Invisible Man - Critical Sources

First edition cover

Remember that Essay #2 requires at least one critical source in addition to a cultural/historical source (two critical sources are OK). 

NOTE: Article titles are only underlined because they are linked. Use quotations to identify the title of articles (italics for book/movie titles). 

Gender

Sylvander, Carolyn W. "Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man and Female Stereotypes." Negro American Literature Forum. 9:3, Autumn 1975. 77-79.  Electronic. 

Benjamin, Shanna Greene. "There's Something about Mary: Female Wisdom and the Folk Presence in Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man." Meridians, 12: 1, 2014, 121-148. Electronic.  

Character Development

Lane, James B. "Underground to Manhood: Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. Negro American Literature Forum. 7:2, Summer 1973, 64-72.  Electronic. 

Johnson, Abby Arthur. "From Ranter to Writer: Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man." South Atlantic Bulletin. 42:2, May 1977. 35-44.  Electronic. 

Lee, A. Robert. "Sight and Mask: Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man." Negro American Literary Forum. 4:1, March 1970, 22-33. Electronic. 

Dinerstein, Joel. "'Uncle Tom is Dead!': Wright, Himes, and Ellison Lay a Mask to Rest." African American Review. 43:1, Spring 2009. 83-98. Electronic.

Trimmer, Joseph F. "The Grandfather's Riddle in Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man." Black American Literature Forum. 12:2, Summer 1978, 46-50. Electronic.

Invisibility

Griffin, Edward M. "Notes from a Clean, Well-Lighted Place: Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man." Twentieth Century Literature. 15:3, October 1969. 129-144. Electronic. 

Jarenski, Shelley. "Invisibility Embraced: The Abject as a Site of Agency in Ellison's Invisible Man." MELUS. 35:4, Winter 2010. 85-109. Electronic. 

(In)sanity 

Abrams, Robert. "The Ambiguities of Dreaming in Ellison's Invisible Man." American Literature, 49: 4. Jan 1978, 592-603. Electronic. 

Political Power/Social Control

Foley, Barbara. "The Rhetoric of Anticommunism in Invisible Man." College English. 59:5, Sept 1997, 530-547. Electronic.

Gibboney, Roberta K. "Philanthropy in Invisible Man." MELUS. 22:3, Autumn 1997, 183-194. Electronic.

Turner, Jack. "Awakening to Race: Ralph Ellison and Democratic Individuality." Political Theory. 36:5, Oct 2008, 655-682. Electronic.

Weber, Daniel B. "Metropolitan Freedom and Restraint in Ellison's Invisible Man." College Literature. 12:2, Spring 1985, 163-175. Electronic.

Electricity/Light Motifs

Wilcox, Johnnie. "Black Power: Minstrelsy and Electricity in Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man." Callaloo. 30:4, Fall 2007. 987-1009. Electronic.

Color/Race Motifs 
[and likely Ellison interview content -- coming soon]

Hill, Lena M. "The Visual Art of Invisible Man: Ellison's Portrait of Blackness." American Literature. 81:4, Dec 2009, 775-803.

(see page 138 for colors) Griffin, Edward M. "Notes from a Clean, Well-Lighted Place: Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man." Twentieth Century Literature. 15:3, October 1969. 129-144. Electronic.

Mills, Charles W. "An Illuminating Blackness." The Black Scholar. 43:4, Winter 2013. Electronic.

Narrative Structure
Krasteva, Yonka. "Chaos and Pattern in Ellison's Invisible Man." Southern Literary Journal. 30:1, Fall 1997. 55-72. Electronic.

Ellison, Ralph. "Working Notes for Invisible Man."  Collected Essays of Ralph Ellison. Ed. John Callahan. New York: Modern Library Classics, 2003. Print.