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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. Which of the prostitutes in Part III is described as “thin, aging, absentminded, and unaggressive”?

2. Where does Pecola say the prostitute Poland is going to take her to see the Loop in Part IV?

3. The narrator says in Part IV, “But to find out the truth about how dreams die, one should never take the word” of whom?

4. What is Geraldine’s son called in Part III?

5. Which of the prostitutes with Mr. Henry in Part III is described as “the one church women never allowed their eyes to rest on”?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the narrator describe her father’s face in the opening of “Winter”? What imagery is used?

2. What leads to Claudia and Frieda buying snacks at Miss Bertha’s in Part III?

3. How does the narrator describe the blooming flowers and twigs in the opening of “Spring”?

4. What happens when Frieda, Claudia, and Maureen Peal encounter some schoolboys taunting Pecola in “Winter”?

5. What are Claudia and Frieda’s feelings about Maureen Peal when she moves to Lorain in “Winter”?

6. What are Pauline Breedlove’s feelings about motherhood, according to the narrator in “See Mother…”?

7. How is Cholly Breedlove’s childhood described in “See Father…”? Who raised Cholly?

8. What are the perceptions of Claudia and Frieda as they wait to leave with Pecola from her mother’s workplace in “Spring”?

9. How does Mrs. Breedlove respond when she finds the spilled cobbler in “Spring”?

10. What exchange takes place between Maginot Line and Claudia and Frieda in “Spring”?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and discuss the character of Pecola in The Bluest Eye. Is Pecola the protagonist of the novel, or is the protagonist Claudia? Why do you believe this? How does Pecola’s character evolve from the beginning of the story to the end? How does her evolution affect Claudia and Frieda?

Essay Topic 2

What adjectives and descriptive words are used in “See the Cat…” to describe the “types of girls” who come to Lorain from places like Mobile, Marietta, etc.? How do these girls differ from the “black girls” that Claudia and Frieda consider themselves? Do you think that the narrator views the girls as better than them, or simply as perceived as better?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss racial discrimination within black communities in the United States. How and why, in the novel, is Maureen Peal depicted as being of a higher stature because of the lighter color of her skin tone? What discrimination does Maureen face in her community and in the white community?

(see the answer keys)

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