IM Section VI

1) The most important thing of this section I feel is Brother Clifton's funeral. The narrator talks at the funeral which ends up starting a rally. The slogan of the rally, in which signs were held saying Brother Tod Clifton, Our Hope Shot Down. This is important because he was shot and killed by police for doing nothing but bumping into an officer. The speech the narrator gave caused much more problems then helped people grieve. He tells the people that soon Tod Clifton will be just bones in the ground. The only way they can get out of the dark box is by teaching the cops that they can't just kill people who get them angry, especially if they are another race.

2) I think the most intense part of the book is when Ras and the narrator get into it. Ras sends people to follow the narrator. He realizes that Ras is trying to attack the Brotherhood and thinks going after the narrator is the best choice. As the narrator is walking past the movie house the men that were following him grab him and start punching him. Luckily the doorman from the movie house was able to stop it before it got out of hand, but him getting followed and attacked I feel was the most intense of the section.

3) I think the most confusing thing in this section was Rinehart and how everyone he kept running into thought he was Rinehart. The lady, the people following him, and the cop all called him Rinehart but he had no clue what they were talking about. The narrator's name may be Rinehart and because he got lobotomized it may be who he is but he may not remember.

Wired Magazine Article "Gone"

I was really surprised at how much information people were able to get about the man on the run. He knew exactly how to go wherever he wanted without being detected for a while. People could get information from what soccer team he loved to his last purchase using his credit card. I know he did it for a contest to go hidden but the fact that we have the technology to access that information is incredible. I want to know how it was so easy to get info about Evan Ratliff but it was so hard to find him. How did it become so hard to find a person especially with the type of technology we have now. I honestly believe it is possible to "disappear" in today's world. As long as you are able to not use any cards that people could track you with, and also not talk to anybody that could give away you position. It relates to Into the Wild because of the fact that Evan wanted to create a new life and just like Chris gave up everything and went into a world of being avoided by anybody who he possibly knew. There was a similarity to The Great Gatsby in that Evan went around as James Gatz just like the man from the story. Though the story lines were different, in The Great Gatsby, Jay created a new identity for himself becoming the rich man he was known in the book as. As far as it connects to Invisible Man, there are some such as the man is "invisible" according to people trying to track him down. He also was trying to create a new identity finding who is true self was. I thought it was very shocking that Evan voluntarily "disappeared" and allowed people to access information to try and find him, with a reward of cash for whoever found him. He gave up his life from before to start over and try something new.

IM Introduction, Ellison Bio, Ubd Post

Ralph Ellison was born in Oklahoma which on a map of the United States is located in the South. He was being raised in a time of racism and separation. When he began his writing and education it was in a time of a terrible economic downfall. He attended the Tuskegee Institute on a scholarship which allowed him to get an education without spending a penny. He tried to capture the nature of humans in his writing not to focus only on racism in which him being black many people thought he was trying to write about.

The idea for Invisible Man started from when he was recovering from being sick and wrote down the sentence "I am an invisible man." Over the next couple of years he soon was able to bring in more and more ideas to help go with his story and eventually developed it into a novel.

As many people thought Ellison was trying to write about, none really understood his aim. He wasn't trying to cause a stir by bringing up racism and other means of discrimination, but how they impacted African Americans. He wanted to show how human nature shows us to be judgmental, and classify people into different categories. He writes with a powerful tone in which his word use and structure show meaning behind what he is trying to say. 

Gatsby- Chapter 3

I believe living the "good life" now is looked as having a very nice house, multiple cars that are very famous brands, wearing certain brands, and having lots of money. I don't believe this is the "good life" and that the good life is something better. I think if you can be happy doing what you are doing, happy with where you are living, and helping out others not just thinking about yourself is the "good life". In the 1920's the good life was somebody who had a ton of money, the newest cars, a big house, and had the biggest parties. Since the value of money has changed since the 20's I think so has the view of the good life. Many people could get bigger houses and do what they wanted with a lot less money then you need today. The "good life" isn't always about the best house, best cars, and best new items, it's about being happy and enjoying what you do with the time you have on Earth.

Ubd & F. Scott Fitzgerald

Themes we may study this year include:

Aspiration: F. Scott Fitzgerald since he was 13 had longed to be a famous writer and began his career by writing a short fictional story for his school newspaper. He continued on with his writing after meeting Father Sigourney Fay, a priest from his high school, who told him to follow his dreams and write as much as he could. He was able to achieve success by writing 4 novels in his lifetime.

Failure: At first F. Scott was not able to get anything major published trying many times. He held off his writing for a little after meeting his future wife Zelda leading him to build up some debt. To try and pave his way out he began writing again but wasn't too successful. In turn his wife ended up cheating on him and left him saying that she will get back once he is famous.