Tuesday, December 8 th, 2015 Please take out your copy of “Hidden Name and Complex Fate.” You will also need a few clean sheets of paper and a pen or pencil.

Learning Target On the board

Homework: Invisible Man Chapters 11 – 15 ; By Friday, please bring in a quote that encapsulates who you are (for the yearbook). Please also know who originally said it.

Invisible Man Chapter 6 – 10 Annotations Major or Minor Grade Discussion

Invisible Man Essay  In Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison explores a number of different themes throughout the novel. Write a well – organized essay in which you analyze how Ellison develops one of these themes through his use of characterization. Race and Racism Identity and Invisibility Power and Self – Interest Dreams and the Unconscious Ambition and Disillusionment  In Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison explores a number of different themes throughout the novel. Write a well – organized essay in which you analyze how Ellison develops one of these themes through his use of characterization. Race and Racism Identity and Invisibility Power and Self – Interest Dreams and the Unconscious Ambition and Disillusionment

“Hidden Name and Complex Fate”  In a well – developed, constructed response, explain the “unity between [your] self and [your] name.” Also, explain how we see the opposite portrayed in Ellison’s Invisible Man. Please utilize textual evidence to support your assertions.

What type of novel is Invisible Man? Besides Existentialist

The Bildungsroman

Bildungsroman  A bildungsroman is a novel that traces the psychological and moral development and maturation of the main character or characters.  Sometimes also referred to as a ‘coming of age’ story.  Usually, this presentation pertains to the protagonist. It can also, however, show the inverse development of the antagonist.  A bildungsroman is a novel that traces the psychological and moral development and maturation of the main character or characters.  Sometimes also referred to as a ‘coming of age’ story.  Usually, this presentation pertains to the protagonist. It can also, however, show the inverse development of the antagonist.

Plot of Bildungsroman 1) Emotional loss for youth 2) Youth leaves home on “journey” 3) Encounters many conflicts Internal - man vs. himself External - man vs. society 4) Youth learns, matures 5) Young adult accepts values of society. Society accepts him. 6) Adult returns home with new knowledge to benefit society.

Construction of the Bildungsroman  The writer creates situations that allow the reader to see the young protagonist grow and experience struggles in this journey to adulthood through formal education, personal experience and various kinds of relationship.  The writer often shows the protagonist struggling with the transition between the innocence of childhood and the responsibility that comes with adulthood.  Think: how might these struggles relate to the title of the novel?  The writer creates situations that allow the reader to see the young protagonist grow and experience struggles in this journey to adulthood through formal education, personal experience and various kinds of relationship.  The writer often shows the protagonist struggling with the transition between the innocence of childhood and the responsibility that comes with adulthood.  Think: how might these struggles relate to the title of the novel?

Examples of the Bildungsroman  Charles Dickens's Great Expectations  Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre  James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man  J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye  S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders  Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird  Charles Dickens's Great Expectations  Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre  James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man  J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye  S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders  Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Jeff Wall  Canadian artist  Cover page is a display that Wall did from a famous scene in Invisible Man. This exhibit was at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles.  “In my hole in the basement there are exactly 1,369 lights. I’ve wired the entire ceiling.”  “The truth is the light and light is the truth.”  It has been suggested that the 1,369 equals Ellison’s age squared at the time he finished the novel: age 37. With numbers transposed, it could also represent the year (1936) that Ellison came to New York City.

Author’s Background

Ralph Waldo Ellison  1914 – 1994  Born in Oklahoma City  Attended Tuskegee (Alabama) and studied music  Invisible Man was published in  He has been a professor and a lecturer.  He views himself as an “artist recording the human condition.”  1914 – 1994  Born in Oklahoma City  Attended Tuskegee (Alabama) and studied music  Invisible Man was published in  He has been a professor and a lecturer.  He views himself as an “artist recording the human condition.”

 In 1936 after three years at Tuskegee, Ellison went to New York City to earn money before his senior year. He never returned to college; he remained in Harlem where he met Langston Hughes and Richard Wright. Wright encouraged Ellison to write—and he did.  Ellison joined the Federal Writer’s Project in 1938, which introduced him to “the richness of black urban culture.”  During WWII, he served as a cook on a merchant marine ship. After the war he moved to New Hampshire where he began writing Invisible Man.

 With the help of a grant, Ellison spent all his time writing Invisible Man. It was published in  In 1958, Ellison began teaching at Bard College; he also taught at Rutgers, the University of Chicago, Yale and New York University.  Reaction to Invisible Man was harsh—attacked by “militants as reactionary and banned from schools because of its explicit descriptions of black life.”  However, in 1965, a poll of literary critics named Invisible Man the most outstanding work by an American author in the past twenty years.  Ellison continued to write; he published essays— but never another novel.  In 1992, he was awarded a special achievement award.

