1. The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison

2. Who is Toni Morrison? Born Chloe Anthony Wofford, in 1931 in Lorain,
Ohio, the second of four
children in a working-class family
Storytelling, songs, and folktales were a deeply formative part of her childhood

3. Who is Toni Morrison?
She attended Howard University (B.A., 1953) and Cornell University (M.A., 1955)
After teaching at Texas Southern University for two years, she taught at Howard from 1957 to 1964.
In 1965 she became a fiction editor. From she taught writing at the State University of New York at Albany, leaving to join the faculty of Princeton University.

4. Who is Toni Morrison?
Morrison’s first book, The Bluest Eye (1970), is a novel of initiation concerning a victimized adolescent black girl who is obsessed by white standards of beauty and longs to have blue eyes
Other works of Morrison’s include Sula, Beloved, and Home which was published in 2012

5. Who is Toni Morrison?
The critically acclaimed Beloved (1987), won a *Pulitzer Prize for fiction. It is based on the true story of a runaway slave who, at the point of recapture, kills her infant daughter in order to spare her a life of slavery.
*Pulitzer Prize, any of a series of annual prizes awarded by Columbia University, New York City, for outstanding public service and achievement in American journalism, letters, and music. The prizes, originally endowed with a gift of $500,000 from the newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer, are highly esteemed and have been awarded each May since 1917.

6. Who is Toni Morrison?
In 1993, Morrison became the first African-American woman to receive the *Nobel Prize in literature.
*Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"

7. Who is Toni Morrison?
Voted as the favorite author of the 20th century by the African American Literature Book Club.
Morrison was also the recipient of the 1996 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the 1994 Pearl Buck Award, and the 1978 Distinguished Writer Award from the Academy of Arts and Letters.

8. Who is Toni Morrison?
In addition to children's books and essays, she also wrote the libretto for Margaret Garner (2005), an opera about the same story that inspired Beloved.
In 2010 Morrison was made an officer of the French Legion of Honour. Two years later she was awarded the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom.

9. Who is Toni Morrison?
Today, she is the Robert F. Goheen Professor in the Council of Humanities at Princeton University, where she teaches creative writing.

10. Who is Toni Morrison?
The Toni Morrison Society was founded May 28, The mission of the Toni Morrison Society is to initiate, sponsor, and encourage critical dialogue, scholarly publications, and projects devoted to the study of the works of Toni Morrison.
Because of Toni Morrison's broad intellectual and artistic interests, the programming initiatives of the Society, over the years, have expanded beyond the study of her novels to a more encompassing focus that includes the historical, cultural and pedagogical implications of her work in writing, teaching, arts stewardship, and community outreach.

11. Who is Toni Morrison?
The central theme of Morrison’s novels is the black American experience; in an unjust society her characters struggle to find themselves and their cultural identity. Her use of fantasy, her sinuous poetic style, and her rich interweaving of the mythic give her stories great strength and texture.

13. The Bluest Eye
In the afterward to The Bluest Eye, Morrison explains her goal in writing the novel. She wants to make a statement about the damage that internalized racism can do to the most vulnerable member of a community—a young girl.

14. Article Questions
1. Why do some parents and The Department of Education say that The Bluest Eye should be removed from reading lists?
2. Does the author of article #1 agree or disagree with banning this book? Explain.
3. What is the author of article #2’s attitude towards the Ohio State school board President, Debe Terhar?
4. According to the author of article #2, what is one of the main themes of The Bluest Eye?
5. Are teens today exposed to “controversial issues”? How are they exposed to them and what are some of those issues?
6. Do you think teenage students should be allowed to read more controversial books that deal with harsh issues in school? Why or why not?

15. Pecola Breedlove
11 year old African American girl Lonely and imaginative Lives in an abusive home Neglected and poor

16. Claudia MacTeer
9 year old African American girl Serves as the narrator of sections of the book Sweet but tough little girl who stands up for herself and others

17. Frieda MacTeer
10 year old African American girl Older sister of Claudia Knowledgeable and sensible older sister

18. Pauline (Polly) Breedlove
Mother of Pecola Works as a nanny/housekeeper for a white family Has an injured foot (deformity) Finds more happiness in her work life than in her home life

19. Cholly Breedlove
Pecola’s father Polly’s husband Angry, violent man Had a childhood full of abandonment and anger Is abusive towards women

20. Mrs. MacTeer
Freida & Claudia’s mother Hardworking, tough, but loving

21. Reading Questions: pages 9-32
Who is Mr. Henry and what indication do we get from the narrator that there will be a problem with him later in the story?
How does Pecola come to live with the MacTeer family?
How does Claudia feel about Shirley Temple and baby dolls vs. how Pecola feels about them?
Describe Mrs. MacTeer as a mother.
What question does Pecola ask Freida at the end of this section and how does it make you feel about Pecola?

