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BEGINNING WITH THE END IN MIND…
Final Synthesis Essay
AP English 4
Write an essay in which you explore the American Dream -- man’s pursuit of success, wealth, identity happiness,
fulfillment, etc.-- in at least three different forms of expression. Your essay must include details from Ralph
Ellison’s Invisible Man and at least two other pieces of work found below. You should also include your own
thoughts and reflections. Choose from the following list of works or include pieces of your own choosing.
Poetry:
“Booker T. and W.E.B” (Dudley Randall)
"Dream Deferred" (Langston Hughes)
"I, Too, Sing America" (Langston Hughes)
"Mother to Son" (Langston Hughes)
"Merry Go Round" (Langston Hughes)
"Incident" (Countee Cullen)
"Tableau" (Countee Cullen)
"Kitchenette Building" (Gwendolyn Brooks)
"Life's Tragedy" (Paul Lawrence Dunbar)
"America" (Claude McKay)
Music:
“Movin' Out” (written and recorded by Billy Joel)
“Dream On” (written by Steven Tyler performed by Aerosmith)
“I Dreamed a Dream” (written by Alain Boublil from Les Miserables)
“Defying Gravity” (written by Stephen Schwartz from Wicked)
“The Climb” (written by Jessi Alexander and John Mabe performed by Miley Cyrus)
“It’s My Life” (written by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and Max Martin performed by Bon Jovi)
“Hero” (written by Whitney Houston performed by Mariah Carey)
Art:
“After Invisible Man” (Jeff Wall)
“The Son of Man” (Rene Magritte)
Dance:
"Mad World"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BePGx_KjvmM
"Hallelujah"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zikgyJ8U3HM
"Hometown Glory"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jdFN662_sM
D.J. Smart – Shackles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAceVmgv9bM
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Synthesis Unit Journal Entry #1
Name
Block
Read the following poem by Gwendolyn Brooks, 20th Century poet and first black author to win the Pulitzer Prize. Next, type
a paragraph in which you discuss at least three specific connections between the details in “kitchenette building” and the
setting, characters, and events from Invisible Man. Make sure you include specific details, names of characters, and
descriptions of the setting for support.
Kitchenette Building
by Gwendolyn Brooks (1963)
We are things of dry hours and the involuntary plan,
Grayed in, and gray. “Dream” makes a giddy sound, not strong
Like “rent,” “feeding a wife,” “satisfying a man.”
But could a dream send up through onion fumes
Its white and violet, fight with fried potatoes
And yesterday’s garbage ripening in the hall,
Flutter, or sing an aria down these rooms
Even if we were willing to let it in,
Had time to warm it, keep it very clean,
Anticipate a message, let it begin?
We wonder. But not well! not for a minute!
Since Number Five is out of the bathroom now,
We think of lukewarm water, hope to get in it.
Questions to consider when reading the poem:

What is a kitchenette building?

What does the imagery in the first two stanzas suggest?

How is the contrast between dream and reality established in the first two
stanzas?

According to stanza three, what must one do for a dream?

In stanza four, who is Number Five?

What is the significance of “lukewarm water” in relation to the dream?
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Synthesis Unit Journal Entry #2 Name
Block
Read the following lyrics while listening to the performance. Consider the questions at the end of the song as you
begin to analyze the meaning. Next, type a paragraph in which you discuss at least three specific connections
between the details and the setting, characters, and events from Invisible Man. Make sure you include specific
details, names of characters, and descriptions of the setting for support.
The Climb
song by Jessi Alexander and John Mabe
-performed by Miley Cyrus
I can almost see it
That dream I am dreaming
But there's a voice inside my head saying
"You'll never reach it"
Every step I'm taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking
But I gotta keep trying
Gotta keep my head held high
There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb
The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down
But no, I'm not breaking
I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I'm gonna remember most, yeah
Just gotta keep going
And I, I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on
'Cause there's always gonna be another
mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!
There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Somebody's gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!
Keep on moving, keep climbing
Keep the faith, baby
It's all about, it's all about the climb
Keep the faith, keep your faith, whoa
Questions to Consider:




