Sunday, June 28, 2020
Tips For Writing an APUSH Essay
<h1>Tips For Writing an APUSH Essay</h1><p>Writing an APUSH article or APUSH test may not be a basic errand to do, however you will without a doubt think that its fun and simple. Nonetheless, on the off chance that you are perusing this article, all things considered, you have to compose an APUSH exposition. There are numerous sites where you can take help from; regardless of whether you have any related knowledge with composing papers. Composing an APUSH exposition will likewise end up being trying as it is generally founded on content-rich topics.</p><p></p><p>Being ready to finish the assignment of composing an APUSH article can be viewed as a troublesome undertaking. It is basic that you make sure to consider the sort of crowd you are composing for. You should attempt to think of intriguing thoughts and research them before you continue. Your initial step is to figure out who will peruse your work.</p><p></p><p>It is in every case better to start composing an audit of a specific field or order. This will permit you to pick up information about the subject you wish to compose. You can inquire about the subject by getting to the web and understanding books. After your examination is done, you can experience the content or papers and dissect every one of it. Breaking down an investigation paper or a book appropriately can assist you with composing an APUSH exposition better.</p><p></p><p>Before you even start composing, consider the topic of the article. On the off chance that the topic depends on writing, you can concentrate on the attributes of a book or story. Knowing this sort of data can assist you with arranging a specific theme and a particular sort of composing style that can help you in creating an APUSH paper that is adequate for your audience.</p><p></p><p>Determine your inclination level for composing an APUSH article. You can discover your own inclination level by asking another person who has thought of one or by doing your own exploration. In view of your own discoveries, you can evaluate the sort of composing ability you have and the sort of subjects you are agreeable with.</p><p></p><p>Write down the names of the individuals that you mean to expound on and afterward look for the book or materials they can use for this reason. It is likewise a smart thought to scan for sites where you can increase some data on the theme that you plan to expound on. It is significant that you recognize yourself in your works as this will assist you with having an effect on your audience.</p><p></p><p>During the creative cycle, understudies need to maintain a strategic distance from remarks that are defaming and amateurish. Your perusers can without much of a stretch see such negative comments when they read your work. You ought to abstain from utilizing words like 'needs'should', on the grounds that these words will just befuddle the peruser's brains and they will wind up not being keen on what you need to say.</p><p></p><p>After the creative cycle is finished, you have to sort the material into a particular number of passages. Each section should be made out of solid and persuading thoughts and sentiments. It is additionally important to give a few connections and references, with the goal that your perusers can allude back to your work at whatever point they need it.</p>
Monday, June 15, 2020
Environmental Topics For A Persuasive Essay
<h1>Environmental Topics For A Persuasive Essay</h1><p>Environmental points for a powerful paper can be very assorted. Subjects that have an intriguing foundation are anything but difficult to compose, however in many cases you need in excess of a couple of explicit components to make a decent contention. For instance, a point that talks about the significance of nature as a significant part of regular day to day existence might be very successful on the off chance that you are proposing that everybody needs to pay attention to it more. In any case, on the off chance that you are contending that the earth is certainly not a significant issue that we need to address, you won't convince numerous people.</p><p></p><p>Many individuals don't generally think about ecological issues. They think it is excessively little of an issue to waste time with. The issue with this reasoning is that little issues regularly matter a considerable amount all in al l. Obviously there are numerous individuals who are as of now worried about nature, yet they might be a little minority and they are as yet attempting to make a difference.</p><p></p><p>For this explanation, you ought to urge individuals to discuss the earth all the more frequently. Despite the fact that they are not vocal about it, they are in any event mindful of the issues. Consequently, you ought to never essentially instruct them to quit grumbling or to quit whimpering about the environment.