22. Pages 33-50 (stop at bottom of page)
1. Describe where the Breedloves live after Cholly is let out of jail. Is this a proper home? Explain.
2. How do you think this dwelling influences the town’s view of the Breedloves?
3. What experience from his childhood turned Cholly into an angry, violent man?
4. Describe Pecola’s feelings when her parents begin to fight. How does her brother (Sammy, 14) deal with their fighting?
5. Why does Pecola pray for blue eyes? What does she think they will bring her?
6. How does Mr. Yacobowski make Pecola feel about herself?

23. Discussion – pages 33-50
Narration
Dandelions
Self-image

24. Minor Characters
Mr. Henry
Mr. Yacobowski

25. “Spring” pages
1) How does Claudia remember springtime and how does it set the mood for this section?
2) What are Claudia & Freida confused about after the incident with Mr. Henry? Why do they go searching for whiskey?
3) What lies does Pecola tell Freida & Claudia about her life? Why do you suppose she does this?
4) How does Mrs. Breedlove treat the little girl in the home she works for? How do you think this makes Pecola feel?

26. Pages 61 to the top of 74 Who is the narrator of this section?
Who is Maureen Peal, what is she like, how do the girls each feel about her?
Who defends Pecola when she starts to get picked on?
How did the Peal family make their money?
What do the girls get into a fight about?
How are Freida, Claudia, and Pecola feeling about themselves after Maureen runs away?

27. The girls mention a man named Soaphead Church
The girls mention a man named Soaphead Church. What do they comment about him?
How does Maureen Peal make Claudia and Freida feel about themselves?
Should Freida & Claudia tell their mother about what they witnessed Mr. Henry doing? How might this affect the girls later in the book?

28. Homework
1.How do the people of Pecola’s town treat her? 2.Come up with three specific examples that support what you say. 3.How does this encounter with Geraldine and Junior further add to her low self-esteem?

29. Junior & Geraldine Section
1. Does Geraldine (and women like her) seem happy? Explain.
2. What does Junior “use” the cat for?
3. What does Pecola think of Junior’s home when she first enters?
4. What is significant about the cat being black with blue eyes?
5. What does Geraldine feel when she looks at Pecola?
6. How are the cat and Pecola similar in a way?

30. Pages
1) What mention of Soaphead Church is made in this section? How does it add to our limited knowledge of him? 2) How are the girls confused by the term “ruined” when they overhear Mama and Miss Dunion talking about what Mr. Henry did to Freida? What does this tell us about Freida & Claudia? 3) What does Mr. MacTeer do to Mr. Henry for what he did to Freida? Do you think Cholly would have done the same for Pecola? 4) How does Pauline Breedlove treats Pecola compared to the little girl she cares for at work? How do you think this adds to Pecola’s negative self-image?

31. Pauline Breedlove Section (110-131)
1. How does Pauline’s injury shape her life and her as a person from a young age?
2. What void did Cholly fill for Pauline when they met? What was Cholly like back then? How did he treat Pauline?
3. How did movies affect Pauline’s life?
4. How did the loss of Pauline’s front tooth affect her life and marriage?
5. Explain the significance of Pauline’s job in the Fisher home and how it relates back to her childhood.

32. Homework 1) Finish reading the section on Pauline Breedlove.
2) In a one page response, analyze the character Pauline Breedlove:
- You may want to include details about how she views herself and why, why she treats Pecola the way she does, the difference between her behavior at work and her behavior at home and why, her love for the movies, her marriage to Cholly, etc.
3) You must use two quotations in your response and you must cite the page numbers.

33. What does it mean to analyze?
to study (something) closely and carefully : to learn the nature and relationship of the parts of (something) by a close and careful examination.
PROVE your analyzation skills to me!

34. Cholly: The Early Years (pages 132-140)
1) Do you think Cholly’s mother abandoning him when he was born had an affect on him even though he was too young to remember it? Explain.
2) Why do you think Cholly held Blue in such high esteem when he was young?
3) What effect do you think Aunt Jimmy’s death has on Cholly’s life? Why was she so important to him? How do you think her death changes the course of his life?

35. Cholly: The Early Years Con’t (pages 140-153)
Do you think Cholly is traumatized by his experience with Darlene? Explain.
Why do you think Cholly directs his anger at Darlene rather than the men?
Cholly runs away in search of his father. How do you think the meeting between these two will go? What do you think his father’s reaction will be to meeting him for the first time based on what we know about the future Cholly?

36. Cholly: The Later Years (pages 154-163)
What does Cholly’s father say to him and does he ever find out who Cholly is?
What is Cholly’s physical and emotional reaction to his father’s rejection? What do you think he is feeling at this point in his life?
How does Cholly feel about his children?
What confused emotions and thoughts is Cholly feeling when he rapes Pecola?

37. After Your Quiz…
When you are done with your quiz, look back at what we have read so far and try to find a reference to Soaphead Church. We have not yet met this character, but he has been alluded to a few times in the novel. Write down anything you can find about him because he will be a major factor in the next section.

38. Soaphead Church
A misanthrope is someone who dislikes humankind and all people in general. Who, however, does the narrator say Soaphead cares for?
What do we know about Soaphead’s heritage?
Why do you think Pecola is going to come to see him? Remember, he is a “Reader, Adviser, and Interpreter of dreams”.

