Invisible Man: Chapters 13-14

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

• Did you guess that the above picture was of Booker T. Washington?

• Does his name sound familiar?

In the second Related Lesson of this series, you learned that Washington was the president of Tuskegee Institute, the college that the novel's author, Ralph Ellison, attended and used as the model for the unnamed college in Invisible Man.

Washington was one of the most influential Black leaders at the turn of the twentieth century, and his legacy continued to be felt in Ellison's era. Ellison incorporated Washington's influence in his novel.

Read Booker T. Washington to learn more, and answer the following questions in your notebook or journal.

• Who was Washington's father?
• How did Washington get his last name?
• How did Washington pay for his tuition at Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute?
• How did Washington obtain his position as president of the Tuskegee Institute?
• What type of curriculum did Tuskegee Institute promote under Washington?
• What social philosophy did Washington promote, which made him popular with some Whites and unpopular with some Blacks?
• What speech won Washington widespread acceptance among White leaders?
• With which president did Washington have a close relationship?
• Why did Washington only secretly support efforts for increased political and civil rights for Blacks?
• Which organization did Washington attempt to prevent being founded?

After recording your responses, check them against the ones below.

• What about Washington's biography surprised you?
• Which parts of Washington's biography does Ellison use as inspiration for the college's leaders in Invisible Man?

Ellison did not know about Washington's secret support of social and political equality at the time he wrote Invisible Man because this information was discovered in the 1960s.

• How do you think this knowledge would have influenced Ellison's characters?

Reflect on these questions briefly in your notebook or journal. Then, read Chapters 13-14.

Continue using the copy of the novel in the format you chose to complete this series of Related Lessons (right-hand sidebar). If you do not have access to the novel, you may download Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison from the Internet Archive.

As you read, take notes on the narrator's identity development and the organization in which he becomes a member.

When you have finished reading and taking notes, move to the Got It? section to explore the material from Chapters 13-14 in more detail.