Ashoorina Youkhana

AP Language & Composition

October 2, 2013
Invisibe !an " #hetorica Ana$sis %ssa$
Author an& activist, #aph %ison, in his nove 'Invisibe !an' &escribes
the &isgust an& torment in (hich the narrator is un&ergoing) %ison*s purpose is
to stress the importance o+ &iversit$ rather than impanting hatre& an& re+using to
see minorities as success+u, min&"&riven in&ivi&uas) ,e uses &o(n"to"the"bone
&escriptive anguage in or&er to characteri-e ho( he +ees, portra$ing himse+ as
an 'Invisibe !an')
In the 2n& paragraph o+ the passage, he .uotes 'I am a man o+ substance,
+esh an& bone, +iber an& i.ui&s """ an& I might even be sai& to possess a min&)'
I can imp$ that the *Invisibe !an* is &irecting his statement to rea&ers in or&er
+or them to un&erstan& that he is more than (hat the$ think o+ him to be) ,e is
capabe an& has the same .uaities o+ ever$ human being aive)
%ison (ants the rea&er to +ee regreat+u) /e e0cu&e peope o+ coor
because the$ are not (orth$ or capabe enough to take up space on this earth)
1he$ are useess imbecies that are 2ust ooke& upon as &eviish &isa&vantages,
(hich resuts in &iscrimination an& racism) 3eing (hite is no( tie& in (ith being
success+u, as back is tie& in (ith being a +aiure an& not amounting to an$thing)
%ison tries to make rea&ers un&erstan& that b$ reveaing (hat the Invisibe !an
is +eeing)
%ison makes this appea b$ imp$ing the rea&ers not to bitter ourseves
because the pigmentation o+ another*s skin is &i++erent +rom our o(n) /e must
seek to make that change in societ$ an& ove one another, not isoate each other
over pett$ reasons such as coor an& racia pro+iing)
,e uses &escriptive an& ver$ &etaie& (or&s to &escribe (hat the narrator
is +eeing) 1he$ are e++ective b$ creating an image in the rea&er*s hea& an&
making them +ee a certain (a$ +or the narrator 4s$mpathetic, concerne&, etc5)