</p><p></p><p>Environmental subjects for a convincing paper ought to have the objective of talking about some particular sorts of issues. Consider the issues that you might want to concentrate on when you compose your article. Maybe you might want to recommend that the administration makes a move to forestall contamination and that the expense of tidying up the earth is generally very huge. There are numerous ways that you can approach making a persuading contention about the significance of taking these activities, yet you should attempt to concentrate on one specific issue at a time.</p><p></p><p>When you are thinking about which points to remember for your ecological subjects for a convincing article, think about the entirety of the various parts of nature. You ought to think about the expense of tidying up the earth, the impact that contamination has on the economy, the impact that contamination has on the earth and the impact that air contamination has on nature. These are for the most part various sorts of natural issues that you can remember for your exposition. Consider the different advantages that you think these issues offer to society.</p><p></p><p>You ought to likewise incorporate a portion of the negative impacts that you accept are brought about by contamination. For instance, in the United States we frequently observe unquestionably more birth abandons becaus e of air contamination than we do because of the synthetic contamination from industrial facilities. Also, the contamination adds to various different issues, for example, an unnatural weather change and worldwide climate designs. Commonly the impacts of contamination are a lot bigger than the prompt consequences for the environment.</p><p></p><p>Because the focal point of the paper will be on the earth and this will be the primary subject of your exposition, you will need to remember these various kinds of issues. You will find that you can think of a convincing paper that doesn't veer off excessively far from the subject of pollution.</p>
Friday, June 5, 2020
Using a Repetition Technique to Speed Up Your Research
Using a Repetition Technique to Speed Up Your ResearchThere are many different ways to approach writing a research paper, but some people prefer to use a specific technique called paraphrasing. It is very difficult to paraphrase from one language to another because you are trying to translate a difficult expression or process into a more understandable language. But with this method you can basically go from one language to another without having to speak a single word.Researching takes an enormous amount of time. When you are using a paraphrase to help you with your research, you will be able to get a lot of ideas from the material you have already worked with.When you are first beginning to research, you may not be fully aware of all of the information that you should be researching. This is when a paraphrase can be a huge help in speeding up your research.First, you must decide how you are going to write your research paper. Are you going to use it to write a research paper for an assignment or to give as a reference when someone asks you a question about your project? When writing a research paper for an assignment, your best choice is to use the material that you have already written.If you are giving a reference as a question for an interviewer, you need to work from the beginning of your research paper to the end. This means that you must start at the beginning and finish at the end. However, if you are using the material you have already written, you can simply use it to write your research paper.Another option is to use your research paper as a starting point for a short research on a similar question. However, you must include any notes or comments you make along the way in your research paper. If you want to write a research paper with this option, you should make sure that your research is properly documented so that you don't confuse anyone else.Also, you might find that you have some interesting ideas for your research paper that you would like to include in the information section. The process for using a paraphrase to research is to draw out the idea and then go back to the text to explain it properly.If you have spent a lot of time researching the subject you are writing a research paper about, you can choose to use a paraphrase to speed up your research process. You should remember that you can use a paraphrase to answer your research questions without having to make any major changes to your research paper. If you do use a paraphrase, it is best to keep the structure of your research paper intact so that it can be used for other purposes in the future.
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
Black Existentialism and The Jazz Aesthetic in Ralph Ellisonââ¬â¢s Invisible Man - Literature Essay Samples
