Self-study
P1
Published in 1952, Invisible Man featured a protagonist whose activities enabled the novel's author, Ralph Ellison, to explore and to blend themes specifically tied to the history and plight of African Americans with themes, also explored by many European writers with whose works Ellison was familiar, about the fractured, evanescent quality of individual identity and character. ███
Intro topic ·
Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man
Novel blended themes tied to African American experience with themes about individual identity, which were explored by European writers.
Other people's perspective ·
Two related criticisms of Invisible Man
It wasn't political enough, and didn't contribute to a distinct African American style.
P2
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Ellison's response ·
The two criticisms make unwarranted assumptions
They assume that some historical circumstances require cultural segregation in the arts, that artists can't see world in unique ways, and that readers can only see the world from their own perspectives.
P3
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Perspective ·
Jazz music is a better model for understanding Invisible Man
Jazz musicians can play music influenced by Europe, but that explore African American themes.
P4
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Additional benefit of jazz model ·
Individual's relationship to community
Jazz solos involve individualistic playing rooted in broader context of the band. That relationship is like the one between Invisible Man's protagonist and the wider context of community.
Passage Style
Critique or debate
Spotlight
14.
It can be inferred from ███ ███████ ████ ███ ██████ ████ ███████ █████ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ ██████
a
The possibility of ████████████ ████████ █████████ ████████ █████ ██ ████████████ ██ ██████ ███████ ██ ███████████ ████████ ███████████
b
The technique of ████████ ███ ████████ ████████ ██ ███ ████████ █████ ██ ██ █████████ ████ ███ ██████ ███ █████████ ███████
Not supported, because Invisible Man wasn’t focused on spurring social and political action, and the author never identifies Invisible Man or the blending of artistic concerns as causing any social or political action.
c
Due to the ███████ ██ █████████ ████ ███████ ███ ████ ██ ████████ █ ███████ ████████ ██ ███ ███████ ████████████ ███ █████
Not supported, because the author never comments on the impact of Invisible Man on interest in jazz.
d
The protagonist in █████████ ███ ███████████ ███ ██████████ ██ █████████ ███ ████████ ██ ███████ █████████ ███ ████████ ███████ ██ ██ ████████ ██ ███████
Not supported, because the author never describes Ellison as having any difficulty in combining the concerns of African Americans and concerns thought to be European.
e
Ellison's literary technique, ██████ ██████████ ██ █████████████ ███ ████████ ███ ███████ ██ ████████ █ █████ █████████
Not supported, because the author never suggests Ellison’s technique can’t have a large audience.