Jesmyn Ward
“Queries of Unrest” by Clint Smith
“Blacker Than Thou” by Kevin Young
“Da Art of Storytellin’ (a Prequel)” by Kiese Laymon
“Black and Blue” by Garnette Cadogan
“The Condition of Black Life Is One of Mourning” by Claudia Rankine
“Know Your Rights!” by Emily Raboteau
“Composite Pops” by Mitchell S. Jackson
“Theories of Time and Space” by Natasha Trethewey
“This Far: Notes on Love and Revolution” by Daniel José Older
“Message to My Daughters” by Edwidge Danticat
Key Figures
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
“Queries of Unrest” by Clint SmithChapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 2: “Reckoning”
Poem Summary: “Queries of Unrest”
Clint Smith’s free verse poem considers the possibilities of selfhood, poetry, and connection. He models it after the work of poet Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib. The speaker repeats the word maybe throughout the poem to begin several lines. He begins, “Maybe I come from the gap / between my father’s teeth” (99) and considers the role of that dark space.
He compares the marginalization of black people with the margin on a piece of paper and expresses fear about readers’ perceptions of the work of black poets. The pervasive, community-wide fear of death might forestall loneliness. The speaker expresses dueling affection and revulsion for his own flesh. He wonders if he escapes from love to shield people from the darkness “when all they have to do is close their eyes” (100).
Poem Analysis
Clint Smith’s poem repeats the word “Maybe” at the beginning of fourteen different statements. When he repeats it at the beginnings of thirteen lines, he employs a poetic device known as anaphora. The word maybe represents the poetic speaker’s wrestling questions—or Queries, as the title suggests. However, he phrases them not as questions but as statements with a tone of wonder, confusion, and disillusionment, suggesting the speaker may feel surer than he appears.
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By Jesmyn Ward
