Stranger in the Village by James Baldwin, 1955: Reflective Essay
Purpose
• To Generate potential topics for writing a Reflective Essay
• To Analyze a Reflective Essay for content, style, and craft
Preview
• How did “Shooting an Elephant” reflect the Stranger in the Village Concept?
• Skim the text first for length and unfamiliar words. Notice the footnotes: they’ll help
you.
• Consider why words such as sight, stranger, village, and Neger, are repeated often
throughout the text.
• Hint: use context clues to help you understand the italicized words.
Discussion Questions Paragraph 1
1. (Content) What is the event and its significance?
Discussion Questions Paragraph 2-3
2. (Style) What is the function of the details about the village and its people?
3. (Style) How does Baldwin use these details to impact the reader?
4. (Craft) What’s the effect of Baldwin’s syntax when he juxtaposes simple and complex
sentences?
Discussion Questions Paragraph 4-5
5. (Content) What’s the significance of the last sentence of paragraph 4?
6. (Content) Discuss the content and significance of James Joyce’s quote at the end of
paragraph 5. What does it contribute to Baldwin’s reflection?
7. (Style) Characterize Baldwin’s tone (or attitude) as he writes about the village. Cite
at least one example of diction from the text that supports this tone.
8. (Craft) What is the impact of Baldwin’s use of dashes in sentence structure?
A Dash marks a sudden change in thought or tone, sets off a brief summary, or sets off
a parenthetical part of a sentence. A dash often conveys a casual tone. (p.29) [p. 26 in old
book)
Discussion Questions Paragraphs 6-9
9. (Content) Discuss the irony of the village’s “custom” as it resonates with
Baldwin in his reflection.
10. (Style) Identify the tone of the last sentence of paragraph 6.
11. (Craft) What is the effect of the syntactical structure of the last sentence of
paragraph 9?
Discussion Questions Paragraphs 10-13
12. (content) How is the stranger in the village theme conveyed here?
13. (Style) how does the author organize this section to advance the theme of the
essay?
14. (Content) What words are repeated in paragraph 10? How does this add new
emotional layers to the tone?
Discussion Questions Paragraphs 14-15
15. (Content) Discuss the new description of the village in which Baldwin is a stranger.
16. (Style) How does Baldwin’s diction advance his tone and/or theme?
17. (Craft) Why is Baldwin’s thesis presented in 3 sentences in paragraph 14? What
effect does the syntax of this paragraph have on the reader?
Significance of Paragraph 14
18. Paraphrase the last sentence. Discuss the effect of this sentence, the thesis of this
essay.
Relationship to the Essay:
Paragraph 14 connects the first part of the essay about Baldwin being a stranger in
Switzerland to the second part of the essay about the more complex and nuanced
position Baldwin and African Americans have in American society because they are not
“strangers”.
Discussion Questions Paragraphs 16-23
19. Mark the text for use of the word “America(ns)”. What does this repetition tell us
about his purpose and audience?
Discussion Questions Paragraphs 24-25
20. Is Baldwin’s conclusion positive or negative? Explain your answer using text as
evidence.
21. How does Baldwin link his experiences in Switzerland with his own reflections about
the American Experience?