Study Questions
1. Why is Claudia jealous of Frieda?

2. What is Claudia’s initial reaction to the news about Mr. Henry?

3. What does being “ruined” mean to Frieda?

4. What happens when Miss Dunion suggests that Frieda should be taken to a doctor?

5. What is a “Maginot Line”?

6. Why do Frieda and Claudia go to the second-story porch?

7. How does Claudia react to Pecola’s smile when they meet at the house by the lake?

8. Where is Pecola going to go with Poland and China?

9. What is Mrs. Breedlove wearing while she works?

10. Describe what the little girl is wearing.

Answers
1. Claudia complains that her chest is much smaller than Frieda’s.

2. Claudia is jealous for a number of reasons. She is upset about having to hear the big news from Frieda, and complains that she “always misses stuff.” She also considers Frieda to be lucky to have been pinched by Mr. Henry, since she is so flat-chested she has “nothing to pinch.”

3. Frieda thinks that being “ruined” means that she will become “like the Maginot Line.” As the image comes to Frieda’s mind, they decide that being ruined means that Frieda will become fat.

4. Frieda’s mother begins to yell at Miss Dunion for suggesting that her daughter might be ruined.

5. The Maginot Line was the name of an elaborate blockade by soldiers along the border of France during World War II. The Maginot Line was intended to stop an invasion of France by Germany, but the Germans were able to bypass the French defenses.

6. The girls hear loud music playing from upstairs and decide to see if Pecola is upstairs.

7. Claudia becomes happy when she sees Pecola’s smile. She had not realized that she had rarely seen Pecola smile, and “is surprised at the pleasure” that she receives from this smile.

8. Pecola claims that China is going to take her to Cleveland, while Poland is going to take her to Chicago.

9. Mrs. Breedlove is wearing a white uniform.

10. The little girl is dressed in a pink dress with pink bunny slippers. Her hair is blond and braided.