Sharon D. Welch, in ââ¬Å"ââ¬Å"Lush Lifeâ⬠: Foucaultââ¬â¢s Analytics of Power and a Jazz Aesthetic,â⬠states:What is seen through a jazz aesthetic is what is seen now by many: conflict, difference, failure, mistakes, suffering, meaning, beauty, commitment to justice, grief, outrage at suffering and injustice. The form of jazz can provide a modality of critique, of social engagement that enables the actualization of Foucaultââ¬â¢s dream, his dream of a criticism that ââ¬Å"would try not to judge but to bring an idea to lifeâ⬠¦It would multiply not judgment, but signs of existence.â⬠(Welch, 88)In this context, jazz aesthetic in inherently based in duality: it provides a platform wherein the individual experience is privileged, while simultaneously attempting to encapsulate collective experience. This ââ¬Å"modal criticismâ⬠is concerned with explicating individual meaning, that is, how an individual should both determine and access an awareness of his or her own subjective reality. A distinctive brand of existentialism accompanies Ralph Ellisonââ¬â¢s novel Invisible Man, in the form of the nameless protagonist, an African American man who assigns himself the ultimate existentialist task: to realize the he must honor his individual complexity and remain genuine to his own identity without sacrificing his responsibility to the community. Ellison, in his introduction, introduces his mission statement: ââ¬Å"So my task was one of revealing the human universals hidden within the plight of one who was both Black and American.â⬠(Ellison, xviii) His literary enterprise resonates directly with W.E.B. Du Boisââ¬â¢ concept of ââ¬Å"double-consciousness,â⬠a concept that was inaugurated in his seminal work, The Souls of Black Folk. Du Bois devotes his text to the reconciliation between an African heritage and European pedagogy; it is, effectively, a theoretical model for understanding the psychological and sociological div isions that are prevalent in American society. An examination of Du Boisââ¬â¢ contribution to Africana critical theory and ââ¬Å"black existentialismâ⬠in conjunction with 20th century French existentialism provides a theoretical lens through which Ellisonââ¬â¢s narrative can be interpreted; the protagonist struggles to procure a conception of his own identity in a predominantly racially oppressive American society. The encounters with various communities, from the Liberty Paints factory to the Brotherhood political group, dictate to the protagonist rigid behavioral standards for the black population. As the protagonist attempts to define himself through the expectations imposed upon him, in each instance, the prescribed role limits his complexity as an individual and pressures him into a state of perpetual inauthenticity. Invisible Man is in essence, an analogy drawn between the ââ¬Å"invisibilityâ⬠that the protagonist applies fastidiously to his experience, and the modal criticism of the jazz aesthetic, which are rigorously applied to the African American social chronicle. Each is a manner of giving form and significance to existence in the same way as narrative itself tends towards a similar ââ¬Ëfictitiousââ¬â¢ ordering of experience. Ellison asserts himself as an artist and an individual; he is an heir to a distinctive African American literary culture and to the American heritage within the Western European philosophical tradition. Thus, Ellison alludes to a conceivable reality but at the same time contests the validity of the forms we use to give shape to it. Central to Du Boisââ¬â¢ text is ââ¬Å"double-consciousnessâ⬠, the collective mediation of the two cultures that comprise African American identity; early African American populations regarded Africa as a location of origin, whereas America was scrutinized as a place of unwilling enslavement. Though these populations intended to return to Africa, the results of slave ry and southern acculturation rendered their identity as distorted. The intentional repression of vernacular speech, the institution of alternative names, and the conversion to Christianity ensured a divergent African cultural legacy. Du Bois compensates for this estrangement in the form of ââ¬Å"double-consciousnessâ⬠:The Negro is a sort if seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in this American world, ââ¬âa world which yields him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world. It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at oneââ¬â¢s self through the eyes of others, of measuring oneââ¬â¢s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his twonessââ¬âan American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder. (Du Bois, 32)Duality punctuates Du Boisââ¬â¢ text: contained by Jim Crow Americas color line, within the ââ¬Å"Veil of Race,â⬠(Du Bois, 79) black individuals are judged by their skins and not by their souls. But ââ¬Å"above the Veil,â⬠in the ââ¬Å"kingdom of culture,â⬠souls persist uncolored, enjoying ââ¬Å"freedom for expansion and self-development.