112 pages • 3 hours read
Jesmyn WardA 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.
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
As a child in her functionally segregated school, Jeffers learned about important black figures from history. Her teachers and parents praised Phillis Wheatley in particular: a slave whose poetry was published during her lifetime.
In childhood, Jeffers felt sad for Wheatley’s lack of a husband, but during college she learned that Wheatley was married to John Peters. His description utilized prejudicial characterizations of black men, such as his leaving his wife and child without money or support. Reading about Peters reminded Jeffers of local men surrounding Talladega College in Alabama who catcalled the women who studied there and how her mother spoke of such men.
A self-described “collateral descendant” (65) of Phillis Wheatley named Margaretta Matilda Odell wrote the definitive book on Wheatley’s personal details. Called Memoir and Poems of Phillis Wheatley, A Native African and a Slave, it was published in 1834. Odell’s book describes Phillis Wheatley’s arrival in Boston at seven years old and how her mistress Susannah Wheatley taught her to read and write.
Wheatley publicized her poetry on a journey to London, published her book in 1773, and was also freed sometime during that year. Wheatley’s written correspondence and the content of her poetry demonstrate her prolonged devotion to her home continent.
By Jesmyn Ward