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Invisible Man

Invisible Man. The use of Humor as a Literary Tool I laughed and I trembled, and gained thereby a certain wisdom. --Ralph Ellison. Independent Reading . Monday: No reading log

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Invisible Man

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  1. Invisible Man The use of Humor as a Literary Tool I laughed and I trembled, and gained thereby a certain wisdom. --Ralph Ellison

  2. Independent Reading Monday: No reading log Tuesday’s focus question: What do you think motivates your character? Copy a piece of evidence from the novel that supports your claim. Be sure to cite your source. Tuesday’s learning target: I can identify and analyze character motivation. Example: Dr. Bledsoe is motivated by power. On page 142 he tells the narrator, “This is a power set-up , son, and I’m at the controls” (Ellison 142).

  3. Independent Reading: Turn in logs today! Thursday’s focus question: Either locate or create a piece of figurative language about your character or something he/she is experiencing. Explain the validity of the comparison. Thursday’s learning target: I can identify and analyze figurative language. Standard: 2 Read texts closely to analyze author’s choices.

  4. Announcements Complete ILP by today! Read Chapter 9 in Invisible Man and complete motif chart for Monday. Test on Invisible Man Chapters 1-9 Tuesday. Meet in Lab 218 tomorrow!

  5. Chapter 5: Endangering the Dream Narrator attends chapel and hears a speech by Rev. Homer Barbee, a friend of the Founder. (College is modeled after Tuskegee University and its founder, Booker T. Washington) The narrator feels guilty for endangering the Founder’s dream and claims “any act that endangered the continuity of the dream was an act of treason” (Ellison 134). He accepts his looming punishment. What’s the significance of Rev. Barbee’s blindness? What do you think?

  6. Chapter 6: Painful Laughter • Narrator’s guilt is confirmed: Bledsoe tells IM his “poor judgment has caused this school incalculable damage.” He tells him that instead of uplifting the race, he’s torn it down” (Ellison 140). • Listen to excerpt from this conversation. What is the significance of Bledsoe’s laughter? • Is it an appropriate reaction? • What is the narrator’s reaction?

  7. Purpose of Painful or Ironic Laughter • mocking intent conveys the refusal to conform to an unjust social order. • 'disarms' and offers access to material that is not very funny at all • a survival skill, an art for affirming life in the face of troubles.

  8. Painful Laughter Langston Hughes warns against literal interpretations of laughter in "Minstrel Man": Because my mouthIs wide with laughterAnd my throatIs deep with song,You do not thinkI suffer afterI have held my painSo long?Because my mouthIs wide with laughter,You do not hearMy inner cry?Because my feetAre gay with dancing,You do not knowI die? Stage humor of the 1920’s

  9. Ellison’s Use of Ironic Humor an act of resistance against the injustices and indignities endured daily by African Americans a demonstration of self-knowing and consciousness. a cue for us to see the absurdities in a charged situation, to expose the hidden politics that inform the discomfort of the moment.

  10. Ironic Humor in Chapters 1 – 3 of Invisible Man “I want you to overcome 'em with yeses, undermine 'em with grins, agree 'em to death and destruction, let 'emswoller you till they vomit or bust wide open.” Grandfather’s laugh in circus dream is beginning of Invisible Man's rude awakening. Laughter here leads to the dawning of self-consciousness.

  11. Painful Laughter in Chapter 6 After Bledsoe expels the narrator from college, Invisible Man threatens to tell Mr. Norton that Bledsoe has broken his promise. Bledsoe laughs uncontrollably. The author describes it as a “cry of rage” and says the president of the university is “laughing with agony.” What might Ellison’s motive(s) be in having Bledsoe react this way?

  12. C-E-A Paragraph Make a claim that states why Ellison would use ironic humor in the chapters we have read so far. (Refer to your notes from today and don’t forget to give the title of the novel and the author) Cite a piece of evidence that supports that claim. (Don’t forget to cite your source.) Write a minimum of two sentences of insightful analysis that tie that specific piece of evidence to your claim.

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