View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Toni Morrison refer to as the “most delicate member of society” in the book’s Foreword?
(a) An old man.
(b) An old woman.
(c) A new bride.
(d) A child.

2. What pet does Jane first attempt to play with in the story from Part I?
(a) The cat.
(b) The hampster.
(c) The goldfish.
(d) The dog.

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) “Guilty.”
(b) “Moved.”
(c) “Enlightened.”
(d) “Informed.”

4. How old does the narrator say she is in Part II?
(a) 11.
(b) 7.
(c) 9.
(d) 15.

5. What does Toni Morrison refer to as the most “vulnerable member” of society in the novel’s Foreword?
(a) Children.
(b) A female.
(c) The elderly.
(d) A male.

Short Answer Questions

1. How much milk does Mrs. MacTeer complain about having disappeared from her refrigerator overnight in Part II?

2. What does Jane’s father do when Jane asks him to play in the story from Part I?

3. The narrator states in Part II, “The only living thing in the Breedloves' house was” what?

4. What does Pecola’s mother demand that Pecola’s father get out of bed and go get for her in their argument in Part II?

5. 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?

Short Essay Questions

1. What commotion begins when Rosemary “tattles” on Claudia, Frieda, and Pecola for “being nasty” in “Autumn”?

2. How is Mr. Henry described in “Autumn”? What is his role in the MacTeer home?

3. Describe the narrative style of the novel. Who narrates the opening passages before “Autumn”?

4. How is the apartment of the Breedlove family described in “Here is the House…”?

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

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

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

8. 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 third version represent?

9. How are Claudia’s feelings about Shirley Temple and about baby dolls illustrated in “Autumn”?

10. Describe the “Dick and Jane” reader presented in Part I. How does this excerpt change in each retelling?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 907 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample