This richly symbolic, ironic, and often surreal novel describes a quest much like Ellison’s own to invent an identity independent of that imposed by society. Winner of the 1953 National Book Award, Invisible Man thrust Ellison not only into prominence but also into the vortex of the battles raging over the role of literature and art in politics, and specifically over Ellison's rejection of the "protest novel."
38 comments:
Invisible Man
Ralph Ellison
Ralph Ellison became one of the most important U.S. writers of the twentieth century when he published the invisible man. He was named after Ralph Waldo Emerson. He was born in Oklahoma in 1914.
Basic Passage
"All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory. I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I could answer."
This passage is very inspiring, especially to young people trying to find their way and decide whether to follow their dreams or the dreams of others such as their parents or other relatives. Sometimes as parents we tend to push our children to be what we want them to be, and forget to ask if it is truly what they want. He is asking people what should he do with his life, but in the end, he is the one who has to live with the decisions in his life, not the ones he is asking.
Correlate
I can kind of relate to this. I am always looking for others opinions, on how to do things and if I am doing things right with my life. Looking for affirmation and approval from others has always been an obstacle that I've tried to overcome. All that matters in life is that you are happy with how you are living not if you are what people expect of you, but what you expect of yourself.
1) Identify the cause of human suffering
The humilation that these men went through just to earn a couple of dollars
2)How could it be turned into a comedy
you would have to rewrite the entire story
3)Identify the cause of joy
When he gets his scholarship, although I think he endured way too much to get it.
Difficulties
I got lost several times it is hard to keep up with.
Deciding for Yourself
Invisible Man
Ralph Ellison
Ralph Ellison was born in Oklahoma in 1914. Ellison’s parents named him after Ralph Waldo Emerson. Ellison’s parents had high expectations for him. Ellison was an excellent student. He received a scholarship to Tuskegee Institute in 1933. Ellison studied music while he attended Tuskegee Institute. Later, Ellison began his writing career. He wrote the acclaimed novel Invisible Man. Invisible Man was criticized because some people believed that it was “militant.” Ellison died in 1994.
Basic Passage
“ … All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers too…. I was naïve. I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer.”
In this passage, the narrator is explaining how he tried to define himself as a person. The narrator seems to be confused with the different types of advice he’s getting from different people. The narrator seems to be a small child waiting for someone to tell him how he is, what to do, and what not to do. But, eventually, the narrator matures and realizes that it’s up to him to decide who he is, what he wants to do, and what he doesn’t want to do.
Correlation
I can relate to this passage. When I was in high school, I was undecided as to what I wanted to major in and what career path I wanted to go on. I kept getting advice from many people, whether I asked them or not. I listened to what they had to say because I knew that they were just trying to help me. But ultimately I knew that I had to make up my own mind and decide for myself. Eventually, by my junior year in high school, I decided on a major and a career after I graduate from college. Yet,even though I'm a college sophomore, I still get advice from people concerning other career choices. And yet again, I listen to them, but my mind is made up!
(1). Identify the cause of human suffering- Tragedy
The cause of human suffering is the way the black men and the white woman were disrespected and mistreated.
(2). How can the tragedy be turned into a Comedy?
I don’t think the tragedy could be turned into a comedy.
(3). Identify the cause of joy or happiness- Comedy
The point of the story where there is joy or happiness is when the narrator received the scholarship.
Finding Yourself
Invisible Man
Ralph Ellison
Ralph Ellison is known as one of the most important U.S. writes of the twentieth century. Ellison was named after Ralph Waldo Emerson, a nineteenth- century writer. Ellison was born in Okalahoma in 1914. He also served in the Merchant Marine during World War II.
Basic Passage
"All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory. I was naïve. I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I could answer."
From this passage I get a feeling that most people experience something like this. It is something that helps people find who they are and what they want to be. As a senior in high school you are overwhelmed with so many life changing decisions. You have to pretty much decide your own future, and from this passage I get a feel that Ellison wants us to know that it is okay to feel a little lost with yourself, and with time you will find yourself.