â⬠(Du Bois, 33, 98) Du Bois placates reliance on this freedom, and that it will one day ââ¬Å"rend the Veilâ⬠; this comprises the very substance of the sorrow songs of the slaves. These ancestral voices, the greatest expression of American art, claims Du Bois, declare ââ¬Å"a truer worldâ⬠where ââ¬Å"men will judge men by their souls and not by their skinsâ⬠(Du Bois, 197). Essentially, Du Bois sets himself a double venture: he operates both within and beyond the Veil, celebrating the ââ¬Å"Negro soulâ⬠in the former, while preparing black Americans for the opportunity to do minate ââ¬Å"above the Veil,â⬠where the commanding human soul multiplies, protected by ââ¬Å"the centres of culture.â⬠(Du Bois, 97)In philosophical terms, particularly existential thinking, the work of Jean-Paul Sartre is significant to consider. Existentialism and Human Emotions demonstrates Sartreââ¬â¢s attempt to cultivate a unique brand of existentialism to replace traditional approaches to morality; the result is a faction of ethics dependent on ââ¬Å"authenticityâ⬠. His brand of ontology is concerned with a combination of ââ¬Å"existence precedes essenceâ⬠and the concept of ââ¬Å"bad faith: he claims that an individualââ¬â¢s existence predetermines their essence, that there is virtually nothing to dictate an individualââ¬â¢s character and intentions except for their own self conduct and cultivation. Sartre asserts:The essential consequenceâ⬠¦is that man being condemned to be free carries the weight of the whole world on his shoulders; h e is responsible for the world and for himself as a way of being. (Sartre, 52)Du Bois endorses a similar doctrine of philosophy in The Souls of Black Folk, however, extends the ââ¬Å"individual freedomâ⬠to the collective freedom of the African American race. While attesting to the longing of the African American to overcome the social and psychic divisions imposed by American society, to ââ¬Å"merge his double self into a better and truer self,â⬠Du Bois envisioned that truer self as one in which the doubleness of African and American elements would continue to coexist: In this merging he wishes neither of the older selves to be lost. He would not Africanize America, for America has too much to teach the world and Africa. He would not bleach his Negro soul in a flood of white Americanism, for he knows that Negro blood has a message for the world (Du Bois, 215) The message that ââ¬Å"Negro bloodâ⬠insists on sending is conveyed through the jazz aesthetic; jazz musi c is the embodiment of the existential terms outlined by Sartre and Du Bois, as it is a platform for showcasing the individual cultural experience, and by extension, the communal African American narrative. Ellisonââ¬â¢s prologue delegates the necessity for musical expression, wherein the narrator states:Perhaps I like Louis Armstrong because heââ¬â¢s made poetry out of being invisible. I think it must be because heââ¬â¢s unaware that he is invisible. And my own grasp of invisibility aids me to understand his music.â⬠(Ellison, 8)Ellison addresses two major thematic concerns that characterize the novel: invisibility and the jazz aesthetic. The narrator is cognizant of the jazz dynamic that occurs in Armstrongââ¬â¢s music; unawareness of ones invisibility enables the possibility for great artistry, but awareness of invisibility leads to comprehension. This cyclical relationship also characterizes Ellisonââ¬â¢s novel more broadly, as it begins and ends in the same s ituation; it documents the protagonistââ¬â¢s awareness of invisibility to the eventual embrace of a state of invisibility, enabling him access to a larger perspective. Louis Armstrong is frequently considered the most influential soloist in the history of jazz; he is accredited with nearly, single-handedly transforming jazz, which originally evolved as a collective, ensemble-based musical act, into a medium for individual expression in which the soloist occupied the forefront position within a larger band. The reference to Armstrong establishes a ââ¬Å"soundtrackâ⬠for the novel; Armstrongââ¬â¢s vocation as a soloist mirrors the ââ¬Å"double-consciousnessâ⬠that saturates the content of the novel, as he contends with an individual and collective mode of expression, and Ellisonââ¬â¢s inclusion of ââ¬Å"Black and Blueâ⬠represents one of jazzââ¬â¢s earliest attempts to make an open commentary on the subject of racism.Ellisonââ¬â¢s prologue squarely sit uates the novel within larger literary and philosophical contexts; existentialism, or, the search for salvageable individual meaning in a seemingly meaningless world, has reached the height of its popularity at the time of Invisible Manââ¬â¢s 1952 publication. Ellison proposes to undertake an existentialist examination of individual experience, but through the lens of race relations in postwar America. Sartreââ¬â¢s ontology privileges the process of self-creation and artistic expression, as this acknowledgement of responsibility is crucial in alleviating inauthentic behavior. Sartre endorses ââ¬Å"authenticityâ⬠when he asserts:He must assume the situation with the proud consciousness of being the author of it, for the very