Chapter 2:
Positive diction
“The buildings were old and covered with vines and the roads gracefully winding, lined with hedges and wild roses that dazzled the eyes in the summer sun. Honeysuckle and purple wisteria hung heavy from the trees and white magnolias mixed with their scents in the bee-humming air.” (Ellison, 27)
The author uses positive diction to show how prestigious the college is and how he saw it as a place full of opportunities and had high expectations, and then it contrasts to how he feels in the “hole” now, because he was not able to find himself since he was invisible.
Symbolism and imagery
“Then in my mind's eye I see the bronze statue of the college Founder, the cold Father symbol, his hands outstretched in the breathtaking gesture of lifting a veil that flutters in hard, metallic folds above the face of a kneeling slave; and I am standing puzzled, unable to decide whether the veil is really being lifted, or lowered more firmly in place; whether I am witnessing a revelation or a more efficient blinding.”
The author uses imagery to describe the statue and portray how he feels about it and uses it as a symbol of how the “father figure” can be seen as inviting and liberal, but also as cold and oppressive.
Rhetorical question
“And as I gaze, there is a rustle of wings and I see a flock of starlings fighting before me and, when I look again, the bronze face, whose empty eyes look upon a world I have never seen, runs with liquid chalk -- creating another ambiguity to puzzle my groping mind: Why is a bird-soiled statue more commanding than one that is clean?”
The author uses a rhetorical question to get the audience thinking of the difference between the statues and what they symbolize, since the dirtier one is “commanding” more attention.
Precis
In this intriguing novel, Ellison utilizes rhetorical questions, symbolism and imagery, and different types of dictions to present to the audience the similarities between races and how society’s actions contradicts that.
Positive diction
“The buildings were old and covered with vines and the roads gracefully winding, lined with hedges and wild roses that dazzled the eyes in the summer sun. Honeysuckle and purple wisteria hung heavy from the trees and white magnolias mixed with their scents in the bee-humming air.” (Ellison, 27)
The author uses positive diction to show how prestigious the college is and how he saw it as a place full of opportunities and had high expectations, and then it contrasts to how he feels in the “hole” now, because he was not able to find himself since he was invisible.
Symbolism and imagery
“Then in my mind's eye I see the bronze statue of the college Founder, the cold Father symbol, his hands outstretched in the breathtaking gesture of lifting a veil that flutters in hard, metallic folds above the face of a kneeling slave; and I am standing puzzled, unable to decide whether the veil is really being lifted, or lowered more firmly in place; whether I am witnessing a revelation or a more efficient blinding.”
The author uses imagery to describe the statue and portray how he feels about it and uses it as a symbol of how the “father figure” can be seen as inviting and liberal, but also as cold and oppressive.
Rhetorical question
“And as I gaze, there is a rustle of wings and I see a flock of starlings fighting before me and, when I look again, the bronze face, whose empty eyes look upon a world I have never seen, runs with liquid chalk -- creating another ambiguity to puzzle my groping mind: Why is a bird-soiled statue more commanding than one that is clean?”
The author uses a rhetorical question to get the audience thinking of the difference between the statues and what they symbolize, since the dirtier one is “commanding” more attention.
Precis
In this intriguing novel, Ellison utilizes rhetorical questions, symbolism and imagery, and different types of dictions to present to the audience the similarities between races and how society’s actions contradicts that.