Correlate
I have to say that I have been in this position before. When I was a senior I was so overwhelmed with my future and what it holds for me. I was looking to my family and friends for the answers. I was doing what they wanted me to do, but then I found that I need to do what is best for me, even if it means letting people down. I have found that life is not easy and you can’t make everyone happy and the first person you need to make happy is yourself. I believe that if you are truly happy with yourself that you will have a much better life.
.
1.) Identify the cause of human suffering-
The cause of human suffering would be how the men were badly treated.
2.) How could it be turned into a comedy-
Don’t think it could be turned into a comedy.
3.) Identify the cause of joy-
How he received a scholarship
Difficulties
Yes, I got lost a few times and had to go back and read it over.
Ralph Ellison
The Invisible Man
Author:
One of the most important writers of the 20th century. He was named after Ralph Waldo Ellison, another great writer of the 19th century. He was born in Oklahoma in 1914. He studied sculpture in Harlem, New York. He published the Invisible Man in 1952. I this novel he used modernist techniques and created a symbolic universe that reflect a broad range of Western historical reference.
Passage:
"Live with your head in the lion's mouth. I want you to overcome'em with yeses, undermine'em with grins, agree'em to death and destruction, let'em swoller you till they vomit or bust wide open."
Correlation:
I can relate to this passage because from time to time my parents try to teach me similar things to take on life as it gives me and not to be afraid nor back down. In everyone’s life, we all have obstacles that we have to confront and it's good to face them head on. No one needs to back down because it's a tough world out there, and everyone has to be head strong to survive it.
1.) Identify the cause of human suffering-
How those men got treated, and abused for others enjoyment.
2.) How could it be turned into a comedy-?
If the men in the boxing turned against the men in the crowd and beat them up
3.) Identify the cause of joy-
For the narrator to get his scholarship to college
No truth but your own
Ralph Ellison
Author
Ralph Ellison was born in 1914. His parents named him after Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great American writer and transcendentalist. His only famous book is the Invisible man. He spent the rest of his life trying to top that book but died in 1994 without ever completing it.
Basic passage
"I was naive. I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer. It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: That I am nobody but myself."
In this passage the narrator comes to the realization that he is nobody but himself. He questions whether or not it is right to associate and be friendly to the white men of the town. His grandfather spoke of it as being traitorous. Eventually the narrator realizes that only he can decide how he feels about that.
Correlate
I relate this passage to my life because I used to be naive like the narrator. I grew up listening to what was right and what was wrong from my parents all my life. If I would do something that was considered wrong by them I would feel guilty. Now that I am older I disagree with some of the opinions of my parents and I no longer feel guilty. I am nobody but myself and I have come to the realization that only I can choose what is right for me and while I respect their opinion it is not the absolute truth.
1) Identify the cause of human suffering
That the narrator had to feel guilty and conflicted over what he heard his grandfather say
2)How could it be turned into a comedy
In one way the story is a comedy, in another way it isn't. He does get a scholarship which is a joyful occasion but I think the fighting and humiliation he endures overshadows that.
3)Identify the cause of joy
Earning the scholarship
Difficulties
None
Life is a War
Invsible Man
Ralph Ellison
Ralph Ellison became one of the most important U.S. writers of the twentieth century when he published the invisible man. He was born in Oklahoma in 1914, getting his name from the famous writer Ralph Waldo Emerson. Despite all his successes, his most famous book called The Invisible Man has been critized as sufficiently militant. He died in 1994.
(Basic Passage)
Live with your head in the lion's mouth. I want you to overcome 'em with yeses, undermine 'em with grins, agree 'em with death and destruction, let'em swoller you till they vomit or bust wide open.
I truly believe that the grandfather is telling the narrator to fight for your human rights. Don't just sit there and let society place you in a certian social system. Be defiant and make your own path in life, not the one that society has chosen for you.
(Correlation)
I can personally relate to this passage because my father has always told me to basically be all that I can be. He also told me to not let people around you place you in a certain category. He is right because some time you got to grab the ball and play in this crazy game of life. In other words, you got to take life head on, no matter what the consequences are.