What is the effect of the informal language?
How does the song express struggle?
How does the song express hope?
What words are repeated? How does this
repetition help convey the speaker’s
purpose?
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Examples of poignant quotations to consider when discussing themes…
Quotations to Connect with Themes in Invisible Man
Greed
As time goes on we get closer to that American Dream of there being a pie cut up and shared. Usually greed and
selfishness prevent that and there is always one bad apple in every barrel.
Rick Danko
Calm self-confidence is as far from conceit as the desire to earn a decent living is remote
from greed.
Channing Pollock
Desperation
Desperation is like stealing from the Mafia: you stand a good chance of attracting the wrong attention.
Douglas Horton
Sorrow
Every life has a measure of sorrow, and sometimes this is what awakens us.
Steven Tyler
Frustration
I was an accomplice in my own frustration.
Peter Shaffer
Life is not an easy matter... You cannot live through it without falling into frustration and cynicism unless you have
before you a great idea which raises you above personal misery, above weakness, above all kinds of perfidy and
baseness.
Leon Trotsky
Expectations
“If you expect nothing from anybody, you’re never disappointed.”
Sylvia Plath
If you're going to say what you want to say, you're going to hear what you don't want to hear.”
Roberto Bolaño,
Acceptance
Attitude is your acceptance of the natural laws, or your rejection of the natural laws.
Stuart Chase
Happiness can exist only in acceptance.
George Orwell
American Dream
After working for 14 years on Wall Street and growing up in a family with strong roots in small business, I know
how important the entrepreneurial spirit is to attaining the American dream.
Ellen Tauscher
College is part of the American dream. It shouldn't be part of a financial nightmare for families.
Barbara Mikulski
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Self Expression
My interest lies in my self-expression - what's inside of me - not what I'm in.
John Turturro
The desire for self-expression afflicts people when they feel there is something of themselves which is not getting
through to the outside world.
Fay Weldon
Courage
Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to
move in the opposite direction.
Albert Einstein
You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man's initiative and independence.
Abraham Lincoln
Self respect
Everyone in society should be a role model, not only for their own self-respect, but for respect from others.
Barry Bonds
Never violate the sacredness of your individual self-respect.
Theodore Parker
Quotations compiled by Rutaunshi Modi
ASSIGNMENT FOR ARGUMENT PRACTICE…
Choose three quotations from the list above and write a 3-5 sentence response for each one discussing
the extent to which the quotation is true in contemporary society. Use examples from the works we
have read in this unit to support your claim as well as personal experiences and observations.
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Poetry Connections:
We Wear the Mask
Paul Laurence Dunbar
WE wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.
Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.
We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!
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
Invisible Man (chapter one excerpt)
Ralph Ellison
grandfather’s dying words to his family…
"Son, after I'm gone I want you to keep up the good
fight. I never told you, but our life is a war and I have
been a traitor all my born days, a spy in the enemy's
country ever since I give up my gun back in the
Reconstruction. Live with your head in the lion's
mouth. I want you to overcome 'em with yeses,
undermine 'em with grins, agree 'em to death and
destruction, let 'em swoller you till they vomit or
bust wide open. . . . Learn it to the younguns."
Read the poem and the short quotation from the novel Invisible Man. Discuss at least three specific
connections between the two works.
Explain how these connections support the themes we have been discussing throughout the unit.
Life's Tragedy
Harlem
Paul Laurence Dunbar
It may be misery not to sing at all,
And to go silent through the brimming day;
It may be misery never to be loved,
But deeper griefs than these beset the way.
To sing the perfect song,
And by a half-tone lost the key,
There the potent sorrow, there the grief,
The pale, sad staring of Life's Tragedy.
To have come near to the perfect love,
Not the hot passion of untempered youth,
But that which lies aside its vanity,
And gives, for thy trusting worship, truth.
This, this indeed is to be accursed,
For if we mortals love, or if we sing,
We count our joys not by what we have,
But by what kept us from that perfect thing.
What happens to a
dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
