The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
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from The Foreword to The Bluest Eye...
There can’t be anyone, I am sure, who doesn’t know what it feels like to be disliked, even rejected, momentarily or for sustained periods of time. Perhaps the feeling is merely indifference, mild annoyance, but it may also be hurt. It may even be that some of us know what it is like to be actually hated - hated for things we have no control over and cannot change. When this happens, it is some consolation to know that the dislike or hatred is unjustified - that you don't deserve it. And if you have the emotional strength and/or support from family and friends, the damage is reduced or erased. We think of it as the stress (minor or disabling) that is part of life as a human. |
Opening Discussion and Pre-Reading
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Reading Assignments
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Life imitates art...
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CONSIDER:
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Why should we read fiction?
Literature & Empathy: Connect to catharsis.
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The Danger of a Single Story |
Foreword: Questions to consider...
- Paragraphs 1-3: WHY would an author write this book? Purpose? Goal?
- Paragraphs 4-7: Discuss beauty as "something one could do" and "the gaze that condemned her."
- Paragraphs 8-end: Discuss problems and solutions as far as writing the novel was concerned. Last paragraph?
The Primer Section
The beginning of Morrison's The Bluest Eye (pages 3-4) walks us through three renderings of an excerpt from an elementary school primer, a book that was used to teach children how to read. These primers - specifically one involving young siblings Dick and Jane, who were always depicted as white children - were used from the 1930s through the 1970s. Black children were not included in illustrations until 1960.
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Close Reading
The Primer
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1st italicized section: "Quiet as it's kept..."
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