1. Identify the cause of human suffering-Tragedy?
The forced battle royal that the narrator had to go through to earn a little change.
2. How could it be turned into a comedy?
I don't think that it could be turned into a comedy.
3. Identify the cause of joy and happiness?
The protagonist gets the scholarship after all the crap he went through.
Difficulties
At times, it was kind of confusing.
Invisible Man
Ralph Ellison
Named after Ralph Waldo Emerson, the nineteenth century essayist and poet, Ralph Waldo Ellison was born in Oklahoma in 1914. He became one of the most important U.S. writers of the twentieth century when he published Invisible Man. This novel is based on a set of symbols and presents the traditional theme of the development of youth into maturity.
Passage
“It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: That I am nobody but myself.”
Correlate
I love the phrase boomeranging in this passage because reminds me of the things that don’t turn out the way we expect them to. Things such as our jobs, relationships or any circumstance where we show a lot of effort and attention, but the outcome is completely different than what we had planned. Sometimes we try so hard and all of our efforts come back to slap us in the face.
1.The tragedy is that we can never see the bad outcome.
2.I’m not sure how to turn this tragedy into a comedy.
3.The joy could come from being proud of your efforts even though things don’t turn out the way you had planned.
Difficulties
It was hard for me to search for symbolism because I would get caught up in the story and what was happening instead of relating it to something else.
Invisible Man
Ralph Ellison
Ellison was born Ralph Waldo Ellison in Oklahoma in 1914. He became a well known writer when he published Invisible Man. He never finished his promised second novel.
Basic Passage
"To Whom It May Concern," I intoned. "Keep This Nigger-Boy Running."
In this passage I think the narrartor is telling us just how tormented he is by his grandfather's words. He can't get away from them. The narrator feels like the way he lives is working for him, but it's not what the grandfather wanted. I think the narrator knows there is something his grandfather wanted him to do, but he doesn't know what it is.
Correlation
I think that a lot of people go through this. Parents tell their children what is right and wrong and how things should be, but most of the time the children have to figure out what to do on their own.
Identify tragedy-- The tragedy is the torment felt by the narrarator.
How could it be a comedy? This could be a comedy if the narrartor at some point could see what his grandfather was talking about.
Identify the cause of joy-- The joy came from his scholarship, but the dream took that away.
Everyone has an Invisible Man
Bio:
Ralph Ellison was born in 1914 in Oklahoma and died in 1994. As one of the most important writers of the 20th century, he wrote the Invisible Man, Shadow and Act, and Going into the Territory. He was named after Ralph Waldo Emerson. His parents felt that he was ment to be a great writer.
Basic Passage:
'I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself guestions which I, and only I, could answer.'
In this passage, I feel that the narrator is searching for something deeper in his soul to find his own self, but was not listening to himself and reaching out to others for guidance.
Correlate:
I have and I am sure that everyone in this class has looked outward before they looked inward for the answer. We must be true to our selves. I do this in relationships. What is right and what is wrong? You must look in your own soul to see if it is something that you will be able to live with on your death bed.
What is the cause of human suffering?
The tragedy is the stuggle of the soul and the mind, and not being one with your self.
How could it be turned into a comedy?
I do not see how being in turmoil with yourself could have any comedy.
Identify the cause of joy-
The joy would be to find peace within himself.
Difficulties:
None
Response to Chloe:
I agree with you. I think that everyone feels this way. This is why I think that parents should raise their children to think for themselves, but it is just a cycle of what makes us who we are as an adult.
Ralph Ellison
“Who knows what the end may bring”
Ralph was born in Oklahoma in 1914. He did well in school and won a scholarship. Ralph was named after Emerson, so I think he was expected to have a successful career from the beginning. Ellison became one the most important writers of the 20th century after he published “Invisible Man”
Basic Passage:
“Live with your head in the lion’s mouth. I want you to overcome em with yeses, undermine em with grins, agree em to death and destruction”
Correlation:
I think this passage is a warning that the grandfather wants to pass on to his son and grandchildren and to let them know to keep fighting through a fight or struggle until the end. Maybe the grandfather knew about the horrible fighting and the humiliation that some of the people in the town made the blacks go through. So with his knowledge of what would happen he wanted to leave his family with a few encouraging words. I feel like he was guiding his grandson right through his battle he had. The grandfather wanted him to keep his head high and battle even through the tough times because something good could possibility be at the end. Which happen because the boy really was not expecting anything he just wanted to give his speech.
