The Bluest Eye

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Close your eyes and think back to childhood. How did you learn the criteria to classify by “beautiful” or “ugly”? Who or what influenced your thinking—parents, family, friends, community, culture, or media?

Teaching Suggestion: Before the discussion, post images from nature or daily life that are subjective in visual appeal (e.g., a barren wintertime landscape or a city skyline filled with skyscrapers). Ask students to classify each image as “beautiful” or “ugly.” What conclusions regarding beauty might be drawn based on students’ classifications? Depending on your class, you might open the discussion to include the “standards” of beauty for people as well.

• “Is Beauty in the Eyes of the Colonizer?” by Leah Donnella explores beauty in relation to culture.
• This report by Dove and Deloitte Access Economics explores the economic and social costs of beauty standards.

2. Again, close your eyes and think back to childhood. What books and toys do you remember?

Teaching Suggestion: List students’ responses in a two-column chart. Then, lead students to evaluate the entries for culture and gender. What conclusions regarding gender, race, or ethnicity can be drawn based on these popular titles and toys?

• “Brown v. Board and ‘The Doll Test’” tells of the work of Doctors Kenneth and Mamie Clark, who asked white and Black children to choose among dolls in response to varying prompts.
• “How to Diversify Your Toy Box” by Shanicia Boswell discusses the impact of toys on children’s developing views of the world. (Subscription may be needed for viewing.)

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the novel.

The amount of melanin in the iris determines eye color. Worldwide about 70-80% of people have brown eyes, 8-10% have blue eyes, and the remainder have hazel, amber, gray, or green eyes. However, in the United States alone, about 27% of people have blue eyes. Scientists speculate that around 10,000 years ago, everyone had brown eyes. Blue eyes result from a genetic mutation that reduces the melanin in the iris.

What color are your eyes? When did you become aware of your eye color, and how? How did you become aware that others have similar or differing eye colors? In what ways has eye color been significant in your life?

Teaching Suggestion: Conduct a class survey of eye color to determine whether the class statistics support world statistics.

• This article explains eye color percentages around the world.
• This study by Martin Gründl et al. explores “the blue-eyes stereotype.”

Differentiation Suggestion: To support visual learners, students may peruse fashion magazines and take notes regarding the eye colors of those pictured. Students can make hatch marks in three-column charts labeled “Brown,” “Blue,” and “Other.” Given that most people shown in a fashion magazine are considered “beautiful,” how does eye color relate to beauty standards?