Students trace an unnamed African American narrator's "Hero's Journey" from innocence to self-discovery in Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, examining the novel's harsh critique of American society.
In this unit, students will analyze and experience Ralph Ellison’s acclaimed 1952 novel, Invisible Man. This National Book Award winning work follows an unnamed African American narrator from the Deep South to Harlem, New York as he searches for meaning and truth. Exploring themes of racism, identity, and truth, Ellison brings readers on a journey of invisibility and self-discovery that poses a harsh critique of American society. While reading the novel, students will trace the narrator’s “Hero’s Journey” journey from innocence to self-discovery. They will simultaneously analyze Ellison’s use of the narrator’s journey to deliver his own messages on race and racism in American society, including harsh critiques of some of the most prominent figures in African American history.
The primary literary analysis skills focus of the unit will be on analyzing the narrator and how the author uses the narrator’s development to communicate his themes. Students will trace the major motifs and symbols of the novel, also with an eye to theme development. In addition to the reading of the novel, students will read several non-fiction pieces, analyzing how each author develops his or her point of view. Throughout the unit, students will discuss, debate and write about questions mapped to the Common Core standards and modeled on question types from the new (2016) SAT exam.
This unit has four Supplementary AP Projects, related to the theme of race and identity in the United States. Over the course of these projects, students will analyze a documentary film and a work of non-fiction, both of which are produced by influential African American thinkers and grapple with issues of race and identity in the United States. Students will compose a rhetorical analysis essay (similar to FRQ 2) and an original position piece (similar to FRQ 3) based on these readings. Then, students will compose responses to the FRQ 2 and FRQ 3 essay prompts from the 2017 AP English Language and Composition exam. To learn more about including these Supplemental AP Projects in this English 12 unit, please see our Guide to Supplemental AP Language and Composition Projects.
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Book: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (Vintage Books, 1980.)
Video: “An Introduction to Ralph Ellison” (PBS Learning Media)
Video: “Luke Cage” (Netflix)
Video: “Louis Armstrong - (What Did I Do To Be So) Black And Blue - New York, 22.07. 1929”
Video: “Invisible Man: The Hero's Journey” (PBS Learning Media)
Article: “The Hero’s Journey” by Joseph Campbell
Article: “Booker T. Washington” (Thirteen)
Video: “Jazz: A Metaphor for America” (PBS Learning Media)
Poem: “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar
Book: 12 Million Black Voices by Richard Wright (Basic Books 2002)
Article: “Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr.”
Video: “Backwater Blues” by Bessie Smith
Lyrics: Backwater Blues
Article: “The Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA)” by britannica.com
Primary Source: Declaration of Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World
Letter: “Primary Sources: Writing to the U.S. Attorney-General -- "Garvey Must Go"”
This assessment accompanies Unit 1 and should be given on the suggested assessment day or after completing the unit.
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Theme-Based Questions:
Author’s Craft Questions:
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Note: This essay structure is adapted from the SAT
Write an essay in which you explain how the author builds an argument/develops a theme. In your essay, analyze how the author uses one or more of the features listed in the box below (or features of your own choice). Be sure that your analysis focuses on the most relevant features of the passage.
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irony, motif, symbol, theme, mood, narrator, tone, characterization, metaphor, extended metaphor
fall- (fallacious), gest- (gesticulate), ir-(irrevocably), inter-/intra-(intercede), mal- (malicious), dis-(dissimulation, disillusionment, dispossessed)
Prologue: disposition (3), insolently (4), overt (5), fallacious (5), ambivalence (10), shirk (14)
Chapter 1: naïve (15), exulted (16), treachery (17, 40), humility (25), extol (29)
Chapter 2: stagnant (35) prestige (45)
Chapter 3: gesticulating (72), inhibitions (76), discourse (77), submissive (81, 82), nostalgia (92), degradation (93), amorphous (95)
Chapter 4: predicament (99, 105), tersely (100)