Tragedy: The pain and humiliation the boy had to go through
Turned into comedy: I do not think it could be
Joy: When the boy received unexpected gifts
Difficulties: For me it was kind of hard to follow the story I had to read some parts over and over.
"down in a hole"
invisible man
ralph ellison
ralph ellison was born in oklahoma in 1914. his parents named him after the very well known writer ralph waldo emerson, and as it went, ellison followed in his footsteps becoming a very well known writer of the twentieth century. "invisible man" was his only novel and won him the national book award in 1953.
basic passage:
"I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer. It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: That I am nobody but myself."
in this passage the narrator comes to realize that he does not need to listen to others opinions. nobody is his superior therfore he should should only rely on his own judgement.
i think alotof people can relate to this passage. i definetly base alot of my own descisions on what i think other will think. being able to break that would probably make me a happier person. that said, i also think it could be very difficult to step back and rely completely on yourself.
tragedy: how blacks were treated, and how the narrator felt "invisible"
comedy: well as far as being invisible, if the narrator is based upon ellisons own life and feelings, then this book becoming so widely known is an end to his own invisibility. the same goes for the way blacks were treated, this book shines light on the issues.
Invisible in a Concrete World
Bio
Ralph Ellison was born in 1914. His parents named him after Ralph Waldo Emerson who is considered to be one of the great writers of America. Ellison wrote Invisible Man which would be his only book since he spent the rest of his life working on his second novel.
Basic Passage
"I was naive. I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer. It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: That I am nobody but myself."
This passage shows that the narrator in the story has to realize that when it all boils down that the only person who can decide for themselves on how they feel or how they are to react in certain situations is themselves.
Correlation
I can relate to this passage because during the last semester I was uncertain whether I should write for the somewhat well known publication on this campus. The reasons why were because I was scared of how people might would react to some of the articles that I written and also I was afraid that I when I was writing articles that I might not consider the other points of view that can take place when it comes to an issue that we happen to discuss and feel guilty afterwards. Then I had to basically suck it up and jump in.
1) Identify the cause of human suffering
The cause of human suffering is that the narrator is guilty of how he reacts to certain situations.
2) How could it be turned into a comedy
I don't think it is possible for this story to be turned into a comedy because sometimes you have to go through the storm or in his case hurricanes, tornadoes, ( I hope you get the idea) to appreciate the sunshine which is the narrator's case.
3) Identify the cause of joy
The cause of joy is when the narrator receives his scholarship.
Difficulity
I had to read the story over a few times because I lost focus and it was kind of hard to keep up with.
The Unman
Ralph Ellison
Ellison became one of the best writers of our century because of his most famous and only book The invisible man. He was named in honer of Ralph Waldo Emerson who was also a famous writer. Ellison was born in a little town in Oklahoma in the year of 1914.
basic passage
"All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory. I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I could answer."
I think passage is about how only you can be what you want to be and none else. If you ever ask someone or anyone what you should be you will always get different answers because everyone has a different opinion. I think that it tries to tell you to find out what you want to be you have to look inside yourself and trust yourself not others.
correlate:
I can correlate this because I still struggle with this myself because I am a college student. You think you know what you want to be but your not sure and your doing what will make you happy not make you money. I think often people do what others do or say they should do instead of what makes them happy themselves if you have family members that are doctors you just assume you should be in the health care profession and not do what you want to do out of fear of judgment.
tragedy
the tragedy in this story was what you have to do to make it in society you have to give up your dignity.
how could it be a comedy
I don't think this story could be a comedy.
Identify the cause of joy
The narrator at the end of the story accepts a scholarship.
