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The Fire Next Time is distinctive in its structure and presentation. Baldwin’s thoughts are presented in the form of two letters (epistolary). The first is an actual letter to his nephew (“A Letter to My Nephew”) that was later published in The Progressive magazine, while the second is an essay, ostensibly a letter but not addressed to anyone, initially published in The New Yorker. Both pieces predate Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (1963), one of the most famous essays of the civil rights movement. Ta-Nehisi Coates’s 2015 work Between the World and Me (“A Letter to My Son”) uses a similar structure and discusses many of the same concepts. Coates wrote this as a letter to his teenage son, drawing from Baldwin’s work. It has elements of both letters in The Fire Next Time but is ultimately less hopeful.

The epistolary format allows Baldwin to weave in elements of his personal life with observations and claims. “My Dungeon Shook” not only details the struggle that Baldwin feels that his nephew will face, but it also allows him to speak to all Black Americans who face similar struggles, giving it an element of universality. “Down at the Cross” uses many of the same techniques. Baldwin is able to discuss very specific and broad events in his life, such as meeting Elijah Muhammad for dinner, or the years that he served as a preacher. He is also able to connect facts, observations, and arguments to his personal reflections as he examines such events. One of the features of epistolary writing, especially for the civil rights movement, is that it can act as a plea for change. Baldwin (and the other writers) can speak directly to his peers and those who he feels are in opposition to his message. He can offer critique with evidence from his experiences, making it more personal and relatable.

Previous section Historical Context: The Civil Rights Movement in 1962

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