“Invisibility is Mr. Ellison’s central metaphor…a profound explanation of what it is like in the black experience to feel alienated…invisibility speaks for all of us---for anyone who sits at the margin of society, who feels voiceless, whose humanity is not acknowledged.”

--A first edition $4000

Harlem Renaissance

 Intellectual movement by African-American artists and writers during the 1920s and 1930s  Migration of African-Americans to northern cities  “A flowering of Negro literature” per James Weldon Johnson  An explosion of creativity in literature where art and music “uplifted” the Negro race  The Negro used his creativity to be “heard” and a demand for equality  The Harlem Renaissance would lay the foundation for the Civil Rights Movement.

A Time To Dance

Jazz and Blues

Jazz and the Blues

Harlem Renaissance  FAMOUS WRITERS --Zora Neale Hurston --Langston Hughes --Richard Wright  FAMOUS ENTERTAINERS --Louis Armstrong --Duke Ellington --Bessie Smith --Josephine Baker

Zora Neale Hurston Known as an African American writer and folklorist Best known for her 1937 novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. She studied anthropology and traveled extensively in the Caribbean and the American South, where she immersed herself in local cultural practices to conduct her anthropological research. Collected folklore in Jamaica, Haiti, Bermuda, and Honduras As a fiction writer, Hurston is noted for her symbolic language, story – telling abilities, and her interest in and celebration of Southern Black culture in the U.S. Her book, Of Mules and Men, remains one of the few writings to chronicle folk tales thoroughly.

Richard Wright 1908 – 1960 Well known for the 1940 bestseller Native Son and his 1945 autobiography Black Boy His novel, Native Son, became the first book by an African American writer to be selected by the Book – of – the Month Club. His writings had profound influence on his contemporaries as well as the writers that followed.

Langston Hughes  1902 – 1967  A significant figure in the development of black literature  His poetry is known for its “simplicity, directness and musicality.”  His poems deal “with the tribulations and joys of the American black.”

I, too, sing America Langston Hughes I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table When company comes. Nobody’ll dare Say to me “Eat in the kitchen,” Then. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table When company comes. Nobody’ll dare Say to me “Eat in the kitchen,” Then. Besides, They’ll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed— I, too, am America.

Louis Armstrong

“What did I do to be so black and blue?” Louis Armstrong Song Clip

“What Did I Do to be so Black and Blue?” sung by Louis Armstrong Old empty bed…springs hard as lead Feel like ol’ Ned…wished I was dead What did I do…to be so black and blue Even the mouse…ran from my house They laugh at you…and scorn you too What did I do…to be so black and blue I’m white…inside…but that don’t help my case ‘Cause I…can’t hide…what is in my face Old empty bed…springs hard as lead Feel like ol’ Ned…wished I was dead What did I do…to be so black and blue Even the mouse…ran from my house They laugh at you…and scorn you too What did I do…to be so black and blue I’m white…inside…but that don’t help my case ‘Cause I…can’t hide…what is in my face How would it end…ain’t got a friend My only sin…is in my skin What did I do…to be so black and blue How would it end…ain’t got a friend My only sin…is in my skin What did I do…to be so black and blue

Duke Ellington "It Don't Mean A Thing"

Bessie Smith American Blues Singer "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out"

Invisible Man

Major Literary Elements in Novel  bildungsroman - novel of formative education, the story of a single individual’s growth (the narrator’s journey)  metaphor – a comparison between two unlike things (the metaphor of invisibility)  symbolism – a person, place, object or activity that stands for something beyond itself (Note the many symbols discernible in the novel; see slides on symbols.)  motif – a recurring literary element that is repeated within a literary work (e.g. blindness)  structure – the way in which the parts of a literary work are put together (How does Ellison “narrate” the story?)

 stereotypes - characters who conform to a fixed pattern or are defined by a single trait  irony – contrast between expectation and reality  juxtaposition - two contrasting elements side by side  foreshadowing – the use of clues that suggest events that have yet to occur  prologue – an introduction to a literary work  epilogue – the final part of a work that completes it  imagery – descriptive language to recreate sensory experiences relating to sight, taste, touch, hearing and smell  tone – an expression of a writer’s attitude toward a subject – The writer’s choice of words and details helps establish the tone.