Clear
Ralph Ellison
He was one of the most important writters of the twentieth centry.Who was named after a nintenth centry writer Rhalph Emersonand was born in Oklahoma in 1914.
Basic Passage
"All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory. I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I could answer."
This passage is a self factualizeation were you come to trems with your own thoughts and either follow trust and follow your heart or doubt your self and take a pre determined path laid out by some one else.
Correlation
When I first came to sout I had no idea what i wanted to do and every one in my family had some input. However not wanting to rush in I waited and soon came to my own conclusion to what i wanted to focus on. Now later if I change my mind I can at least say I followed my heart.
Suffering ? the pain they went through just to get by.
2.I do not feel it could be aq Comedy
3 The fact that he pushes trough until his work pays of by him getting the scholarship.
Diff
it was hard to read as or keep up I had to re read several parts to keep track of what was going on and i still got lost at some points
comment for nicken
I comletly agree with the fact that you have to be happy with your self and not worry about the path others want you to take. Ultimitly you know your self better than any one else so you have to trust in your self if you want make it.
Who Am I?
Invisible Man
Ralph Ellison
Ralph Ellison became one of the most important U.S. writers of the twentieth Century. Published in 1952, Invisible Man earned a reputation as one of the greatest american novels of the twentieth century. After Invisible Man, Ellison published two essay collections: Shadow and Act (1964), and Going into the Territory (1986). He also held various academic positions while writing his second novel. Although Ellison spent decades trying to reconstruct the work, he died before completing it.
Basic Passage
"All my life I had been looking for something and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction and even self- contradictory. I was asking everyone except myself questions which, I , and only I could answer.
This passage portrays that the author was searching for something that simply just wasn't there, kindof like a chasing after the wind. The author was searching for something that he had, himself, all along. He accepted people's answers, but it still wasnt good enough and didnt please him because they didn't know what he knew all along.
Correlate
I can really relate to this passage because I, myself have done this before. For a while I tried to be something I wasnt. Whatever my Mom wanted me to be is what I wanted to be or what my Dad wanted or even my friends or boyfriend. Then, I realized what do I want to be or who am I even at all? what does me mean? It is then that I realized that we are all different and if I was created to be like them then I would have just simply been them. I am not, though, I am Me and only one.
1.Identify the cause of human suffereing.
The human suffering is simply that the author spent mnost of his life searching for something that didnt exsist, except for in his own self.
2.How can this tragedy be turned into a comedy?
If the narrator would have laughed at everyone else's self ideas and believed himself from the beginning.
3. Identify the cause of joy or hapiness.
The fact that the narrator found himself in the end.
Difficulties: None
This comment is in response to moonlight:
I totally agree with you because you are the only one who knows everything about yourself. You know your heart and all that you believe in and no one can take that away. So, do not rely oin other people for happiness or your own self worth. You have go to believe in yourself and be who you are and not what someone else wants you to be.
-I can’t see you
The American writer Ralph Waldo Ellison, b. Oklahoma City, Okla., Mar. 1, 1914, achieved international fame with his first novel, Invisible Man (1952). He was influenced early by the myth of the frontier, viewing the United States as a land of "infinite possibilities." The close-knit black community in which he grew up supplied him with images of courage and endurance and an interest in music.
Basic Passage: It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: That I am nobody but myself. But first I had to discover that I am an invisible man!
Correlate: The narrator considers himself invisible because he is not sure of his own identity. During this time period, blacks were not judged for who they were individually but just as an inferior race regardless of how smart, pretty, young or old they were. Therefore, when he refers to being nobody but himself, this insinuates that he is nobody to society as a whole unless you were rich or a celebrity like in today’s age. The reason I think that he went through so much crap to give that speech is so that he could be the one on stage in front of the crowd in order to make himself feel as if though he was somebody.
The cause of human suffering (Tragedy)? The narrator degrading himself just to try to please other people.
How can the tragedy be turned into comedy? If the narrator would have beat the other guys a** and still got the scholarship.
The cause of happiness? The narrator getting to do his speech and get a scholarship to college.
