Body Paragraph from 3rd Block!

Prompt: The significance of a title such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is easy to discover. However, in other works (for example, Measure for Measure) the full significance of the title becomes apparent to the reader only gradually.

Choose two works and show how the significance of their respective titles is developed through the authors’ use of devices such as contrast, repetition, and point of view.

4th Block:

      The character named in the title, Solomon, is a symbol of freedom and throughout the story Milkman is attempting to free himself materially. Yet like Solomon, he experiences a more spiritual flight. The mysterious Solomon, “cut across the sky and gone home.” He was one of the flying Africans who escaped slavery by magically taking off on his own accord. Milkman, however, on a quest for financial independence, goes on a journey to find his pot of gold. He is told by his father that if he finds gold, half of it would be his. Yet, the gold that he finds mirrors the freedom experienced by Solomon. In the novel Solomon’s flight symbolized freedom for all of the men. His flight symbolized freedom from social repression in order to seek a higher purpose.

 

 

The Tempest Online

http://shakespeare.mit.edu/tempest/full.html

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?

Questions #1 Invisible Man

ALL INVISIBLE MAN QUESTIONS ARE DUE ON MAY 5, 2014 IN CLASS. THEY MUST BE HANDWRITTEN AND IN A BLACK OR RED THREE PRONG FOLDER!!!!

Directions: Everyone is to answer the questions below. I will inform you when there is a change.

 

Not me you are grinning at, not me your confidential looks

Incriminate, but that other person, if person,

You thought I was: let your necrophily
Feed upon that carcase. . .
T. S. Eliot, Family Reunion

1.      What is the quote above saying to the reader?

2.      Why is the speaker invisible?

3.      What do people see when they look at the speaker?

4.      What are the cons to being invisible?

5.      Describe the incident the speaker has with the white man on the street.

6.      Why did the speaker decide against killing the man?

7.      Why does the speaker become amused?

8.      If the speaker is invisible, who are the sleepers?

9.      Describe the fight the speaker is having with the light and power company.

10.  Describe the speaker’s living conditions. How is he “getting over”?

 

4th Block Introduction

There is a time when the thin line begins to blur, when sanity and insanity begin to merge and good and evil have no clear definition.  In Songs of Solomon by Toni Morrison, the reader is introduced to Guitar Bains, a young man whose dark past makes him ethically vague.  In this bildungsroman Guitar’s own persona highlights the differences between himself and the protagonist, Milkman, in order for the reader to clearly experience Milkman’s coming of age. Guitar’s ambiguity causes a whirlwind of emotions within the reader as they grapple with his intentions and mental stability.

3rd Block Introduction

     Is there really anyone who isn’t morally ambiguous? In the novel, Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, the author introduces the reader to various characters who struggle with maintaining and identifying what it means to be a moral individual. In this bildungsroman, our main character, Milkman Dead, encounters adversities in his quest towards self-discovery and freedom. As the protagonist embarks on his journey, he is contrast by his childhood friend, Guitar Bains. In the novel, Guitar Bains is a morally ambiguous character due to his convoluted acts of

Invisible Man online

http://bpi.edu/ourpages/auto/2010/5/11/36901472/Ralph%20Ellison%20-%20Invisible%20Man%20v3_0.pdf