Unit 5: Invisibility and Power
Unit 5: Invisibility and Power
Identity, Surveillance, and Social Constructs
Identity, Surveillance, and Social Constructs
This unit challenges students to examine the complex relationship between identity, power, and societal structures through Ralph Ellison's groundbreaking novel Invisible Man. Through the intersecting lenses of psychology, Critical Race Theory, and post-structuralist philosophy, students will explore how race, surveillance, and systemic oppression shape both visibility and self-perception. Ellison's novel serves as both a psychological journey and a political critique, offering insight into the ways individuals navigate—and resist—societal expectations and historical constructs.
Advanced students may engage with Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë as an optional parallel text, applying similar frameworks to interrogate gendered identity, power, and societal control. Throughout this unit, students will deepen their understanding of character development, narrative structure, and the philosophical underpinnings of power as preparation for advanced rhetorical analysis in subsequent coursework.
Analyze how systemic structures of race, power, and surveillance influence identity and self-perception.
Apply Critical Race Theory, psychological analysis, and post-structuralist philosophy to literature.
Evaluate narrative structure, character motivation, and authorial intent as reflections of historical and social constructs.
Reading Log: Ongoing reflective and analytical journal connecting personal insight, literary devices, and critical theory to Invisible Man.
Sticky-Note Annotations (Invisible Man): Students annotate key passages with questions, observations, and theoretical applications.
Timed-Writing Exam (Literary Analysis): In-class essay applying critical lenses to examine themes of identity, power, and social constructs.
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Excerpts from Discipline and Punish by Michel Foucault (1975)
Selections from The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1 by Michel Foucault (1976)
The Ethics of Identity by Kwame Anthony Appiah (2005, excerpt)
Selections from The Federalist Papers
👉 Afrika Afeni Mills, "A Letter to White Teachers of My Black Children" (Page 92-95)
👉 Tressie McMillan Cottom, "Know Your Whites" (Page 512-517)
W.E.B. Du Bois, "Of Our Spiritual Strivings" (Page 703)
Du Bois introduces the concept of double-consciousness — essential for unpacking the protagonist’s internal conflict and fractured identity in Invisible Man.
Tressie McMillan Cottom, "Know Your Whites" (Page 512)
Cottom dissects segregation, whiteness, and systemic inequality — offering direct parallels to Invisible Man’s exploration of visibility, power structures, and race.
Jean-Paul Sartre, "Anti-Semite and Jew" (Page 695)
Sartre’s existential critique of prejudice and fear reflects Invisible Man's themes of societal labeling, dehumanization, and resistance.
Simone de Beauvoir, "The Woman as Other" (Page 724)
Her analysis of "otherness" extends to race, gender, and societal marginalization — an indispensable philosophical foundation for understanding Ellison and, optionally, Jane Eyre.
Loren Laomina, "13 Thoughts on Reparations, Afropessimism, and White Supremacy" (Page 142)
Critical reflections on historical trauma and systemic oppression — ideal for advanced students connecting historical constructs to present identity struggles.
Bridget Anderson, "The Politics of Pests: Immigration and the Invasive Other" (Page 709)
Deconstructs dehumanizing metaphors of "the other" — complements themes of visibility, exclusion, and societal labeling in Invisible Man.
Anand Jayprakash Vaidya, "The Inclusion Problem in Critical Thinking" (Page 31)
Challenges dominant narratives in philosophy, fostering critical questioning of whose identities and experiences are centered — useful for both novels’ interrogations of systemic structures.
Marian Wright Edelman, "The Cradle to Prison Pipeline" (Page 504)
Highly relevant for systemic oppression, surveillance, and racialized control — likely stronger placement here than in Unit 2, particularly for advanced discussions on institutional power.
Reyna Askew and Margaret A. Walls, "Diversity in the Great Outdoors" (Page 508)
Examines environmental access as shaped by race and power — subtle connection to Invisible Man's exploration of space, belonging, and social exclusion.
👉 = Required Reading
⏰ = If you have time; Extra, Optional Reading
Links to be Found:
Michel Foucault and Power Explained | Philosophy Tube — Accessible introduction to Foucault's theories of power and surveillance
Critical Race Theory Explained | The Root — Overview of CRT principles in relation to systemic structures
Ellison's Invisible Man and American Identity | PBS — Discusses Ellison's work in the context of American social constructs
"Panopticism and Social Control" — Literary Theory Resource — Breakdown of surveillance and discipline
"On Invisibility and the Black Experience" — JSTOR Daily — Analysis connecting Ellison to ongoing social realities
"Feminist and Post-Structuralist Readings of Jane Eyre" — British Library — Gender, identity, and social control in Brontë’s novel