worst disadvantages or the worst threats which can endanger my person have meaning only in and through my project; and it is on the ground of the engagement which I am that they appear. (Sartre, 53)Sartreââ¬â¢s model expresses existentialist though t through the act of ââ¬Å"authoringâ⬠oneââ¬â¢s situation and accumulating individual purpose ââ¬Å"in and through oneââ¬â¢s projectâ⬠; his claim for authenticity lies inherently in artistry and authorial intention. ââ¬Å"Black and Blueâ⬠, a 1929 jazz standard composition by Fats Waller, and improvised distinctly by Louis Armstrong is directly referenced in the prologue, which suggests that Ellison was adherent to notions of ââ¬Å"black existentialismâ⬠. Armstrong drawls the following lyrics:Iââ¬â¢m White inside, but that donââ¬â¢t help my case/Thatââ¬â¢s life, cant hide, what is in my face/How would it end, ainââ¬â¢t got a friend/My only sin is in my skin/What did I do, to be so black and blue. (Armstrong, ââ¬Å"Black and Blueâ⬠)The track narrates the question of black suffering as a philosophical problem. Black individuals often faced double standards in their efforts to attain equality in the wake of enslavement, colonialism, and r acial apartheid. ââ¬Å"Black and Blueâ⬠lyrically recognizes the contradictory dichotomy of African American identity; it indicates, ââ¬Å"skin colorâ⬠as the determinant of accessible agency in American society.Ellisonââ¬â¢s narrative mimics that of improvisational jazz on both a thematic and stylistic level; the protagonist relates Armstrongââ¬â¢s music to his own desires and self-conceptions. Regarding the message of ââ¬Å"Negro bloodâ⬠, Ellison directly associates invisibility with the jazz aesthetic:Invisibilityâ⬠¦gives one a slightly different sense of time; youââ¬â¢re never quite on the beat. Sometimes youââ¬â¢re ahead and sometimes youââ¬â¢re behind. Instead of the swift and imperceptible flowing of time, you are aware of its nodes, those points where time stands still or from which it leaps ahead. And you slip into the breaks and look around. Thatââ¬â¢s what you hear vaguely in Louisââ¬â¢ music. (Ellison,8)Ellisonââ¬â¢s ostensib ly pivotal metaphor of ââ¬Å"invisibilityâ⬠adopts an aural dimension when he considers Armstrongââ¬â¢s lyricism and rhythmic dexterity at creating a ââ¬Å"slightly different sense of time.â⬠The literary translation and reciprocity of Armstrongââ¬â¢s artistry of swing rhythm permits access into the intellectual context where Ellison intertwines his musical and social thought. Wilfried Raussert, in his article ââ¬Å"Jazz, Time, and Narrativityâ⬠, explicates the tensions and correlations that arise in jazz composition and the African American social narrative. In reference to Armstrongââ¬â¢s ââ¬Å"swingâ⬠time signatures, Raussert predicates: While the jazz band usually plays a slow rhythm on the way to the graveyard, a sudden shift to an intensified beatââ¬âdue to playing double timeââ¬âcharacterizes the music performed when the band accompanies the mourning community on its way back. Double time leads to an intensification of the beat. (Raus sert, 523)This ââ¬Å"doublenessâ⬠is reminiscent of the ââ¬Å"doublenessâ⬠theorized in Du Boisââ¬â¢ text; swing intonation adopts double time to procure the individual and communal dichotomy of aural experience. In applying musical features to his own narrative, such as the shifting, improvisational style, Ellison achieves a literary modality for the jazz aesthetic. As Foucault aspired for a criticism that ââ¬Å"would try not to judge but to bring an idea to lifeâ⬠¦It would multiply not judgment, but signs of existenceâ⬠, jazz aesthetic, in the particular case of Ellisonââ¬â¢s novel, is committed to rendering the existence of the narrator as purposeful. Ellisonââ¬â¢s narrator is consistently subjugated by the limitations of ideology in the forms of the Dr. Bledsoe and the university institution, the Liberty Paints plant, and the affiliation with the Brotherhood. Throughout his encounters with these ideological systems, the narrator realizes that the r acial prejudice of others causes them to perceive him only as they want to perceive him, and their limitations of vision consequently enforce limitation on his ability to act. Sartreââ¬â¢s entire philosophical doctrine if fundamentally concerned with the individual and his own self-perception; he asserts, ââ¬Å"man is nothing else but what he makes of himself. Such is the first principle of existentialism.