The Bluest Eye Exam

by Ginger Harbin

  • Released February 12, 2019
  • subjects
  • 0 pages
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Grade Levels

Grade 12

Excerpt

Essay Questions:

Choose 2 (10 points each)Your responses need to be a minimum of 75 words. Use examples from the book to support your answer.

  • What is the significance of “seeds” in the novel?
  • How are the middle-class families portrayed in the novel? Is this anaccurate portrayal of how middle class families behave?
  • How does the knowledge of Pauline’s past and Cholly’s past change thereader’s impression of them ?
  • Compare Pecola’s character to Claudia’s. Which of these two charactersis better able to reject white, middle-class America’s definitions of beauty? Support your answer with examples from the text.

Quotes:

Choose 1 (10 points each)What does the quote mean? What is the significance of the quote? Is the concept the quote relates to still prevalent today? Why/Why not. Responsesneed to be a minimum of 50 words.Use examples from the book to support your answer.

  • “It had occurred to Pecola some time ago that if her eyes, those eyes that held the pictures, and knew the sights—if those eyes of hers weredifferent, that is to say, beautiful, she herself would be different.” (p. 46)
  • “Her simplicity decodecorated us, her guilt sanctified us, her pain made us glow with health.” (p. 205)

Multiple Choice (2 points each):

  • Why does Pecola stay briefly with the MacTeers? (A) Her father has raped her (B) She was new in town (C) Her father has tried to burn down their home (D) She is visiting her friends Claudia and Frieda
  • What is a distinguishing characteristic of Pauline (Polly) Breedlove? (A) She has blue eyes (B) She has a bad foot (C) She has a curved spine (D) She is very tall
  • Who lives above the Breedloves’ apartment? (A) Three prostitutes (B) Henry Washington (C) Soaphead Church (D) The MacTeers
  • Where does Mrs. Breedlove work? (A) At a restaurant (B) At a grocery store (C) At the home of a white family (D) At the MacTeers’ home
  • Who hates white baby dolls? (A) Frieda (B) Claudia (C) Pecola (D) Maureen Peal
  • What important event occurs when Pecola is staying with the Breedloves? (A) She kills the family cat (B) She is molested by Henry Washington (C) She poisons the family dog (D) She menstruates for the first time
  • Who raises Cholly? (A) Aunt Jimmy (B) Geraldine (C) His violent father (D) Blue Jack
  • Which of the following characters is still alive when the story ends? (A) Cholly (B) Pecola’s baby (C) Pauline Breedlove (D) Aunt Jimmy
  • Where does most of the action in the novel take place? (A) Princeton, Kentucky (B) Crossville, Tennessee (C) Macon, Georgia (D) Lorain, Ohio
  • What flowers do Claudia and Frieda plant to save Pecola’s baby? (A) Roses (B) Bachelor Buttons (C) Marigolds (D) Lilacs
  • Which of the following DOES NOT happen to Pecola after her fatherrapes her? (A) Her father rapes her a second time (B) She runs away with a local man (C) She becomes pregnant (D) She goes mad

About

This is the final exam (including 2 essay questions) for the Bluest Eye.