King of the Bingo Game

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. One of the story’s main themes is the crushing impact of institutional racism on the lives of Black communities.

• What are some of the ways Ellison conveys this theme in the story? (topic sentence)
• Identify 2-3 moments from the text and analyze how they exemplify the impact of institutional racism on the protagonist’s life.
• How does institutional racism link to the larger theme of The Great Migration and Dislocation Between North and South?

2. Consider the roles that both the audience and the man with the microphone play in the story.

• In which way do their responses to the protagonist affect the story’s outcome? (topic sentence)
• Identify one example for each role where the protagonist is notably affected by their response.
• How do these characters’ responses to the protagonist connect with the larger theme of Dostoevsky’s Underground Man and the Rejection of Social Norms?

3. Ellison includes several moments in the story in which the protagonist makes existential remarks.

• What is existentialism, and how does this type of thinking fit within Ellison’s story? (topic sentence)
• Identify 2-3 key moments from the story where the protagonist exhibits such thoughts.
• How do these moments of existentialism connect with the theme Invisible Man and African Americans Coming of Age Through Existential Crisis?

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Consider the protagonist’s physical and mental state throughout the story. Do you believe that the protagonist is experiencing a mental health crisis? In particular, are the story’s events responsible for his state of mind, or is there another explanation? Support your response using examples from the text.

2. What is the thematic significance of the film that the protagonist watches in the theater? Summarize the contents of the film, as well as the audience’s reaction. In what ways, if any, does it parallel the story’s events?

3. In your opinion, did the protagonist deserve to win the jackpot in the end, or was his disruptive behavior sufficient reason to withhold the prize money? Was the prize money withheld due only to his behavior, or were there other possible factors?