Ralph+Ellison+and+Racism+Alexus+Patterson

=//** ﻿ Ralph Ellison's: Battle Royal**//= =//** ﻿ **//= __**Ralph Ellison**__ //**Battle Royal**//

Ralph Ellison ( 1914- 1994) was born in Oklahoma city. His father, a small business owner, sold coal and ice, died when Ralph was only three. Ellison’s mother worked as a maid to support her children and stressed day after day the importance of education. In 1933 Ellison enrolled into the Tuskegee institute located in Alabama. In 1936 Ellison moved to New York to find a summer job to help pay for his tuition. He never left was he became comfortable. Ellison met many black writers in Harlem and became very fond of them. In 1952 Ellison published his only novel, Invisible man, in which he is greatly known for. He published Battle Royal, A short story, in 1948, and later revised it and used it as his first chapter for the book Invisible Man.



== Battle Royal was used as Ellison’s opening chapter to Invisible Man, a novel that black America appreciated and enjoyed widely. In battle royal, by Ralph Ellison, the a young black man is invited to deliver his high school graduation speech to a gathering of a Southern towns leading white citizens. What promises to be an honor turns into a nightmare of violence, humiliation, and painful self- discovery. The grandfather in this story is dying and right before he dies, the grandfather gives a speech to the narrator. The speech is very significant in this story because it teaches, reminds, and tells the narrator not to let anyone or anything hold him back. No matter how bad or superior the consequences!

“Son after I’m gone I want you to keep up the good fight. I never told you but your life is a war, and I have been a traitor all my born days, a spy in the enemies country ever since I give up my gun back in the reconstruction. Live with your head in the lions mouth. I want you to overcome em’ with yeses, undermine em with grins, agree to em death and destruction, let em swoller you until they vomit or burst wide open.”

Once the narrator discovers that he is overlooked because the color of his skin and not judged by the content of his character he realizes that he like many others, is an invisible man and the only key to success is humility and for him to keep running no matter the distance.

Tonya Darr's review of Alexus Patterson's wikipage

Hi Alexus, I think the section with the best content is your biography section. I find it very interesting to learn about the history of the author. This is information that I would had haved to actually research to learn and you showed it to me. Good Job! I think your actual content on racism is kind of vague. I only see the reference to racism in the last paragraph. Maybe you could give a little more detail in the first paragraph. Also, the speech is good, but it would help if we had a little history with it so we could see the context in which it was delivered. The last paragraph could be opened up by referencing the times and how America viewed the black community at that time. I just feel like you need a little more detail to get your point across. Also, if you added more detail, you could separate the sections with Headings and some Images as well.

Overall, I think this is a great subject, but you need something to draw the reader in at the beginning. I think a few more details and some pictures will help. Don't forget to follow the MLA guidelines for the images if you add them also. Good luck and Great Job!