Ralph Ellison
Reaching Your Goals
“Invisible Man”
Bio:
He was born Ralph Waldo Ellison in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, named by his father after Ralph Waldo Emerson. Ellison was best known for his novel Invisible Man. Ellison is known as one of the best writers of the twentieth century. He died before he could finish a second novel.
Basic Passage:
"I was so moved that I could hardly express my thanks. A rope of bloody saliva forming a shape like an undiscovered continent drooled upon the leather and I wiped it quickly away. I felt an importance that I had never dreamed."
This passage is describing how happy the narrator is about being able to accomplish his goal of performing this speech. He just went through hell, but it does not matter to him he accomplished his goal.
Correlate:
I can very vaguely relate to this feeling. I along with anyone else has gone through what I thought was awful to reach my goal. Now of course I could never even dream of going through what the narrator did, but I understand this feeling of reaching a goal no matter what it takes.
1) Identify the cause of human suffering
The awful humiliation the boys and woman go through during the first chapter.
2) How could it be turned into a comedy
There is really no way this story could be a comedy. It is headed completely in the wrong direction
3) Identify the cause of joy
The narrator obtains a scholarship which was a nice surprise, but the humiliation he went through may not have been worth it.
Difficulties
I had no difficulties with the story.
Response to gtgirl:
I agree with you, one must always look within themselves for the answers instead of asking everyone else.
I am commenting on gtgirl's response:
I agree with gtgirl,we need to search deeper inside ourselves in order to find ourselves and have faith that we are making decisions that we won't regret later.
You want me to do what?!
Invisible Man
Ralph Ellison
Ralph Ellison was born in Oklahoma in 1914. He earned a scholarship to the Tuskegee Institute in 1933. After becoming friends with Richard Wright he began to write. He became one of the most important U.S. writers of the twentieth century after he published Invisible Man.
Basic Passage:
On my graduation day I delivered an oration in which I showed that humility was the secret, indeed, the very essence of progress. (Not that I believed this-how could I, remembering my grandfather?-I only believe that it worked.)
I agree that humility is the essence of progress because whenever I am humiliated I strive to do better only because I never want to experience that feeling again. It’s not something that I have to think about it’s like an instinct. It’s even one of the reasons that I’m in college. I knew that if I had just gotten a job working close to minimum wage for the rest of my life, I would see all of my high school classmates who got a college degree with great careers and nice houses and cars and I would have been so humiliated because I could have been just like them but I chose to not go to school.
Correlate:
The narrator was only at the gathering to give his awesome speech about humility and progress. Giving a speech is stressful and sometimes humiliating in itself but he had to do it in front the town’s leading white citizens after being beaten out of his mind. So now here’s this bloody black kid trying to give a speech in front of all these white men who are making fun of him and not paying attention to what he is saying. I can’t imagine how humiliated he must have been. But he endured this embarrassment and made some progress by earning a college scholarship. A theory that he didn’t believe in actually worked in his favor.
1) Identify the cause of human suffering.
These men see kids physically beating each other for a lil' bit of change as entertaining.
2)How could it be turned into a comedy
That just can't happen
3)Identify the cause of joy
The narrator gets a college scholarship.
Difficulties:
It's easy to get lost while reading this story
Response to Lauren
I agree with her when she said, "Sometimes we try so hard and all of our efforts come back to slap us in the face." I do recall a time where I worked extra hard to for something that I really wanted and the outcome wasn't what I expected. What can I say this life is full of surprises.
Response to Lauren
I agree with her when she said, "Sometimes we try so hard and all of our efforts come back to slap us in the face." I do recall a time where I worked extra hard to for something that I really wanted and the outcome wasn't what I expected. What can i say this life is full of surprises.
Response to gtgirl~
I agree with you. I think that we must be true to ourselves and look to our soul to find the answers. I like what you said about the death bed, it is such a great way to look at things.
This comment is in response to Soupbone4:
I agree with you 100%. In order to be happy with who you are you must make the decisions for you life on your own. If you are simply doing something to make others happy, you will never be happy with your life, and life is too short to be living for someone else.