Chapter 5: irrevocably (109), intercede (115), humble/humility (119, 120)
Chapter 6: relics (137), conciliatory (141), revelation (143)
Chapter 7: recede (p. 155), indisputably (p. 157), furtive (p. 158), affirmation (160)
Chapter 8: antagonism (166, 168, 181, 211)
Chapter 9: malicious (179)
Chapter 10: insinuation (197), optic (201), dissimulation (211), maliciously (218) impudent (226), irrevocably (230)
Chapter 11: detachment (233)
Chapter 12: disillusioned (256), contempt (256, 257),
Chapter 13: recant (265), dispossessed (278), sentimental (291), smug (292), indignant (293, 331)
Chapter 14: indecision (306), dispossession (307), chauvinism (312)
Chapter 15: self-mocking (319), serene (327), impertinence (328)
Chapter 16: indoctrination (351), inevitable (352)
Chapter 17: fanatic (357), ideological/ideology (357, 359), precarious (362), sectarianism (365)
Chapter 18: unperturbed (384), inscrutably (389), nebulous (390)
Chapter 19: avert (411), sensuously (412, 431), superfluous (421)
Chapter 20: agitation (428, 429, 430)
Chapter 21: spiel (445)
Chapter 22: tactician (463, 464, 465)
Chapter 24: inextricably (515)
Chapter 25: evade (537), partition (568)
Epilogue: vindication (574), transcendence (574)
Prologue: Edgar Allen Poe, epidermis, boomerang, Edison, Ford, Franklin, Dante, klieg light, “third degree”
Chapter 1: boomerang, smoker (17), rococo (18), “coon” (22), Sambo (26), Booker T. Washington (18 & 29)
Chapter 2: “Founder’s Day” (37), White Man’s Burden (37), Emerson (41), “Lawd” (65), banknote (69)
Chapter 3: chain gang (71), “stool-pigeon” (82)
Chapter 5: puritanical (110), Horatio Alger (111), Homer (117), Emancipation (118), “humble carpenter of Nazareth” (119), Aristotle (120)
Chapter 6: N-(p. 139), leg shackle (p. 141), reference to lynching (143)
Chapter 7: “chew the rag” (p. 155), Red Cap (p. 157)“the Jim Crow” (p. 155), “Up North” (p. 158)
Chapter 10: “scabs” (197), “racket” (197), “fink” (219)
Chapter 11: lobotomy (236), Buckeye the Rabbit (212), Brer Rabbit (242)
Chapter 12: spat (256), Wall Street Journal (257), dissonance (259)
Chapter 13: “Field N –“ (265), “scobos” (269), Marcus Garvey (272), “paddie” (274), “double talk” (291)
Chapter 14: “dunning” (296), Chthonian (299), “divan” (301)
Chapter 15: pince-nez (328), “pigeon drop” (330), “rabble rouser” (331)
Chapter 16: Nijinsky (349)
Chapter 17: El Toro (357), nationalists (364), “across a barrel” (365), “sudsbuster” (366), “zoot suiter” (366), “Uncle Tom” (369)
Chapter 18: “hostess gown” (411)
Chapter 20: Sambo (431)
Chapter 21: “zoot-suiters and “hep cats” (451)
Chapter 22: “sideshow” (466), “Cyclopean” (474)
Chapter 23: charlatan (504), touche (512)
Chapter 24: Joe Louis (516), Paul Robeson (516)
Chapter 25: ex post facto (550), Uncle Tom (557)
Epilogue: avant-garde (572), mea culpa (574)
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The Great Migration, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, Communism and the Labor Movement, Existentialism, Marcus Garvey and Black Nationalism
Invisible Man — first two paragraphs of prologue
“Intro to Ralph Ellison”
“Luke Cage” — Episode 1 (45:56-47:07)
Identify the setting, infer the major themes of the novel, and identify the author’s purpose for writing the novel.
Invisible Man pp. 4 – 14
“Louis Armstrong - (What Did I Do To Be So) Black And Blue - New York, 22.07. 1929”
Explain the narrator’s attitude towards his own “invisibility” by analyzing elements such as diction, tone, motifs, and style.
Invisible Man pp. 15 – 23
“The Hero’s Journey”
Explain how the author develops the motifs of invisibility and blindness in Chapter 1.
Explain the connection between the novel and the article.
Invisible Man pp. 24 – 33
Explain the impact of the Battle Royal on the narrator.
Explain how the author uses the motif of blindness/invisibility to develop theme.
Invisible Man pp. 34 – 46
“Booker T. Washington”
Analyze the impact of Ellison’s portrayal of the Founder, the trustees, and the university.
Invisible Man pp. 46 – 70
Explain how the author uses the Trueblood family as a social critique.
Invisible Man pp. 71 – 97
Analyze how the author uses the incident at the Golden Day and the character of the veteran to develop the motifs of invisibility and blindness.
Invisible Man pp. 98 – 108
“We Wear the Mask”
Analyze the motif of masks and how the author develops it in Chapter 4.
Invisible Man pp. 109 – 135
Explain the significance of Reverend Barbee’s characterization of the Founder and Dr. Bledsoe.
Invisible Man pp. 136 – 150
Use evidence from the chapter to analyze Dr. Bledsoe’s character and its impact on the narrator.
Invisible Man pp. 151 – 161
Analyze the narrator’s initial experience in New York, contrasting it with his previous experiences in the South.
