“You Are In The Dark, In The Car”

In “You are in the dark, in the car . . .,” Rankine narrates a series of vignettes: driving with a white man who has hired her, “a person of color” (ll. 2-3), to teach in an English Department; witnessing a racist incident in Starbucks and then another on a subway platform; being insulted by a therapist with whom she has an appointment for “trauma counseling” (l. 47). Do these vignettes connect to tell a larger story? How would you summarize the plot of the entire poem? Is there a rising action? A climax? A falling action? A catastrophe at the end? What other elements does she, as a poet, share with writers of fiction? Please make sure you answer all the questions. Thank you!

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