Unit Plan Overview and Rationale
Invisible Man is primarily a story about a young man searching for his identity and the obstacles he encounters on his journey to find himself and his place in society. The novel also addresses several key thematic ideas of invisibility vs. visibility, racial prejudice and discrimination, blindness as illusion, and the struggle between hypocrisy and morality. Ralph Ellison also weaves into the narrative influences of historical events of social and political importance.
This novel is an important 20th century text for students to read because it broaches serious, complex subjects such as identity development, racial prejudice, and the influence that society holds over a person. As students read the novel, they will explore the variety of themes and motifs present throughout the story, but they will also attempt to connect their personal experiences of identity development and feelings of social invisibility or visibility with the characters in the novel.
Throughout the unit and reading the novel, the students will keep in mind several central questions: how is one’s identity shaped by the society one lives in? what groups in society are invisible? How have they become and remain invisible? How do they become visible? With these questions, I want students to be aware of how prevalent “invisibility” is in society, what factors led up to and caused this invisibility, how other people, social institutions, and societal values perpetuate this invisibility, and how these invisible groups work to make themselves seen.
This novel is an important 20th century text for students to read because it broaches serious, complex subjects such as identity development, racial prejudice, and the influence that society holds over a person. As students read the novel, they will explore the variety of themes and motifs present throughout the story, but they will also attempt to connect their personal experiences of identity development and feelings of social invisibility or visibility with the characters in the novel.
Throughout the unit and reading the novel, the students will keep in mind several central questions: how is one’s identity shaped by the society one lives in? what groups in society are invisible? How have they become and remain invisible? How do they become visible? With these questions, I want students to be aware of how prevalent “invisibility” is in society, what factors led up to and caused this invisibility, how other people, social institutions, and societal values perpetuate this invisibility, and how these invisible groups work to make themselves seen.
Enduring Understandings
An individual’s identity is shaped by how they think about themselves, how others see them, and how society influences these perspectives.
Essential Questions
- How do people seek justice, order, and redemption, in a society that denies them recognition?
- How are people or groups made to feel “invisible” or marginalized by: society, social institutions, the “majority”?
- How is an individual’s identity shaped by the society they live in?
- How do external forces impact the search for identity?
- What importance do names hold for an individual’s identity development?
- What role does an individual play in a society?
- How does race influence a person’s identity?
- Who has power in a society?
- What responsibilities does an individual have in a community and a society?
- Is identity permanent or malleable?
- How are people or groups made to feel “invisible” or marginalized by: society, social institutions, the “majority”?
- How is an individual’s identity shaped by the society they live in?
- How do external forces impact the search for identity?
- What importance do names hold for an individual’s identity development?
- What role does an individual play in a society?
- How does race influence a person’s identity?
- Who has power in a society?
- What responsibilities does an individual have in a community and a society?
- Is identity permanent or malleable?