1. Ralph Ellison and Invisible Man

2. Ellison’s Bio (1914-1994) b. in OK frontier
Named for Ralph Waldo Emerson
Attended Tuskegee Institute in Alabama
1930s: Harlem Renaissance (corresponded with the Jazz Age)
1945: began writing
7 years total to complete
Won the national book award
Ellison’s first and only novel
Novel was immensely popular with both whites and blacks

3. Episodic Novel Def: story is told in a series of incidents or events.
The episodes succeed each other, with no particular arrangement
Protagonist experiences a string of occurrences and events
Characterized by a loosely connected string of incidents
Main character has no name: the nature of these experiences and the cumulative effect on him is important

4. Bildungsroman Novel
Def.- a coming of age novel which chronicles a character’s development and maturation over the span of several years
Main character begins as a bright high school student and matures to a man who understands the nature of the world

5. Universal Novel Novel is a quest to know oneself
Struggle for acceptance
Although it concerns race, it is really about our desire to succeed and be happy in life

6. Ellison as a Symbolist
Events are in real settings, but settings always stand for something beyond surface level
North vs. South

7. Existentialism Vs. Naturalism
Narrator struggles to find his identity (Existentialism)
This process is impeded by the world he lives in (Naturalism)