Criticism > Contemporary Literary Criticism > Morrison, Toni - Study Questions

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Study Questions

1. What do the different versions of the Dick and Jane story in The Bluest Eye suggest about the idea of the American Dream as it is played out in the novel?
2. Morrison has said that one of the things she tries to do is “translate the historical into the personal.” Focusing on the historical events that frame Beloved, Jazz, and Paradise, discuss the techniques she uses to make such a translation.
3. Morrison has been praised and criticized for her portrayals of women in her novels. One of the reasons she has received praise, especially from feminist scholars, is that she breaks with the way female characters previously have been represented in literature and in popular culture. Trace the development of Morrison’s principal women characters in two of the following novels: The Bluest Eye, Sula, Song of Solomon, and Beloved. Discuss these characters in relation to the way African American women...

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1. Introduction
2. About Toni Morrison
3. Morrison at Work
4. Morrison’s Era
5. Morrison’s Works
6. Morrison on Morrison and on Writing
7. Morrison as Studied
8. Study Questions
9. Bibliography
10. Copyright

1. Toni Morrison