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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what year does the author say in the Foreword that she began the “story” that would eventually lead to The Bluest Eye?

2. 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?

3. Whose image is on the milk cup that Frieda brings to Pecola in Part II?

4. The narrator in Part I says that for years she believed the reason the marigolds didn’t bloom was because she had done what?

5. The narrator in Part I says that at first they thought there were no marigolds that fall because Pecola was what?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What foreshadowing is revealed by the narrator in the end of Part I?

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

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

6. Is the setting of the novel focused on a specific societal group, or is the setting inclusive of different racial groups?

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Claudia and Frieda’s feelings about Rosemary, their next-door neighbor. What does Rosemary say to get Claudia and Frieda in trouble with Mrs. MacTeer when they are helping Pecola? Why does she do this? How is Rosemary described by the narrator?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the theme of “the other” in The Bluest Eye. How is Pecola a metaphorical representation of “the other”? How is her outsider status important to the novel’s narrator? Why do Frieda and Claudia attempt to make Pecola feel less like an outsider?

Essay Topic 3

Define the term “foreshadowing,” and discuss different reasons that an author may choose to use foreshadowing in his/her narrative. In what ways does foreshadowing develop suspense? What foreshadowing is presented in Part I of The Bluest Eye? How does the author’s use of foreshadowing here affect the reader?

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