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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who is described as “still trotting up and down Sixteenth Street talking to herself” in Part II?
(a) Baby Jenny.
(b) Auntie Julia.
(c) Miss Forrester.
(d) Miss Bertha.

2. The author states in the book’s Foreword, “Beauty was not simply something to behold; it was" what?
(a) “Something that could remind.”
(b) “Something to cherish.”
(c) “Something that could inspire.”
(d) “Something one could do.”

3. The author states in the Foreword that her concept of breaking the narrative of the novel into parts "didn't work" because many readers "remain touched but not" what?
(a) “Enlightened.”
(b) “Informed.”
(c) “Guilty.”
(d) “Moved.”

4. How much milk does Mrs. MacTeer complain about having disappeared from her refrigerator overnight in Part II?
(a) 1 quart.
(b) 2 quarts.
(c) 3 gallons.
(d) 3 quarts.

5. What does Pecola pray for every night, according to the narrator in Part II?
(a) Food to eat.
(b) A boyfriend.
(c) Blue eyes.
(d) A new dress.

Short Answer Questions

1. The author writes in the novel's Foreword that when she began writing The Bluest Eye, she was interested in the "far more tragic and disabling consequences of accepting rejection as" what?

2. According to Toni Morrison in the book’s Foreword, “The extremity of Pecola's case stemmed largely from" what?

3. What kind of car is Rosemary sitting in while she eats bread and butter in the beginning of Part II?

4. What do the narrator and her sister receive at the start of the school year in Part II?

5. Of what dancer does Claudia say in Part II “was my friend, my uncle, my daddy, and who ought to have been soft-shoeing it and chuckling with me”?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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 second version represent?

2. What does Pecola pray for every night, according to the narrator in “Here is the Family…”? Why?

3. 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?

4. What is the primary setting for the novel? How is the author connected to this setting?

5. For what reason does the Breedlove family stay in the apartment, according to the narrator in “Here is the House…”?

6. What information is related to the reader in the brief italicized preface before “Autumn”?

7. What do Claudia and Frieda receive at the beginning of the school year in “Autumn”? What conversation consumes “the grownups” in the opening of this chapter?

8. How does the narrator compare the state of being “put out” with being “outdoors” in “Autumn”?

9. Who can be seen in Part I as characters that face trouble assimilating into “white society’s standards of beauty”?

10. Why does Pecola Breedlove come to live with the MacTeers in “Autumn”?

(see the answer keys)

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