. . "150"^^ . "An Imperative Duty: A Novel"@en . "An Imperative Duty is a short realist novel by William Dean Howells published in 1891. The novel explores the idea of \"passing\" through the racially mixed character of Rhoda Aldgate, a young woman whose aunt informs her that she is one-sixteenth African American. Rhoda lived her whole life \"passing\" as a white person."@en . . "An Imperative Duty"@en .