Ralph Ellison: Living with Music

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This activity contains 3 questions.

Ellison suggests that music has meant many things to him over the course of his life, from the days of his childhood to the years in the apartment he describes here to the time when he was writing this essay. Focusing on each of these stages in his life, analyze his various feelings about music.

To create paragraphs in your essay response, type at the beginning of the paragraph, and at the end.

Ellison’s tone in this essay ranges from serious to light, from outraged to self-deprecating, from “classical” to “jazzy.” Analyze these various elements of his voice and how they work together to help make his larger point.

To create paragraphs in your essay response, type at the beginning of the paragraph, and at the end.

Write an essay of your own about “living with music,” focusing the music you grew up with, were taught in school, learned to play yourself, listen to now, and so forth. Try to draw some larger conclusions, as Ellison does, about your relationship with music.

To create paragraphs in your essay response, type at the beginning of the paragraph, and at the end.

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