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Ralph Ellison and Invisible Man

Ralph Ellison and Invisible Man. 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

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Ralph Ellison and Invisible Man

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  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)

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