Bluest Eye Quizzes

Bluest Eye Quiz 1

By Eddie Borey · Edited by Amber Stewart · Last reviewed August 27, 2019

1 The novel is divided into an untitled prelude and four sections. The four sections are named after

the four cardinal directions

the four "sacred numbers"

the four seasons

the Four Winds in classical mythology
2 The very first section of the novel, elements of which are used later as chapter headings, is a

a fairy tale about a princess with blue eyes

passage from a grade school reading primer, repeated and altered

a poem re-imagining The Aneid set in Ohio

a short quotation from the Book of Job
3 Claudia MacTeer, the novel's main narrator, is Pecola's

mother

friend

aunt

sister
4 Claudia tells us in the beginning of the novel that Pecola

had blue eyes

is a free-spirited girl who taught all the women to stand up for themselves

was impregnated by her own father

suffered under Jim Crowe laws
5 The date given in the prelude for the denouement of the novel's events is

1941

1965

1873

1984
6 The time of the novel's events ties the story to

the Reconstruction era and the legacy of slavery

Reagan's racism and his war against America's black poor

World War II and White Supremacist ideas of beauty

the Vietnam war and the violence against the poor
7 In the prelude, Claudia says that when facing the tragedy of Pecola, one

asks "when" and then, because "when" is too difficult to handle, asks "why"

asks "what" and then, because "what" is too difficult to handle, asks "where"

asks "why" and then, because "why" is too difficult to handle, asks "how"

asks "how" and then, because "how" is too difficult to handle, asks "what"
8 The above-mentioned question posed by Claudia in the prelude shows that

asking "what" is too painful, so one contents oneself with background information like "where"

humans all have total free will

questions are meaningless and silly when dealing with issues of race

philosophical questions like "why" might be impossible to handle, but a novel can dissect a social situation and an event, tackling the troubling question of "how"
9 Claudia's parents could best be described as

alcoholic and amusing

stern but loving

over-indulgent

abusive and cruel
10 The MacTeer family gets a new boarder named

Cholly Breedlove

Baby Suggs

Mr. Henry

Oedipa Maas
11 The second new boarder at the MacTeer home is

Maginot Line

Pecola Breedlove

Paul D

Clarissa Dalloway
12 The second and temporary boarder comes to stay with the MacTeers because

her father, Cholly, hit her mother and tried to burn their house down

Mrs. MacTeer wants to reform the new boarder's wicked ways

she is a distant relation and visiting town

he is a drifter and needs a temporary place to stay
13 The actress that everyone seems to adore and Claudia hates is

Marlene Dietrich

Audrey Hepburn

Shirley Temple

Marilyn Monroe
14 Claudia's violent dissection of the blond haired and blue-eyed dolls parallels

the work of the novel, which examines and deconstructs social constructions of beauty and the source of black self-loathing

the attack on Pearl Harbor

a terrorist attack on a bank in town that only served whites

fantasies of violence stemming from Claudia's sublimated hatred for her mother
15 Pecola drinks too much of the MacTeer's milk because

the MacTeers' milk is very special and has a great taste

milk is her favorite drink

she is so fond of drinking from the little cup that has Shirley Temple's face on it

her mother is lactose intolerant and so she never gets milk
16 When the girls are outside, Pecola notices that she

is shorter than Claudia

is truly beautiful

is bleeding out of her nose

is bleeding between her legs
17 Pecola's bewilderment at her own first menstruation shows

the gap between her mother's detachment and Mrs. MacTeer's closeness to Claudia and Frieda

the failure of the school's sex education program

a child's joy at discovering new things

how stupid she is
18 Pecola's first menstruation is ominous because

it comes on the day that World War II begins in Europe

we know that it makes it possible for her father to later impregnate her

both we know that it makes it possible for her father to later impregnate her and the event is met initially with misunderstanding and even anger

the event is met initially with misunderstanding and even anger
19 The Breedlove's house is best described as being

a real fixer-up-er

enormous but without love

warm and loving

cold, poor, and devoid of love
20 The relationship between Cholly and Pauline Breedlove could be best described as

ruined by hard drugs

violent and characterized by strange co-dependence

warm and loving

full of good humor but somewhat frivolous
21 The three women who live upstairs from the Breedloves work as

choirgirls

meat packers

housekeepers

prostitutes
22 The names of China, Poland, and Marie (aka the Maginot Line) refer to

countries that were invaded by fascists around the time of the novel's events, linking the story and the America in which it is set to the Aryan ideal of beauty

settings for the great novels of Victor Hugo, linking Morrison to the French literary tradition

the countries of their origin, reminding us of America's melting pot

all of the above
23 Pecola want to have blue eyes so that

she can work in a carnival

people will look at her and think she is beautiful, and so her life will change

she can move to New York and be a fashion model

she can look like a cat
24 The white shopkeeper's attitude towards Pecola could best be described as

warm and loving

disdainful and distant

compassionate but condescending

angry and violent
25 Eyes and eyesight are important symbols throughout the novel of

subjectivity (meaning, sentience and status as a person and not an object) and the ability to recognize the subjectivity of others

the power of the human will

Hitler's medical experiments to make a race with super-vision

the pain of the past and the legacy of slavery

Which characters are still alive when the Bluest Eye ends?

Claudia, Frieda, Pauline, Pecola and Cholly are the main characters still alive at the end of the story.

Asked by markirah l #443698

Answered by jill d #170087 on 5/9/2025 1:49 PM

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Bluest eyes

Check this out:

https://www.gradesaver.com/bluest-eye/study-guide/summary-prologue-and-autumn

Asked by Olowoake B #1313405

Answered by Aslan on 7/2/2023 2:27 AM

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Why does pecola enter Junior's house and what is her first impression of it?

Lured by the promise of a new kitten, Pecola follows him. Pecola is mystified by the size and beauty of the house, the clean furniture, the bits of decoration and evidence of care.

Asked by leah q #249201

Answered by jill d #170087 on 7/4/2012 1:23 PM

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Bluest Eye

by Toni Morrison

Bluest Eye Quiz 1

Bluest Eye Questions and Answers

Study Guide for Bluest Eye

Essays for Bluest Eye

Lesson Plan for Bluest Eye

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