TBE Discussion
Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison
In preparation for study of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, you should become familiar with Shirley Temple and the Dick and Jane book series. Morrison uses them as symbols of white American values and sensibilities. Beauty, family, belonging, and identity are perceived from and defined by the dominant white American perspective, and any deviation or exception from this normative ideal is flawed, ugly, and broken.
How does Shirley Temple embody an American ideal? What idealized qualities does Shirley Temple possess that might be envied? How does Shirley Temple, in appearance, demeanor, and behavior, represent an idealized symbol of beauty, goodness, purity, and happiness?
What family values are espoused (adopted/supported) and promoted in the Dick and Jane stories? SEE THE BIG DEBUT OF THE DICK AND JANE STORIES circa 1930; if time, see also "Fifty Years of 'The Cat in the Hat'"
Describe the family unit as it is represented in Dick and Jane. What family roles are promoted in the Dick and Jane stories? According to stories in the Dick and Jane series, what is “pretty,” “happy,” “good”?
Consider your own identity first. Consider your interests, dreams, values, and perceptions of people and things around you. Allowing literature to gain a sense of “self” and one’s own identity, you have developed skills to discuss the text, evaluate the text, and now, finally, use the text to gain a greater understanding of yourself. Review the use of point of view, style, and the use of tone in Morrison’s The Bluest Eye.
Essential Discussion Questions:
What or who gives us our identity? What happens when identities collide? What is the correlation between multiple critical lenses and our self or us? If language and literature shape our identity, how do they do so?
What statement does this novel make regarding relationships? Specific areas to consider: What happened to Pauline and Cholly's relationship? Why? Whom is to blame?
Winter/Spring
1.Why is fear of the “Thing” greater than the jealousy of Maureen?
2. Why does the descriptor of “black” hold such power as an insult to Claudia and Frieda?
3. In what way are the tender spring branches much like Claudia and Frieda?
4. Comment on any areas of feminism you have noted in the novel. Why do you suppose Morrison depicted females in this particular way?
Innocence/Fall from Innocence
1. Compare and contrast how Cholly was treated on the day of Aunt Jimmy’s funeral with the day after.
2. Describe the encounter between Cholly and Samson Fuller.
3. Who was this Reader, Advisor, and Interpreter of Dreams? Describe in detail his upbringing.
4. What aspect of married life dumbfounded Cholly and rendered him totally dysfunctional?
5. How did Soaphead Church ingeniously satisfy a personal whim through the pretense of justifying Pecola’s request?
6. To whom did Soaphead address his letter, and why do you suppose he wrote to this particular person?
7. What analogy did Soaphead use in his letter? What is he questioning? Does he view his behavior as bad, or wrong, or in any respect evil?
8. Read the section of dialogue found on pages 147 & 148. What implications does this have regarding feminism?
9. What sacrificial offering did the girl render to procure the miracle, and what was the reasoning behind it?
"Why Muslims are So"
"The Muslim on the Airplane"
Identify what makes these poems/passages in these speeches so powerful. Notice body language, rhythm, tone of voice, volume, and tempo.
"That Girl"
"Rape Joke"
Judith Butler (“Imitation and Gender Insubordination”)
Helene Cixous ("The Laugh of the Medusa")
Gilbert & Gubar ("The Madwoman in the Attic")
Kate Millet
Elaine Showalter