By Karina Lynn Lopez Period 5

• Born March 1st, 1914 and died April 16, 1994

• Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

• He was a novelist, literary critic, scholar,

and writer

• Best known for his novel Invisible Man.

• He also wrote a collection of political, social,

and critical essays and combined them all

together and named them “Shadow and Act.”

• Named after Ralph Waldo Emerson

(American essayist, lecturer, and poet)

~His Father~

•  His name was Lewis Alfred Ellison.

• Small business owner and Construction foreman.

• Died when Ralph was three years old from stomach ulcers.

• Ralph Ellison found out later on that his father hoped he would grow up

to be a poet.

~Schooling~

• In 1933, Ellison entered the Tuskegee

Institute on a scholarship to study music.

• While he studied music during class, he spent

even more time in the library, learning the

history of modernist music.

• After his third year, Ellison moved to New

York City to study the visual arts. He studied

sculpture and photography.

~Writing Style~

• Similar to that of Mark Twain’s style of writing.

• Ellison likes the “American Language” style.

• By using the “American Language” style, he’s able to show…

 Directness

 Flexibility

 Imagery to the Negro presence.

~In New York~ • Met Richard Wright, who became a very

good friend for many years.

• Wright encouraged Ellison to become a

fictional author, and with that, Ellison

wrote a short story named “Hymie’s Bull”.

• From 1937 to 1944 Ellison had over twenty

book reviews as well as short stories and

articles published in magazines such as

New Challenge and New Masses.

~During World War II~

• Joined the Merchant Marine.

• In 1946 he married his second wife (what

happened to the first? o.o), Fanny McConnel.

• Fanny was a photographer to help bring in

more money while Ellison was writing more

reviews.

• During this time he was writing the Invisible

Man and Fanny helped edit the typescript as it

progressed.

~After World War II~

• In 1964, Ellison published Shadow and Act, a collection of essays, and began to teach at Rutgers University and Yale University, while continuing to work on his novel (one that he never finished). • The following year, a survey of 200 prominent literary figures was released that proclaimed Invisible Man the most important novel since World War II. • In 1967, Ellison experienced a major house fire at his home in Plainfield, Massachusetts, in which he claimed more than 300 pages of his second novel manuscript were lost (the novel was over 2000 pages long).

~Awards Achieved~

• Writing essays about both the black experience and his love for jazz music, Ellison continued to receive major awards for his work. 1.  1952 – National Book Awards 2.  1969 – Presidential Medal of Freedom 3.  Became a permanent member of the faculty at New York University as the

Albert Schweitzer Professor of Humanities, serving from 1970 to 1980. 4.  Was elected to The American Academy of Arts and Letters and his

hometown of Oklahoma City honored him with the dedication of the Ralph Waldo Ellison Library.

5.  1984 - He received the New York City College's Langston Hughes Medal. 6.  1985 - He was awarded the National Medal of Arts. 7.  1992 - Was awarded a special achievement award from the Anisfield-Wolf

Book Awards.

~Final Years~

• Ellison was an accomplished sculptor, musician, photographer and college professor. • He taught at Bard College, Rutgers University, the University of Chicago, and New York University. Ellison was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. • Ralph Ellison died on April 16, 1994, of pancreatic cancer, and was buried at Trinity Church Cemetery in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. • His wife outlived him, and died November 19, 2005. • After his death, more of his scripts were found in his home and were published as essays, or were left as is (uncompleted) and were published as just collectives of his work.

~The End~ ^_^ :] >:)