â⬠(Sartre, 15) This is, again, the implication of the notion, ââ¬Å"existence precedes essence,â⬠wherein an individualââ¬â¢s purpose is dependent on his subjective existence, rather than the external and objective conception that accompanies him.During the protagonistââ¬â¢s trial with Mr. Norton, they are befallen with severe racial segregation at The Golden Day; this is one of the various ideological systems that the protagonist encounters and fails to procure agency within. He engages in a discussion with a clinically insane veteran, who argues the following :He registers with his senses but short-circuits his brain. Nothing has meaning. He takes it in but he doesnt digest it. Already he is ââ¬â well, bless my soul! Behold! A walking zombie! Already hes learned to repress not only his emotions but also his humanity. Hes invisible, a walking personification of the Negative, the most perfect achievement of your dreams, sir! The mechanical man! (Ellison, 94)Since the veteran is deemed as mentally insufficient, he cannot participate in the social discourse of which he speaks. His complaint regards the protagonistââ¬â¢ unyielding servitude and dedication to Mr. Norton, however, the passage addresses a distinct philosophical predicament, one for which Sartre can account for:There can be no other truth to take off from than this: I think; therefore, I exist. There we have the absolute truth of consciousness becoming aware of itselfâ⬠¦Secondly, this theory is the only one, which gives man dignity, the only one, which does not reduce him to an object. (Sartre, 36-7)Since the protagonist ââ¬Å"represses his humanityâ⬠in a space that ââ¬Å"has no meaningâ⬠, existentialist thought may prescribe to him a solution; Sartre inherits the model that Descartes formulated, ââ¬Å"I think, therefore, I am,â⬠or, ââ¬Å"I think; therefore, I exist,â⬠which renders the invisible man as visible, in existentialist terms. Consciousness equates existence; in these terms, the protagonist prevails intellectually, as his thought processes comprise his ââ¬Å"dignityâ⬠and humanism. As the novel progresses, and the narrator enter into the Brotherhood, he seems to be exhibiting an advancement in the ideological systems that consistently oppressed him in his home community. This advancement, however, is an illusion; rather, the protagonist remains unable to act according to his own existential conduct, and becomes literally incapable of being himself. The Brotherhood advertises opportunities to fight for ra cial equality by working within the ideology of the organization; yet, the system abuses the narrator as a ââ¬Å"tokenâ⬠black man in its abstract project:Becoming aware that there were two of me: the old self that slept a few hours a night and dreamed sometimes of my grandfather and Bledsoe and Brockway and Mary; the self that flew without wings and plunged from great heights; and the new public self that spoke for the Brotherhood and was becoming so much more important than the other that I seemed to run a foot race against myself. (Ellison, 380)The narrator becomes aware of his own sense of ââ¬Å"double-consciousnessâ⬠as he makes reference to the duality of his character; the ââ¬Å"old selfâ⬠represents the African origins of Du Boisââ¬â¢ model, while the ââ¬Å"new public selfâ⬠signifies the forced integration into American society. Du Bois accounts for the ââ¬Å"illusionâ⬠of human equality:Human equality does not even entail, as it is sometime s said, absolute equality of opportunity; for certainly the natural inequalities of inherent genius and varying gift make this a dubious phrase. But there is more and more clearly recognized minimum of opportunity and maximum of freedom to be, to move and to think, which the modern world denies to no being which it recognizes as a real man. (Du Bois, 144)The protagonistââ¬â¢s character corresponds to Du Boisââ¬â¢ theoretical framework; the veteran depreciation of the narratorââ¬â¢s intellectual capacity, and the ââ¬Å"invisibilityâ⬠that distorts him throughout the plot progression coincide to manifest a character that lacks the recognition of being ââ¬Å"a man.â⬠It is only through accepting and embracing the invisibility that the narrator may procure a feasible identity with the possibility for agency within the ideological systems that impose on him. Absurdity and meaninglessness are imperative characteristics in existentialist thought, as they aid in conceiv ing human purpose in a world that exhibits no purpose. Ellisonââ¬â¢s narrative style is at times erratic and improvisational, imitating the unpredictable nature of the ââ¬Å"soloâ⬠in swing and bebop jazz genres. The mode of conveyance borders on the absurd in some instances, such as the protagonistââ¬â¢s confrontation with Ras:I looked at Ras on his horse and at their handful of guns and recognized the absurdity of the whole night and of the simple yet confoundingly complex arrangement of hope and desire, fear and hate, that had brought me here still running, and knowing now who I was and where I was and knowing too that I had no longer to run for or from the Jacks and the Emersons and the Bledsoes and Nortons, but only from their confusion, impatience, and refusal to recognize the beautiful absurdity of their American identity and mine. . . . And I knew that it was better to live out oneââ¬â¢s own absurdity than to die for that of others, whether for Rasââ¬â¢s or Jackââ¬â¢s. (Ellison, 418)This excerpt documents the epiphany that the narrator undergoes; it represents a pivotal moment in