Focus: Examining dichotomous objects in Invisible Man
1. Announcements!
2. Warm-up: How can we make sense of the objects in Invisible Man?
Reread the paragraph that starts on page 438 with "I wandered down the subway stairs..."
Draw a line down the middle of a sheet of paper; label one side, "Inside of history," and the other, "outside of history." Then, organize the objects below from Invisible Man into one of those two categories. Be prepared to defend your responses.
The briefcase Dr. Bledsoe's leg shackle Optic white paint Sambo doll
Douglass' portrait Brother Tarp's leg shackle The evicted couple's belongings gold coins naked white women the Founder's statue Trueblood's cabin the Golden Day the white lines on the highway the sealed envelopes yams snow Mary's coin bank the picture of the blind boxer (Ch. 16)
Quickwrite: What does it mean to be "inside history" or "outside history"? Where does the narrator see himself and why? What other categories could you come up with for these objects?
3. Socratic seminar: Chapters 19 and 20
HW:
1. Start on your Invisible Man reading assignment for Friday. Simple reading ticket: 10 one-liners. Remember that this Thursday will be a work day.
2. Meet in the library computer lab on Wednesday to work on project rubrics and poetry essay drafts.
3. Essay revisions due this Friday, December 7. Please refer to revision policies (posted on the blog from a few days ago).
4. Poetry papers due this Friday if you want to be able to revise; otherwise, they're due Dec. 12.
Is Clifton acting the part of the sambo?
ReplyDeleteBy acting like a Sambo, his is disproving the stereotype
His shooting is symbolic of the punishment for acting out
In contrast with Brotherhood b/c they work subliminally, not directly
What motivated Clifton to leave the brotherhood?
He may have been forced out
Is there a connection between Clifton leaving and Ras the Exhorter?
Sale of sambo doll somewhat shocking
Parallel between Bledsoe and Clifton, both taking advantage of their preexisting stereotypes
Gave up on the Brotherhood, could be mocking them with sambo doll
Ras is like boba fett, bounty hunter, but loosely related to the dark side. Clifton’s altercation with Ras created possible shift in brotherhood
Brother Jack seems suspicious in talking about Clifton?
Brotherhood seems to be making cuts of itself- white hierarchy within
When brotherhood feels like someone is getting too powerful, they remove him
Primary differences between Ras the Exhorter and the brotherhood?
Ras wants to organize the black community, while Brotherhood wants political balancing of power, possibly still concentrated towards whites
Why is Ras’ group more appealing to black community?
Ras acts more directly, change is seen more immediately and publicly, Brotherhood is less specific, they have national and international goals and work towards them very slowly
Make the narrator stay effective for the longest amount of time, rather than give inflammatory speech that would bring instant change
Ras is more extreme, this is attractive because it is exciting and more believable, the brotherhood comes off insincere by being politically correct
Imagery of incest in Chapter 19, parallels trueblood, what is Ellison’s purpose?
Seems that woman is taking advantage of narrator, role reversal
Woman’s aggression demonstrates the narrator’s passivity towards whites, being hurt by it, rather than manipulating it like Bledsoe
What is significance of man’s reaction?
P 417 “he said with a short dry laugh” indicates that husband does see narrator, possibly he is apathetic
Wife’s motives weren’t necessarily primitive as she suggests
Draws parallel between narrator and white woman, both say they want to liberate their people but both ultimately fall into their stereotypes
P 415 “ I wanted both to smash her and to stay with her and felt that I should do neither” parallels battle royal, and embodies stereotypes and the irony contained in them
Woman is also invisible, has no name
Overcivilization vs primitive, which is positive, and which is negative
Emphasis on scientific language to overcome primitive stereotype, woman focuses on his primitive side, connects it to pathos
p 410 “partly uncoiled firehouse”…
Strange offer of milk, possibly has connotations of incest
Emily is dying to say something
Imagery of pigeons surrounding Clifton’s death
Flight chapter in HTRLLAP, flight is a symbol of release, could be what Clifton achieves in death
Pigeons are not appealing birds, poor way to find freedom in release. Has negative connotations
P 438 “Clifton is cooked pigeon”
P 434 “I’d been so fascinated by the motion, that I’d forgotten to measure what it was bringing forth, I’d been asleep, dreaming” Significance?
Shift in narrator, realizes the change brought forth by the brotherhood and Clifton is not substantial. Forgot what his ideals were, and didn’t fully understand what the Brotherhood stood for
Narrator has many shifts, constantly forgets them. Is angry with stereotypes, but maintains white power structure surrounding him
Relates to Anakin learning about dark side to save Padme but ultimately destroying her
Description of Clifton’s death?
Only gets fragmented images of what’s actually happening similar to with brotherhood
Either cop or Clifton is puppetmaster while the other is sambo doll
Inability to act relates to Eveline story, both know what’s correct, but are unable to move forward