Invisible Man: Chapters 21-23

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

• How do you define yourself?

• What makes you you?
• How do other people know who you are?

Reflect on these questions in the notebook or journal you have kept for this series. Then, ask someone else to write down a description of you. You could have your parent, teacher, friend, sibling, or anyone else write a brief description. Then, compare the two.

• How are the descriptions similar? How are they different?
• Why do you think there are some similarities and differences?

Below are some basic statements that help show how identity is formed. Use these identity statements as an outline to describe yourself.

I can...

This statement identifies a person by what they can do. This can be a reference to rights and privileges to skills to career abilities.

I have...

Possessions say a lot about a person. Some possessions, in particular, are strong indicators of how people define themselves, such as cars, clothes, and computing technologies. One strong have is family; these people will talk about them with pride.

I like...

When a person says they like a particular hobby, food, restaurant, musician, brand, etc., they are perhaps associating themself with others of that type who share those likes.

I am...

The verb to be creates an identity from different aspects and characteristics of a person's life. This can include emotions (I am happy), career (I am an accountant), religion (I am Buddhist), social position (I am popular) and so on.

I remember...

We can identify ourselves by recollecting personal and emotionally significant events. What we remember and perhaps long for can say a lot about us.

• Do these statements change your perception from how you described yourself at the beginning of the lesson? Why or why not?

Identity is something that we can often take for granted — we have a name, we have family or friends who know us, we may have pets who recognize us, and we go places where others in the community know us.

• However, does that define who we are?
• And what if you don't have a name, don't have any close family or friends, and don't have people who recognize you? Who are you then?

These are the questions that the narrator in Invisible Man wrestles with as he continues to search for his identity.

To learn more about the narrator's quest for his true identity, watch a portion of the following video. As you watch, take notes on the narrator's different identities in the novel. You can use them later in this lesson.

• Why do you think the narrator has difficulty finding his true identity?
• Do you think he will be able to figure out who he is by the end of the novel?

Reflect on these questions in your notebook or journal and then read Chapters 21-23 in Invisible Man.

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 how the narrator's understanding of his own identity is changing.

When you are finished reading and taking notes, move on to the Got It? section to explore the details of these chapters more closely.