the narratorââ¬â¢s existential breakthrough, as he realizes that his own identity is the source of meaning in his life and that acting to fulfill the expectations of external forces can only prove destructive. Rasââ¬â¢s threatening to kill the narrator provokes the narrator to perceive the world as meaningless and absurd and the complexity of American life as equally absurd. Ellison borrows the word ââ¬Å"absurdâ⬠directly from the work of the French existentialists, such as Sartre, who characterized the universe as such and claimed that the only meaning to be found in existence is that with which the individual invests his own life. The only motivation to which the narrator can cling is an affirmation that his own absurdity is more important to him than Jackââ¬â¢s or Rasââ¬â¢s. The action of hurling Rasââ¬â¢s spear back at him demonst rates the narratorââ¬â¢s refusal to be subject any longer to othersââ¬â¢ visions and demandsââ¬âhe finally commits himself fully to an attempt to assert his true identity.The novel concludes in the same state at is began: the narrator is situated in the underground housing unit, intricately ornamented in thousands of bright lights. The light may be a mechanism to highlight the humanness of the narrator, as his skin and soul are rendered visible ââ¬Å"beyond the Veilâ⬠of human existence. The epilogue determines the existential status of the narrator:And my problem was that I always tried to go in everyoneââ¬â¢s way but my own. I have also been called one thing and then another while no one really wished to hear what I called myself. So after years of trying to adopt the opinions of others I finally rebelled. I am an invisible man. (Ellison, 417)This is the protagonistââ¬â¢s final revelation; it encapsulates the ââ¬Å"existence precedes essenceâ⬠ideal tha t is intrinsic to Sartreââ¬â¢s doctrine and the ââ¬Å"double-consciousnessâ⬠of Du Boisââ¬â¢ argument. The invisible man adopts a self-perceptive attitude that privileges individual existence, and realizes the dual structure of his imposed identity, to which he ultimately rebels.The prevalence of existential influence in Ralph Ellisonââ¬â¢s Invisible Man is not coincidental; rather, in contributing to a discourse that is philosophically, sociologically and psychologically established by figures such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Jean-Paul Sartre, Ellisonââ¬â¢s brand of ââ¬Å"black existentialismâ⬠becomes conceivable. Existentialism, in the three figures considered, has the tendency to focus on the investigation of human existence and the conditions that formulate this existence. Individualism is prevalent in determining human purpose; though this concrete individual existence must ne the primary source of information in the study of man, certain conditions, such as those regarding racial segregation in Du Boisââ¬â¢ text and the ideological systems that saturate Ellisonââ¬â¢s narrative, are commonly held to be endemic to human existence. These conditions are frequently related to the inherent meaninglessness or absurdity of experience and its apparent contrast to predetermined progressions, which extensively present themselves as meaningful. Ellison, whether intentionally or not, envelops the theories of African American humanism and French existentialism. Jazz culture, as explicated by Ellison, adopts aspects from African American origin and European societal influence; by extension, the modal jazz aesthetic that conveys the Invisible Man, is the depiction of ââ¬Å"jazz existentialismâ⬠Invisible Man is in essence, an analogy drawn between the ââ¬Å"invisibilityâ⬠that the protagonist applies fastidiously to his experience, and the modal criticism of the jazz aesthetic, which are rigorously applied to the African American soci al chronicle. Each is a manner of giving form and significance to existence in the same way as narrative itself tends towards a similar ââ¬Ëfictitiousââ¬â¢ ordering of experience. Ellison asserts himself as an artist and an individual; he is an heir to a distinctive African American literary culture and to the American heritage within the Western European philosophical tradition. Thus, Ellison alludes to a conceivable reality but at the same time contests the validity of the forms we use to give shape to it.Works CitedDu Bois, W.E.B. The Souls of Black Folk. New York: Vintage /Library of America, Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. 2nd ed. New York: Vintage International, 2010. Print.Raussert, Wilfried. Jazz, Time, and Narrativity. Amerikastudien / American Studies45.4 (2000): 519-34. JSTOR. Web. 12 Apr. 2013.Sartre, Jean-Paul. Existentialism and Human Emotions. New York: Citadel, 1985. Print.1990. Print.Welch, Sharon D. Lush Lifeâ⬠: Foucaultââ¬â¢s Analytics of Power and a Jazz Aesthetic.The Blackwell Companion to Postmodern Theology. Ed. Graham Ward. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2005. 79-105. Print.
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