Invisible Man Quiestions for the Remainder of the Prologue (Questions #1 Continued...)

1.       Using context clues, if needed, define the word fallacious.

2.       What is it incorrect to assume? What is the irony in this?

3.       What are the two darkest spots in New York and why is that ironic?

4.       Why does the Ellison use the metaphor of a boomerang?

5.       What does Ellison mean when he says, “I have been boomeranged across my head so much that I now can see the darkness of lightness”? (pg. 6)

6.        How does Ellison feel about the light?

7.       What does light do for Ellison?

8.       When does Ellison admit to actually living, or becoming alive?

9.       Using context clues, if needed, define the word bilious.

10.    How many lights does Ellison have in his basement apartment?

11.    How does Ellison describe the junk man? What does the description tell us about Ellison’s character?

12.    What is a tinker?

13.    What is a radio-phonograph?

14.    What is Ellison describing when he speaks of an “acoustical deadness”?

15.    What does Ellison want from music?

16.    What images and symbolism come to mind when you read the following lines:

“I pour the red liquid over the white mound, watching it glisten and the vapor rising as Louis bends that military instrument into a beam of lyrical sound.”

17.    What does invisibility give to Ellison?

18.    What are nodes?

19.    What is a yokel?

20.    How does the yokel win the fight?

21.    What does Ellison see as he goes further into the “cave” of his imagination?

22.    What is the topic of the preacher’s sermon?

23.    How does the old lady describe the feelings she had for her master?

24.    What does Ellison mean when he says, “I too have become acquainted with ambivalence?”

25.    What did the woman love more than her master?

26.    How did the old woman handle her issues with her master and why?

27.    What happens to the women when she is asked about freedom?

28.    Why does Ellison decide to stop smoking marijuana and just listen to music?

29.    What does Ellison mean when he says, “A hibernation is a covert preparation for a more overt action”?

30.    Who does Ellison say is, “one of the most irresponsible beings that ever lived”?

31.    How does the story of the white man Ellison almost kill connect to the idea of responsibility?