What role does the 2004 presidential election play for Solnit and other activists she addresses?

This question allows readers the opportunity to engage with history in the same way Solnit does, trying to identify both the causes and effects of event on the rest of the world. For Solnit and her fellow activists, the 2004 reelection of George Bush felt like a profound defeat for antiwar activists everywhere, and the book frequently refers to this event as one of the instances of despair that must ultimately be combated.

What are some of the ways we can redefine "hope"?

This topic asks the reader to summarize some of Solnit's salient arguments about the efficacy hope, acknowledging the ways she defines and then proceeds to redefine hope as a necessary tenet of activism. The most crucial point about hope in the collection is that hope is not synonymous with passive optimism...