| − | Ellison was born black in Oklahoma City on March 1, 1914.<ref>http://www.biography.com/people/ralph-ellison-9286702</ref> As a child, he lost his father and lived in poverty, but was able to read magazines from houses that his mother cleaned and visited a local public library.<ref>http://www.famousauthors.org/ralph-ellison</ref> He attended Tuskegee University, studying music, but left for New York City, where black novelist [[Richard Wright]] encouraged him to write, and he wrote ''The Invisible Man''.<ref>"Ellison, Ralph." ''Encyclopedia Britannica Online''.</ref> Contradictory to Wright's characters, Ellison's characters in ''The Invisible Man'' were intelligent and self-aware.<ref>http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/ralph-ellison-an-american-journey/587/</ref> He died of pancreatic cancer on April 16, 1994.<ref>http://www.biblio.com/ralph-ellison/author/195</ref> | + | Ellison was born black in Oklahoma City on March 1, 1914.<ref>http://www.biography.com/people/ralph-ellison-9286702</ref> As a child, he lost his father and lived in poverty, but was able to read magazines from houses that his mother cleaned and visited a local public library.<ref>http://www.famousauthors.org/ralph-ellison</ref> He attended Tuskegee University, studying music, but left for New York City, where black novelist [[Richard Wright]] encouraged him to write, and he wrote ''The Invisible Man''.<ref>"Ellison, Ralph." ''Encyclopedia Britannica Online''.</ref> Contradictory to Wright's characters, Ellison's characters in ''The Invisible Man'' were intelligent and self-aware.<ref>https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/ralph-ellison-an-american-journey/587/</ref> He died of pancreatic cancer on April 16, 1994.<ref>http://www.biblio.com/ralph-ellison/author/195</ref> |