Write about the theme:



Write about the topic:

BUMP!

Read the section of the prologue where the nameless narrator in Invisible Man describes his experience bumping into a white stranger. Then, in a well-organized essay, describe the various attitudes that the narrator appears to have toward the tall, blond man. How are diction and syntax used to communicate these attitudes? (To see how you will be graded, be sure to examine the rubric on the reverse side of this sheet.)

Notes from Mr. B.:

• Do not merely summarize the plot! (No need to spend a lot of time telling the reader about the bumping incident or describing it in any amount of detail.)

• Focus your essay on the VARIOUS attitudes the narrator exhibits towards the blond stranger AND how the narrator uses DICTION and SYNTAX to illuminate these VARIOUS attitudes.

o You should DEFINITELY have direct quotes to support your assertions!

o Be sure to ANALYZE each quotation you use; DO NOT just include it for the sake of having citations. USE the quotes to prove your point.

• You may use the rest of the blank space on his page to create an outline for your response if you so desire.

English Literature and Composition

Section II

(suggested time—40 minutes)

Read carefully the following excerpt from the beginning of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. Then write a well-organized essay in which you analyze how the author uses literary devices like imagery, selection of detail, diction, tone, etc. to reveal the change in the narrator’s attitude towards Homer A. Barbee once he discovers that the reverend is blind.

Barbee stood with his arms outstretched now, beaming over the audience, his Buddha-like body still as an onyx boulder. There was sniffling throughout the chapel. Voices murmured with admiration and I felt more lost than ever. For a few minutes old Barbee had made me see the vision and now I knew that leaving the campus would be like the parting of flesh. I watched him lower his arms now and start back to his chair, moving slowly with his head cocked as though listening to distant music. I had lowered my head to wipe my eyes when I heard the shocked gasp arise.

Looking up, I saw two of the white trustees moving swiftly across the platform to where Barbee floundered upon Dr. Bledsoe’s legs. The old man slid forward upon his hands and knees as the two white men took his arms; and now as he stood I saw one of them reach for something on the floor and place it in his hands. It was when he raised his head that I saw it. For a swift instant, between the gesture and the opaque glitter of his glasses, I saw the blinking of sightless eyes. Homer A. Barbee was blind.

Notes from Mr. B.:

• Do not merely summarize the plot! (No need to spend a lot of time telling the reader about Barbee’s speech or describing it in any amount of detail.)

• Focus your essay on the SHIFT/CHANGE in attitude the narrator exhibits towards Barbee AND how the narrator uses the various devices listed above to illuminate this transformation.

o You should DEFINITELY have direct quotes to support your assertions!

o Be sure to ANALYZE each quotation you use; DO NOT just include it for the sake of having citations. USE the quotes to prove your point.

English Literature and Composition

Section II

(suggested time—40 minutes)

Read carefully the following excerpt from the beginning of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. Beginning with the narrator’s disillusionment during Rev. Barbee’s sermon and continuing until the novel’s end, there is a tone of bewilderment and disorientation that builds as the narrator progresses through his various experiences. In a well-organized essay, analyze how diction, syntax, and other literary devices contribute to that tone in this passage.

Then I was awake and not awake, sitting bolt upright in bed and trying to peer through the sick gray light as I sought the meaning of the brash, nerve-jangling sound. Pushing the blanket aside I clasped my hands to my ears. Someone was pounding the steam line, and I started helplessly for what seemed minutes. My ears throbbed. My side began itching violently and I tore open my pajamas to scratch, and suddenly the pain seemed to leap from my ears to my side and I saw gray marks appearing where the old skin was flaking away beneath my digging nails. And as I watched I saw thin lines of blood well up in the scratches, bringing pain and joining time and place again, and I thought, The room has lost its heat on my last day at Mary’s, and suddenly I was sick at heart.

The clock, its alarm lost in the larger sound, said seven-thirty, and I got out of bed. I’d have to hurry. There was shopping to do before I called Brother Jack for my instructions and I had to get the money to Mary—Why didn’t they stop that noise? I reached for my shoes, flinching as the knocking seemed to sound an inch above my head. Why don’t they stop, I thought. And why do I feel so let down? The bourbon? My nerves going bad?

Suddenly I was across the room in a bound, pounding the pipe furiously with my shoe heel.

“Stop it, you ignorant fool!”

My head was splitting. Beside myself, I struck pieces of silver from the pipe, exposing the black and rusted iron. He was using a piece of metal now, his blows ringing with a ragged edge.

If only I knew who it was, I thought, looking for something heavy with which to strike back. If only I knew!

Notes from Mr. B.:

• Focus your essay on HOW the diction, syntax, and possibly imagery contribute to a tone of bewilderment and disorientation.

o You should DEFINITELY have direct quotes to support your assertions!

o Be sure to ANALYZE each quotation you use; DO NOT just include it for the sake of having citations. USE the quotes to prove your point.

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