Invisible Man pp. 162 – 184
Explain how the author develops the motif of blindness in Chapter 9.
Invisible Man pp. 184 – 206
Analyze the metaphor of the Liberty Paints plant, tracking how the author introduces and develops the metaphor over the first ten pages of Chapter 10.
Invisible Man pp. 207 – 230
Track how the author continues to use the metaphor of the Liberty Paints plant to develop the theme of racism in the United States.
Invisible Man pp. 231 – 250
Analyze how the author develops the theme of racism in the North and the theme of identity in this chapter.
Invisible Man pp. 251 – 260
Analyze the narrator’s internal conflict and be able to explain where he is in the Hero’s Journey stages.
Invisible Man pp. 261 – 266
Write an essay response to the prompt using evidence from the first five pages of the chapter.
12 Million Black Voices — Chapter 3: Death on the City Pavements
Invisible Man pp. 266 – 295
Analyze the author’s characterization of Brother Jack.
Describe how the narrator evolves in Chapter 13.
Invisible Man pp. 296 – 317
“Backwater Blues”
Backwater Blues
“The Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA)”
Analyze the impact that the Brotherhood has on the narrator’s developing identity.
Invisible Man pp. 318 – 332
Explain how the author uses symbolism and imagery to reveal character and theme in this chapter.
Invisible Man pp. 333 – 355
Interpret the author’s extended metaphor of blindness as it is developed in this chapter.
Invisible Man pp. 356 – 364 — end in the middle of the page
Analyze the mood created through the events and images of this chapter.
Invisible Man pp. 364 – 377
“Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr.”
Analyze Ras the Exhorter’s critique of the Brotherhood.
Writing
Declaration of Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World
“Primary Sources: Writing to the U.S. Attorney-General -- "Garvey Must Go"”
Analyze each document and select evidence for use in answer to the essay prompt.
Writing
Declaration of Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World
“Primary Sources: Writing to the U.S. Attorney-General -- "Garvey Must Go"”
Use evidence from both documents to support an answer to the prompt.
Invisible Man pp. 383 – 398
Explain how the narrator’s attitude toward the letter changes over the course of the chapter.
Invisible Man pp. 399 – 422
Explain how the author uses diction and other techniques to foreshadow the events of the chapter.
Invisible Man pp. 423 – 444
Explain how the author builds suspense in Chapter 20.
Invisible Man pp. 445 – 461
Track the shift in the narrator’s attitude toward the Brotherhood by analyzing author’s craft.
Invisible Man pp. 462 – 478
Analyze Ellison’s portrayal of the leadership of the Brotherhood and their conflict with the narrator.
Invisible Man pp. 479 – 512
Explain how the author uses symbols to develop theme.
Invisible Man pp. 513 – 534
Analyze how the narrator’s attitude and actions toward the Brotherhood are shifting.
Invisible Man pp. 535 – 556
Analyze the development of the symbol of the briefcase.
Invisible Man pp. 556 – 570
Analyze this scene as the Supreme Ordeal of the narrator’s journey and explain his Reward.
Invisible Man — Epilogue
Describe how the narrator’s ideas about identity have evolved and what theme the author is conveying.
Assessment
3 days
Composition
(ON DEMAND)
In the documentary, Ralph Ellison: An American Journey, Professor Cornel West claims that, “It is impossible to be a serious student of American culture and Afro-American culture without working through Ellison. He is a brook of fire through which one must pass.”
Write an essay in which you take a position on West’s argument that reading Ellison is “a brook of fire through which one must pass.” Use appropriate, specific evidence to illustrate and develop your position.
3 days
Composition
(PROCESS)
Read "Niagara Movement Speech" by W.E.B. Dubois. W.E.B made this speech in 1905 at a meeting of the Niagara Movement, a civil rights group organized by Dubois and William Monroe Trotter. In the speech, Dubois introduces a call to action and a list of demands for social, political and economic equality for African Americans. Read the passage carefully. Then, in a well-developed essay, analyze how Dubois uses the first paragraph to prepare his audience for his message. Support your analysis of his rhetoric with specific references to the text.
2 days
Composition
(ON DEMAND)
For this project, we ask students to debate and write a response to a question from the released 2017 AP English Language and Composition Exam. We are unable to reproduce the content here; however, teachers can find the question at the link below.
2017 AP English Language and Composition Free-Response Questions (page 11)
3 days
Composition
(PROCESS)
For this project, we ask students to debate and write a response to a question from the released 2017 AP English Language and Composition Exam. We are unable to reproduce the content here; however, teachers can find the question at the link below.
2017 AP English Language and Composition Free-Response Questions (page 12)