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America
Claude McKay
http://www.sonnets.org/mckay.htm - top#top
Although she feeds me bread of bitterness,
And sinks into my throat her tiger's tooth,
Stealing my breath of life, I will confess
I love this cultured hell that tests my youth!
Her vigor flows like tides into my blood,
Giving me strength erect against her hate.
Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood.
Yet as a rebel fronts a king in state,
I stand within her walls with not a shred
Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer.
Darkly I gaze into the days ahead,
And see her might and granite wonders there,
Beneath the touch of Time's unerring hand,
Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand.
I, Too, Sing America
by Langston Hughes
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.
Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed-I, too, am America.
I Hear America Singing
By Walt Whitman
I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and
strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand
singing on the steamboat deck,
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he
stands,
The wood-cutter's song, the ploughboy's on his way in the morning, or
at noon intermission or at sundown,
The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of
the girl sewing or washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,
The day what belongs to the day--at night the party of young fellows,
robust, friendly,
Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.
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Mother to Son
by Langston Hughes
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So, boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps.
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now—
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
Booker T. and W.E.B.
Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois
By Dudley Randall
"It seems to me," said Booker T.,
"It shows a mighty lot of cheek
To study chemistry and Greek
When Mister Charlie needs a hand
To hoe the cotton on his land,
And when Miss Ann looks for a cook,
Why stick your nose inside a book?"
"I don't agree," said W.E.B.
"If I should have the drive to seek
Knowledge of chemistry or Greek,
I'll do it. Charles and Miss can look
Another place for hand or cook,
Some men rejoice in skill of hand,
And some in cultivating land,
But there are others who maintain
The right to cultivate the brain."
"It seems to me," said Booker T.,
"That all you folks have missed the boat
Who shout about the right to vote,
And spend vain days and sleepless nights
In uproar over civil rights.
Just keep your mouths shut, do not grouse,
But work, and save, and buy a house."
"I don't agree," said W.E.B.
"For what can property avail
If dignity and justice fail?
Unless you help to make the laws,
They'll steal your house with trumped-up clause.
A rope's as tight, a fire as hot,
No matter how much cash you've got.
Speak soft, and try your little plan,
But as for me, I'll be a man."
"It seems to me," said Booker T.-"I don't agree,"
Said W.E.B.
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Merry-Go-Round
by Langston Hughes
COLORED CHILD AT CARNIVAL
Where is the Jim Crow section
On this merry-go-round,
Mister, cause I want to ride
Down South where I come from
White and colored
Can't sit side by side.
Down South on the train
There's a Jim Crow car.
On the bus we're put in the back—
But there ain't no back
To a merry-go-round!
Where's the horse
For a kid that's black?
Tableau
by Countee Cullen
Locked arm in arm they cross the way,
The black boy and the white,
The golden splendor of the day,
The sable pride of night.
From lowered blinds the dark folk stare,
And here the fair folk talk,
Indignant that these two should dare
In unison to walk.
Oblivious to look and work
They pass, and see no wonder
That lightning brilliant as a sword
Should blaze the path of thunder.
Incident
by Countee Cullen
Once riding in old Baltimore,
Heart-filled, head-filled with glee;
I saw a Baltimorean
Keep looking straight at me.
Now I was eight and very small,
And he was no whit bigger,
And so I smiled, but he poked out
His tongue, and called me, "Nigger."
I saw the whole of Baltimore
From May until December;
Of all the things that happened there
That's all that I remember.
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MAKING A CONNECTION TO A WORK OF ART…
”After Invisible Man”
1999 Jeff Wall
Cinematographic Photography
Reread the Prologue and Epilogue of Invisible Man and study the photograph “After Invisible
Man” by Jeff Wall. Write a response in which you discuss how Wall visually captures the details
from Ellison’s work. In your discussion, include how the language in the novel and the specific
details in the photograph express mood and tone as well as the author’s purpose in
characterizing the protagonist.