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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. According to the narrator in Part II, who “spent all their energies, all their love, on their nests”?
2. Near what local coal company does the narrator say she sometimes goes in the evenings with grown-ups to fill burlap sacks with coal in Part II?
3. The narrator in Part I claims that “one must take refuge in” what?
4. 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?
5. 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?
Short Essay Questions
1. What does Pecola pray for every night, according to the narrator in “Here is the Family…”? Why?
2. How is Mr. Henry described in “Autumn”? What is his role in the MacTeer home?
3. What does the narrator discuss regarding property-owning black families and their motivations in “Autumn”?
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 second version represent?
5. 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?
6. Describe the “Dick and Jane” reader presented in Part I. How does this excerpt change in each retelling?
7. How is the apartment of the Breedlove family described in “Here is the House…”?
8. Why does Pecola Breedlove come to live with the MacTeers in “Autumn”?
9. Who can be seen in Part I as characters that face trouble assimilating into “white society’s standards of beauty”?
10. 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?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Define “narrative point of view,” and identify this in The Bluest Eye. Is the narrative of the “Dick and Jane” related in first, second, or third person? How does the narrative point of view change in the italicized preface in Part I? How does the narrative point of view and tense fluctuate within the novel?
Essay Topic 2
Describe and discuss the major movie stars discussed in the narrative in Part II. When was Shirley Temple’s height of fame? What other actresses are discussed? What do they share in common? How is Pecola’s name related to the movies?
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?
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This section contains 940 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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