Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. Who is the narrator of Part I?
2. Who is described as “still trotting up and down Sixteenth Street talking to herself” in Part II?
3. According to the narrator in Part II, who “spent all their energies, all their love, on their nests”?
4. In the book’s Foreword, the author writes that the book arose from a conversation she had with a childhood friend who wished that she had what?
5. The author describes "seeing oneself preserved in the amber of" what, in the novel's Foreword?
Short Essay Questions
1. Who takes control of the situation when Pecola suddenly begins menstruating in Part II? How?
2. Describe the “Dick and Jane” reader presented in Part I. How does this excerpt change in each retelling?
3. How is the apartment of the Breedlove family described in “Here is the House…”?
4. According to some critics, the three versions of the reader presented on the first page of The Bluest Eye represent three lifestyles presented in the novel. What does the first version represent?
5. How did author Toni Morrison perceive the Civil Rights Movement’s slogan “Black is Beautiful”? How is this seen in the novel?
6. How does the narrator compare the state of being “put out” with being “outdoors” in “Autumn”?
7. What commotion begins when Rosemary “tattles” on Claudia, Frieda, and Pecola for “being nasty” in “Autumn”?
8. What information is related to the reader in the brief italicized preface before “Autumn”?
9. For what reason does the Breedlove family stay in the apartment, according to the narrator in “Here is the House…”?
10. Who can be seen in Part I as characters that face trouble assimilating into “white society’s standards of beauty”?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Discuss the actions and objectives of Frieda and Claudia in their interaction with Maureen Peal in “Winter.” What do the girls hope to gain by befriending Maureen? Why do they defend Pecola? What are their objectives after they part ways with Maureen?
Essay Topic 2
Discuss ways in which the Breedloves’ apartment in “This is the House…” represents the character of Pecola Breedlove in the novel. What characteristics does Pecola share with the house? How are both the house and Pecola perceived by others in the town?
Essay Topic 3
Describe the symbolism presented in “Autumn” and discuss the different meanings of the symbols presented. What are symbols that represent the theme of “growing up” in the novel? How does Pecola’s first menstruation represent this theme metaphorically?
This section contains 921 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |