Work Day

Today we looked at the calendar for the next few weeks and had some time to finish up the IM questions. 4-7 are below. Presentations begin tomorrow.

• 4) Consider the many scenes of "death" and resurrection in the novel. How is death paradoxically a condition for growth in this novel? Why?
• 5) What is the symbolic importance of Tod Clifton's doll? Why is he the only main character to die in the novel?
• 6) What is Ellison's message about the location and source of power? Consider the narrator's own power and motifs like electricity.
• 7) In the epilogue, IM says, "Now I know men are different and that all life is divided and that only in that division is there true health [...] so I denounce and I defend and I hate and I love" (576 & 580). Explain how these apparent contradictions help unlock the ultimate meaning of the novel.