Write an essay about Darkie Tooth Paste.

The essay is 6-8 pages long without the Works Cited page, 5 secondary sources, MLA Format.

In Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, the unnamed narrator/protagonist encounters a number of artifacts or relics such as the slave shackles, the pork-chop-grits-and-eggs breakfast, the Buckeye the Rabbit (Br'er Rabbit), sweet potatoes, and the Jolly Nigger bank that are representative of how he or others perceive or have perceived African Americans. In the novel, these artifacts seem to function as symbols that inform the reader of the narrator's unconscious self-perception, to which he is blind. If he were aware of both his unconscious self-perception and the multiple meanings and values of the artifacts, they might assist in moving him forward in the narrative in ways that seem impossible. But, often, because he finds them demeaning or limiting, the narrator chooses to distance himself from or destroy the object as they elicit feelings of rage, confusion, or fear. But what would have happened if the narrator had chosen to accept them each as distinctly a part of who he was, is, and will or can be? How would this have changed who he is and how he sees himself in the world around him? You will be considering these and other questions as you approach this essay.

To start this essay, you must first visit the Black Archives (on campus) with your notebook in hand and find an object in the museum that elicits disgust, fear, rage, sadness, confusion, hate, self-reflection, pity, or indifference. After you have found this item (and it can be anything in the Archives' collection), I want you to really think about and write down why this item elicited this particular reaction from you and if you could throw it away, smash it, incinerate it, or whatever method of destruction you chose, what would be the benefit of throwing it away. Consider the answers to these thoughts and things you write down (all of which should be put with your in-class writing) as your pre-write for your actual essay.

For the actual essay, you will compose an argument that considers the opposite of what you have written in your notebook: why this object should not be destroyed and should always be visible for all to view. In composing your essay, you should consider why the item and how the object was created, who it was created for, how or why it may be demeaning or negative, and how the perception or understanding of the object may have changed over time. Use the answers to these questions to compose a clear and concise thesis statement. (You should not attempt include all of the answers.) Your thesis statement should state why the object is or could be perceived as problematic and why it is important to keep, view, and study this object though they maybe or maybe perceived as problematic. Or more simply, what is your focus and why?