In response to project x
I agree with you that the narrator did not know who he was or what he needed to do. The things he was doing are what his grandfather told him to do the narrator just didn't know it.
In response to nicken:
I agree because I feel that I am the same way. Its hard to please everyone and fit that in with what you really want. I don't think that anyone could be happy doing something someone else wants for them.
In response to Lauren
"Things such as our jobs, relationships or any circumstance where we show a lot of effort and attention, but the outcome is completely different than what we had planned. Sometimes we try so hard and all of our efforts come back to slap us in the face."
I agree with your comment. I especially agree on the job part. In fact I think I know excactly what you mean since we have both worked for the same office. It's hard to do your best day after day and not get any praise for your work. It's even worse when you get criticized and not praised at all. The only thing I can say is that it means a lot more once you really do get praised because you've never heard it before. That's why the narrator was so overjoyed at getting praised at the end even though he went through hell to get it!
In response to nicken
I agree that sometimes as parents we try to push our children bo be what we want them to be, and forget sto as if it is truly what they want. I think people in general have to find out what suits them in life, rather than take in account of what other significant people in the their lives think.
Will We Ever Win?
INIVISIBLE MAN
Ralph Ellison
Ralph Ellison was born in Oklahoma in 1914. In 1942 he became the editor of Negro Quarterly. He became one of the most important U.S. writers of the twentieth century when he published the Invisible man. Despite all the acclaim that it recieved, Invisible Man has been criticized as insufficiently militant.
""To whom This May Concern" I intoned. "Keep this Nigger-Boy Running." I awoke with the old man's laughter ringing in my ears."
In this passage, he was dreaming about is grandfather telling him to look into his new leather briefcase with the scholarship; and instead of scholarship it was this letter saying keep this nigger boy running. I think that his grandfather was trying to show him that he is still trapped in the "white man's" society by taking the scholarship money. If he was trying to make a difference he wouldn't have taken the money.
Correlation:
I feel that in this situation I would have also taken the money. I could use the money they give me and get a great education and use it against them. I really can't correlate with this because I really haven't been in this situation. But I can kinda correlate it with pimps and hoes and how the pimps give the hoes money and places to live as long as they are giving up their body. Yeah its the lady's decision but she is still trapped in that lifestyle.
The cause of human suffering:
The narrator and how throughout the beginging of the story he was tortured just so he could give speech.
How could this be turned into a comedy:
If one of the guys from the audience landed on the electric rug.
The cause of joy:
The narrator being able to say his speech even after all he went through and him recieving a scholarship.
Difficulties:
I was a little lost in the begining, but then it soon caught on.
Response to Jason:
I totally understand where you are coming from. Yeah the narrator took some serious pain and suffering just to read a speech. He wanted everyone to hear what he had to say so bad that he will bleed for it. If it would literally kill him. He had a strong mind and I wish I was more like that. More goal oriented. There have been plenty of times where I did make terrible sacrifices to reach a certain goal but nothing on this guy's level.
Comment to Jodgers:
I agree with your comment. When I read the passage I got the same feelings toward it. I think sometimes we get caught up in making loved ones happy instead of focusing on the important thing which is finding out who we really are. The people we love may sometimes try to control your life without even realizing it. I think we just have to be strong and sometimes let others down with tact to let them know you are your own person.
in response to celia loy
i agree with you, i think that the people who have the best chances of being happy are the ones that realize they have to make up their own minds. i didnt decide what iwanted to be until i was a a sophmore in college. but atleast i realized what i wanted before it was to late.
Comment on Almond Joy
I can relate to Almond Joy's comment my parents to told me life was hard and to give it your all. Almond Joy also expressed her love for her parents doing this and I can relate as well because it made me a better person too. If it wasn't for you parents giving you that great advice you may lose focus.
In response to Project x
I agree with what you said about the narrator being invisible because he hadn't defined himself and because he wasn't a prominent member of society. Sometimes it seems as if nobody pays attention to you if you don't have your name in lights or on the side of a skyscrapper somewhere.
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