ELLISON’S STYLE & Setting  Ellison’s style echoes that of other African-American writers, particularly those involved in the Harlem Renaissance.  His writing contains many sound devices—particularly alliteration— and utilizes anaphora to highlight some of his most poignant points.  Ellison employs an impressive vocabulary, his style is not formal. It is almost lyric with its considerable use of sound devices.  The reader feels like he or she is riding down a river, rather than sitting on a chair.  Similes and metaphors, particularly in the “battle royal,” the Golden Day, and the Liberty Paints scenes, extend the effect of the sound devices as far as emphasizing particular thematic points.  Ellison’s style echoes that of other African-American writers, particularly those involved in the Harlem Renaissance.  His writing contains many sound devices—particularly alliteration— and utilizes anaphora to highlight some of his most poignant points.  Ellison employs an impressive vocabulary, his style is not formal. It is almost lyric with its considerable use of sound devices.  The reader feels like he or she is riding down a river, rather than sitting on a chair.  Similes and metaphors, particularly in the “battle royal,” the Golden Day, and the Liberty Paints scenes, extend the effect of the sound devices as far as emphasizing particular thematic points.

ELLISON’S STYLE, SETTING AND THEMES  Ellison’s focus is the alienation of the African-American in an ostensibly free society.  He analyzes the ways in which race is used as a mechanism of power—not only by whites over blacks, but by some blacks (such as Dr. Bledsoe) over other blacks.  This alienation becomes apparent through the frenzied tone (driven by syntax) of much of the book.  The central question of the novel is: “How can one person make a difference when all of the avenues to power are occupied by the duplicitous?”  No matter where the narrator tries to pursue success and autonomy in an authentic manner, he finds the road ahead of him blocked by those who have decided to collude against those below.  His initial solution, to hide in a basement and steal power from the electric company, fails to solve the problem, so he ultimately decides to come forth and pursue change.  Ellison’s focus is the alienation of the African-American in an ostensibly free society.  He analyzes the ways in which race is used as a mechanism of power—not only by whites over blacks, but by some blacks (such as Dr. Bledsoe) over other blacks.  This alienation becomes apparent through the frenzied tone (driven by syntax) of much of the book.  The central question of the novel is: “How can one person make a difference when all of the avenues to power are occupied by the duplicitous?”  No matter where the narrator tries to pursue success and autonomy in an authentic manner, he finds the road ahead of him blocked by those who have decided to collude against those below.  His initial solution, to hide in a basement and steal power from the electric company, fails to solve the problem, so he ultimately decides to come forth and pursue change.

SETTING: HARLEM DURING THE 1930’S  Details of the period are accurate, including descriptions of apartment housing, public transportation, and working conditions.  The descriptions of the college that the narrator attended, as well as the trip around the city and the Golden Day, accurately reflect conditions and expectations placed on black students in the South.  Contemporary problems in racial relations are reflected.  The benefits (and drawbacks) of the Communist party in American are well represented by the Brotherhood’s machinations in Harlem.  The conflict between the assimilationists and the separatists within the black community are represented by Dr. Bledsoe and by Ras the Exhorter.  Details of the period are accurate, including descriptions of apartment housing, public transportation, and working conditions.  The descriptions of the college that the narrator attended, as well as the trip around the city and the Golden Day, accurately reflect conditions and expectations placed on black students in the South.  Contemporary problems in racial relations are reflected.  The benefits (and drawbacks) of the Communist party in American are well represented by the Brotherhood’s machinations in Harlem.  The conflict between the assimilationists and the separatists within the black community are represented by Dr. Bledsoe and by Ras the Exhorter.

What should look for?  Music References: jazz, musicians  Tone: Shifts in tone accompany changes of plot direction  Ellison’s use of descriptive passages  Songs: “feet like a monkey..”, “Poor Robin”  Southern motifs  Blindness/sight/eyes references  Quote Topics: identity, power, truth, winning the game and playing the game, ambition, freedom  Music References: jazz, musicians  Tone: Shifts in tone accompany changes of plot direction  Ellison’s use of descriptive passages  Songs: “feet like a monkey..”, “Poor Robin”  Southern motifs  Blindness/sight/eyes references  Quote Topics: identity, power, truth, winning the game and playing the game, ambition, freedom

What else should I look for?  1) The Tuskegee Institute  (2) The Communist Party in America (pre Mc Carthy era)  (3) Jazz music and its influence on America  (4) Influences on Ralph Ellison (literary and otherwise)  (5) The Harlem Renaissance  (6) Booker T. Washington vs. WEB DuBois (their competing theories/ideas)  1) The Tuskegee Institute  (2) The Communist Party in America (pre Mc Carthy era)  (3) Jazz music and its influence on America  (4) Influences on Ralph Ellison (literary and otherwise)  (5) The Harlem Renaissance  (6) Booker T. Washington vs. WEB DuBois (their competing theories/ideas)

Symbols As you read the novel, consider the importance of the following symbols.

The Infamous Briefcase

The Battle Royal

Narrator’s ability to make speeches

Optic white is the best white

Hot buttered yams

Cast iron bank

Ball and chain

Sambo dolls

Seven letters

Invisibility

Ralph Ellison ends his novel with this question. “Who knows but that, on the lower frequencies, I speak for you?”