Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note

Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones)

Explorations of the text
1) What is the mood of the speaker in the opening lines? What images suggest his feelings?
~~The persona mood is soundly sad, from the poems the persona tells us that he does not have any intentions to continue his life. From my point of view and the evidence that I can find in the poems lines 1”Lately I have been accustomed”, the images that I can see there is no hope in his life as he do not think that life is meaningless.

2) What is the significance of the daughter's gesture of peeking into "her own clasped hands"?

~~ The gesture  from his daughter “her own clasped hand” I think and can feel that his daughter is the one who give hope in continue his life. From my point of view, he realizes that he should change the way he thinks and what he want in his life for himself and his daughter. Apart from that, this is the start that make him believe in god, the evidence that we can see from the poems is when his daughter praying that his father should change for better


3) What does the title mean? How does it explain the closing lines?

~~ “Preface” means an introduction in his suicides notes. In the closing lines, is about the choice that whether he want to continue life or not.

4) Why does Baraka have three short lines,separated as stanzas? How do they convey the message?

~~Baraka use 3 short lines, because he wants to show a depression in each meaning of the above lines. As evidence that I can find in the poem “Nobody sings anymore” suggest that there is no hope and nothing can make him continue his life


5) Why does the Baraka begins stanza with "Lately,"And now" and  And then"? What do this transition words accomplish?
 ~~Baraka starts the stanza with "lately" as Baraka want us to know that the fatheer does not have any enthusiasm in continue his life.Apart from that, "And now",he realizes that his life getting better from before. The poets end his poems with lines " And then" tells us that the reason why he feels the emptiness.


6) How does the speaker feel about his daughter ? What does she represent to him?
~~From my point of view,i think his daughter roles in his life is to give him a hope also his daughter represent as precious in his life.