Reference no: EM133594512
Assignment:
Directions (please read everything carefully): Answer all of the three below questions as thoroughly as possible in paragraph form, making sure you address all that is asked of you in each paragraph. This assignment is not written as a formal essay. There is no need to include any introduction paragraphs when answering these questions. Please make sure you follow the correct essay format (refer to your essay format handout posted on Canvas). You may number the paragraphs as you answer them.
1. When the narrator is told he is expected to participate in the "battle royal," he feels that the battle will "detract from the dignity" of the speech he is to give (p. 443). Why, then, does he agree to take part in the fight? Why is he so determined to deliver his speech to the white men assembled in the ballroom? Use quotes from the text.
2. Towards the end of the story, the narrator has a dream about his grandfather. Why do you think the narrator dreams about his grandfather after the battle? What do you think his dream means, especially the line "To Whom It May Concern...Keep this Nigger-Boy Running."? Use quotes from the text.
3. Do you see the "battle royal" as a necessary evil, an obstacle the narrator has to overcome in order to win the college scholarship? Does the scholarship make up for the humiliating ordeal? Do you think the narrator could have turned down the scholarship? Why or why not? Use quotes from the text.
"Battle Royal" reading: Battle Royal, Ellison