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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. The narrator says in Part I, “What is clear now is that of all of that hope, fear, lust, love, and grief, nothing remains but Pecola and” what?
(a) “The unyielding earth.”
(b) “The sands of time.”
(c) “The infinite sky.”
(d) “The savage animals.”

2. What kind of car is Rosemary sitting in while she eats bread and butter in the beginning of Part II?
(a) A 1932 Ford.
(b) A 1937 Cadillac.
(c) A 1939 Buick.
(d) A 1930 Chevrolet.

3. Where is Pecola’s father when she goes to stay with the MacTeer family in Part II?
(a) In jail.
(b) In Europe.
(c) In the hospital.
(d) In Mexico.

4. What actress does Claudia claim to like, causing her sister and Pecola to give her a puzzled look and consider her incomprehensible, in Part II?
(a) Audrey Hepburn.
(b) Katherine Hepburn.
(c) Jane Withers.
(d) Marylin Monroe.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What color is Jane’s dress in the story from Part I?

2. Where is “that trifling Peggy” said to be from in Part II?

3. 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”?

4. What is the name of Pecola’s brother in the novel?

5. The narrator in Part I claims that “one must take refuge in” what?

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 third version represent?

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

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

4. What important symbolic images are presented in the opening “Dick and Jane” reader and the preface in Part I?

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

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

7. 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?

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

9. 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?

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

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