Session #2: Invisible Man (Prologue through chapter 11)

1. During today's session we started by discussing lingering questions from Invisible Cities and the other readings, which led into a discussion of how American history is used in Invisible Man. The main focus of the session was a careful, thoughtful, detailed, and wide-ranging exploration of the influence of environmental conditions on the formation of individual consciousness (the self). We talked specifically about how the plot structure of Invisible Man shapes the readers perception of events as they unfold -- encouraging the reader to ask, how do these events and circumstances contribute to changes in the protagonist? And what are the larger implications (for the reader, for Americans, for all people) of the Invisible Man's experiences and developing consciousness? We were especially interested in seeing the book as a commentary on different kinds of power, different kinds of understanding.

We deeply considered the symbolic nature of the book. We found it productive to treat the descriptions and events as the book as both real, actual events and as suggestive of "deeper" meanings. To this end we talked about W.E.B. DuBois (double consciousness), Booker T. Washington ("separate as the five fingers") Freud (id, ego, superego), Jung (hero's quest archetype), Hegel (thesis, anti-thesis, synthesis, and the telos of history), Marx (shedding particulars of race and nation to join proletariat, dictatorship of the proletariat), and David Chappelle in relation to Ellison's choices about characters, descriptions, scenes. We talked about the significance of names. We talked about the literal and figurative meanings of power, of light, of invisibility, of sight, of blueprints, of jazz, of dreams, of food, etc. We tried to connect each element we analyzed to our developing, evolving sense of the meaning of the work as a whole.

If you were not at today's session I would like you to participate in the discussion begun in class by fully exploring how one element in the text -- a motif such as violence, sexuality, dreams, food, oration, music, etc.; a minor character such as the Norton, the vet, Reverend Barbee, Mr. Emerson's son, Brockway, etc.; a scene such as Trueblood's story, the Golden Day episode, the paint factory explosion -- contributes to what Ralph Ellison seems to suggest about the relationship between Invisible Man's environment and his consciousness (his sense of self and sense of his place in the world).

Paste your response -- a one-draft essay -- in the comment box. (If it's long you might need to cut it into two posts.) Before writing your response read what is already in the comment box (if anything) to avoid merely repeating what someone else has already written, though you can expand upon or respond to what someone else has already written so long as you contribute something new. The responses should probably be at least 500 words long. Complete this part-to-whole essay before the next session (August 2).

2. Don't forget to complete the blog comment assignment and the essay assignment from the first session. (These should be done already but you haven't completed these assignments do so now.) Go here for details. (So far you should have completed a quotation response journal for Invisible Cities, a blog post in response to the relationship between Invisible Cities and a supplemental poem or short story, an essay relating a quotation from Invisible Cities to the work as a whole, and a quotation response journal for the first 250 pages of Invisible Man.

3. Complete a quotation response journal (10+ quotations and responses) for chapters 12 through the Epilogue of Invisible Man before the next session (August 2). (Note: I decided not to assign supplementary readings until we finish all of Invisible Man.)

Session #1: Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino (July 6, 2010)

1. During today's session we started off with an activity designed both to get us thinking about our relationship to the invisible cities and thinking about each other. Each student chose a city s/he would most like to visit and one s/he would most like to live in. Esmerelda was by far the most popular city. (I wonder what that suggests about us. Leonia, Sophronia, and Veldrada also showed up more than once. I'm still curious about Veldrada...)

2. Then after a break I introduced the central questions of AP Eng. Lit., which are "How do the parts of a work of literature contribute to the whole?" and "How does the way the work of literature is written contribute to its meaning (i.e. the development of themes)?

So we explored themes and related them to parts (often the quotations you selected in quotation response journals). We talked about the ambiguous nature of language (to what degree do gestures/words/signs/symbols really -- or clearly -- embody/mean the things/ideas/experiences they are supposed to represent); the paradoxical nature of existence (the proximity of death makes one feel most alive, etc.); the relationship between existence and imagination, the relationship between subjective reality (one's mind with its perceptions, imaginings, memories, dreams, desires, beliefs) and objective reality (i.e. the material world); the inevitability of collapse, death, decay, nothingness, non-being and what to do in response to that inevitability: what do the people in the cities do? what does Khan do? Polo? our civilization? you?

The most important thing we started do was relating big ideas to particulars. We honed the ideas as we tested them against the particulars. As we looked at particulars in the light of the ideas the particulars became more filled with meaning.

3. Then together we wrote a prompt which you will respond to by the next meeting (Monday, July 19):

Choose a passage (a quotation) from Invisible Cities. Analyze how the passage (quotation) is significant (or meaningful) in the work as a whole. Use at least two cities to develop your analysis. In other words, draw your supporting evidence from at least two cities. Your response shouldn't be shorter than, say, 500 words. It also shouldn't be longer than, say, a thousand words.

4. Then I introduced the other post-session assignment. Read one of the following works of literature. (Click on the link to read the story or poem.)

Readings to accompany Invisible Cities

“Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius,” Jorge Luis Borges (short story)

“The Library of Babel,” Jorge Luis Borges (translation James E. Irby) (short story)

“The Continuity of Parks,” Julio Cortazar (For the original Spanish version go here.) (short story)

“Ithaka, “The City,” or “Waiting for the Barbarians,” C.P. Cavafy (poems)

In the comment box below write a response (300 words or so) to the piece you read. Make some connection (similarities and/or contrasts in themes, imagery, characters, events, writing style, narration) with Invisible Cities. (There are many possible connections.) I encourage to also respond to what your peers have written whether they've written on the same story/poem or not. (Remember to write your first name and last initial as well as the title of the piece you plan to write about at the beginning of the post.) Make sure you comment by the end of the day next Monday (July 12).

5. Then (as we wilted in the heat) I said a few words about Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. We're going to read the first eleven chapters of this novel before next session. The central question here is how does a person (with a full, rich, thoughtful, emotional, attentive consciousness) come to understand herself/himself and her/his environment (especially when, inevitably, the self and the environment are at odds). This is perhaps the number one question for any thoughtful young person (like you). And this is what Invisible Man is all about. Keep this in mind when reading and working on your quotation response journal. (Here you'll find a list of motifs to pay attention to as you read. Of course, if you're actively reading, you'll probably start to notice these yourself.)