Response Question - Ellison and Baldwin

Published in 1953 and 1965 respectively, Ellison's and Baldwin's stories would have stuck contemporary readers as texts with artful and political dimensions.  Choose one of the texts and consider what political aims are implied by it. (Does it seem calculated to inform, arouse indignation, explore character, propose actions?)  Then think about how the vehicle of a "fiction" (and literary elements like characterization, narration, and theme) are employed. Does the status of the work as a fictional narrative compromise its political dimension or augment it. (You might consider that either Ellison or Baldwin might have turned their pens to journalism if the aim was merely to inform readers of events.)