Invisible Man

Lesson 12
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ELA

Unit 1

12th Grade

Lesson 12 of 36

Objective


Explain how the author develops the motif of blindness in Chapter 9.

Readings and Materials


  • Book: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison  pp. 162 – 184

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Target Task


Writing Prompt

What is the narrator blind to in Chapter 9? Explain using evidence from the text.

Key Questions


  • Review of Chapter 8: What does the narrator decide about his Southern self? Why? What does the narrator experience as he delivers the letters and looks for a job?
  • What is the significance of the narrator's interactions with Peter Wheatstraw?
  • How does the narrator react to the suggestion that he order "the special" in the diner? Why?
  • In the narrator's mind, how is refusing to order the special an important step in being able to return to the college?
  • p. 179: How does he react when he sees the white man order the special? Why? What is the significance? What does it foreshadow?
  • p. 180: The assistant wears glasses. What might this indicate? What evidence later in the chapter supports this inference?
  • p. 184: "The only problem with ambition is that it sometimes blinds one to reality." What does the assistant mean? Is he right?
  • What does the narrator still not realize that both the reader and the assistant have figured out?
  • How does this relate to his Hero's Journey?

Notes


  • pp. 162-171 should be read for homework prior to this class.
  • Review the essential elements of Chapter 8 prior to beginning Chapter 9.
  • Assign the rest of Chapter 9, pp. 184-195, for homework.
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Lesson 11

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Lesson 13

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