Anticipating Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

1. The photograph of  “After ‘Invisible Man’ by Ralph Ellison, the Prologue” by Jeff Wall, seems to clash with the idea of invisibility because of the fact that there is so many light bulbs on the ceiling. The guy in the photograph is surrounding by a great deal of mess. For me, this implies that the man in the photograph is in a life crisis and needs to get his life together. He is possibly surrounded by all of these issues and does't know how to find a way out. Because of this, the man looks sad and thoughtful. Personally, I don't like the photograph. It doesn't really catch my attention. It took me a while to formulate any sort of meaning in the photograph. The more I looked at it, it began to remind me of how i felt at the beginning of senior year. I was surrounded by "mess," which for me was the overwhelming task of applying to college and scholarships. Also, in the photograph not all of the light bulbs are on, which reminds me of the tasks/events that are yet to happen such as: writing two more scholarship essays, scholarship decisions, and the amount of financial aid I will receive. As these things happen, the light bulbs will begin to light up and I will be surrounded by light. Now, I'm just feeling a little stressed out thinking about all of these things, which are possibly similar to the emotions the man in the photograph is feeling. 
2. Both the lyrics and music of  Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong’s “(What Did I Do To Be So) Black and Blue,” have a melancholy tone. The color black is referring to the skin tone of the singer. The color blue is referring to sadness. I don't feel that the setting of Jeff Wall's photograph reflects the song, but the positioning of the man does. He is obviously in a state of thinking because their isn't anything in front of him and in the song the singer is questioning "what he did to be so black and blue." The lyrics of the song have a sharp connection to Invisible Man. The novel is set during the time of Jim Crow laws, where an African-American would have most likely felt the emotions that the song is drawing upon. The song and lyrics themselves remind me of the way society makes humans feels. It can be anywhere from body image to skin tone. Society at times makes women feel that they must hold this hour glass figure and be a size two. With all the photoshop techniques used in magazines, an unrealistic figure is being conveyed to the public. Just today I went through the Cosmopolitan button on Snapchat, and ended with a comment to Kayla saying: "well that just made me feel bad about myself." In that same way, society can cause someone to feel bad about their ethnicity or race. This problem has definitely lightened up sense the 40's, which is the setting for Invisible Man, but is still an issue. Individuals still look down upon others who are different and even draw conclusions based upon their differences. 
3. “You ache with the need to convince yourself that you do exist in the real world, that you’re a part of all the sound and anguish, and you strike out with your fists, you curse and you swear to make them recognize you.” (4)
   For me, this is a very powerful quote. Every part of it resonates with me, except the line of "ache with the need." I want to make a difference in the world. I want to feel like I'm part of something bigger in the world. I would say I don't necessarily "need" to feel as if i exist because I already know I do. It's more about the measure of how important my life is. This is measured by the opinion of the important people in my life. If my mother is proud of me, I feel proud of myself. Another way to measure my life's importance is through my career and accomplishments. Graduating high school is a small contribution to that. Graduating college will be an even bigger one. The next part of the quote that truly caught my attention is the line "you swear to me them recognize you." I want to prove everyone who didn't believe in me and doubted my abilities wrong. I want them to recognize and acknowledge the person that I have become. I want to overcome the circumstances that I am under. One of the biggest problems I face is paying for college. I will feel really discouraged to attend Carolina, if I don't receive this scholarship I applied. Overall, the quote just reminds me of my goals in life and the reason for why I want to be a physician assistant, which is to make a difference in someone's life.