39. Characters to Know Claudia Freida Mrs. MacTeer Mr. MacTeer Pecola
Pauline
Cholly
Sammy
Mr. Henry
Miss Marie
(The Maginot Line)
China
Poland
Geraldine
Junior
Soaphead
Maureen Peal
Rosemary
Mr. Yacobowski
Aunt Jimmy
Blue
Samson Fuller
M’Dear
Darlene
The Fishers

40. Symbolism
Blue Eyes
Blue eyes seem to symbolize the cultural beauty attributed to whiteness in America at the time.
Different characters respond to blue eyes in different ways. Claudia, for example, resents the blue eyes of her white dolls, viewing their association with beauty ironically. For Pecola, however, blue eyes are something to strive for. She believes that having blue eyes would change the way other people see her, giving her something white America values as beautiful. Even more interestingly, she believes she would see things differently through blue eyes, that they would somehow give her the relatively carefree life of a white, middle-class child. We also like the idea that "blue" can refer to sadness. When Pecola believes she has acquired blue eyes at the end of the novel, we might understand her as actually having the saddest eyes of anyone in the novel.

41. Symbolism
Dandelions
These flowers represent Pecola herself in the beginning of the story.
Pecola's self-perceived ugliness allows her to identify with dandelions, which are things considered ugly by others. Pecola does not see the dandelions as ugly, which introduces the idea that beauty might be a matter of one's perception, not something inherent in the object being looked at. Unfortunately, Pecola's obsession with external beauty standards keeps her from realizing this about herself.
The "yellow heads" of the dandelions also connect symbolically to the blond haired girls, who represent the white beauty standard, and explains Pecola's confusion as to why the black women throw them away.

42. Symbolism
Marigolds
At the end of the book, Claudia and Freida plant marigolds seeds as an offering to God in order to let Pecola’s baby live.
The seeds never sprout just as Pecola’s baby does not live. The Baby is born premature and dies after birth.
At the end of the book it also says that some soils are not meant to nurture all flowers. This is referring to the town’s cruel treatment and abandonment of Pecola, a young girl who needed help from anyone who was willing to give it.

43. Narration First Person – Claudia
Claudia provides the bulk of the narration in the book. This is convenient because she actually witnessed what happened to Pecola as well as the way the town spoke about her, and she makes sure to include snippets of these conversations in her narration. Claudia narrates her story from two different perspectives. In the Prologue and final chapter, the adult Claudia uses the past tense to describe events that happened back in 1941 in Lorain. But for the bulk of her narration, Claudia uses the present tense to describe these events, which has the effect of showing us things through her 9-year-old eyes.

44. Narration Third Person (Omniscient)
In the chapters that deal with the Breedloves and the one featuring Soaphead Church, the narrator isn't Claudia, but rather a third-person omniscient narrator. This speaker is capable of moving through extreme distances of space and time. This is the voice that tells us the long history of the Breedloves' storefront, details Cholly's early sexual humiliation, and recounts Soaphead's journey from the West Indies to America. The third-person style is useful in a book with so many complex characters. It allows us to watch their lives unfold over time, in ways we could never do if Claudia were the sole narrator.

45. The Title
The title has at least two meanings, referring both to Pecola's desire to change the way she is seen and the way sees. Let's deal with the easy one first. As a black child growing up in1940’s America, Pecola associates beauty with being white and having blue eyes. Pecola seems to be OK with her nose and mouth, even her hair – but her eyes. She thinks that if she could just have those bright blue eyes, she'd become truly beautiful and no one would ever tease her at school, her parents wouldn't fight anymore, and she'd never be sad again. Now, onto the second aspect of the title – Pecola's desire to see the world differently. Pecola believes that if her eyes were blue, she would begin to see the world the way that white children do – she would get to be innocent, she would experience a loving family. A third idea plays with the meaning of "blue" as "sad." Pecola's eyes already are the bluest in the book, in that they are the saddest eyes, possessed by the most tragic character in the novel.

46. Writing Style Lyrical and Featuring Multiple Perspectives
Morrison is famous for her use of fragmented narrative with multiple perspectives. Her use of different narrative styles – alternating between first- and third-person omniscient – gives her the freedom to do two interesting things. On the one hand, she uses Claudia to convey the thoughts and perceptions of a 9-year-old girl, giving the novel an aspect of innocence. On the other hand, the use of third-person omniscient narration allows the novel to cover broad sweeps of time and space – like when we get the history of the Breedloves' storefront or stories about Soaphead Church's white ancestors. This opens the novel up, giving it historical depth, and allowing us to see how the racial issues of the past are still impacting these characters in the 20th century.

47. Paper Format
Paragraph 1 – Introduction Paragraph 2 – State reasons why The Bluest Eye should/should not be banned (the reasons you detailed in your outline) Paragraph 3 – Use one source that agrees with your opinion and use their words to support your opinion (1-2 quotes required) Paragraph 4 - Conclusion