44 pages • 1 hour read
Brittany BarnettA Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2020A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
What about Barnett’s background and identity enabled her to relate so closely with Sharanda Jones?
What were the commonalities in the stories of the incarcerated clients that Barnett represented? Use examples from the text to support your response.
How and why were Black Americans so disproportionately targeted and punished in the War on Drugs?
How did Barnett’s upbringing and experiences influence her academic and professional choices? Why did she ultimately switch careers?
How does Barnett highlight the significance of the mother-daughter bond throughout the book? Use examples from the text to support your answer.
What is the significance of the book’s title?
Barnett repeatedly emphasizes the significance of community, asserting that “Black love was Black wealth” (13), and quoting the proverb, “I am because we are” (189). What do these quotes reveal about Barnett’s view of community? How does she demonstrate the strength and solidarity of the Black community? How does her community provide her with strength and solidarity in turn?
How did the Obama administration fulfill the hopes Barnett had for it when she was in law school? How did it fall short? What are some strategies the government could adopt now to address mass incarceration?
What is the significance of the name of the Buried Alive Project?
Barnett repeatedly examines dehumanization within the criminal justice system. How does the system dehumanize imprisoned Black Americans? How does Barnett counter the dehumanization inflicted on her clients by the system?
