An Approach to Teaching The

Bluest Eye
Roger S. Baskin, Sr.
Educational Specialist
Office of Student Achievement
Instructional Services
Department
For whom is this presentation?
Teachers looking for a way to incorporate
American literature into the curriculum
Teachers who are looking for multicultural
literature for their classroom
Teachers who are looking for engaging
literature and exercises for all students
 The National Standard
Accomplished teachers know a wide range of high-
quality texts. . . These include traditional and
contemporary classics of literature, young adult
literature, and multicultural literature.
Teachers constantly seek out new resources that allow
students to “see themselves” in selected texts and to
expand their awareness of the world around them.
Teachers might address issues of racial or gender
stereotyping through the study of a particular character
while also addressing the literary techniques for methods
of characterization

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

About the Author: Toni Morrison
Born February 18,
1931 in Lorain, OH
Published her first
book, The Bluest Eye,
in 1970
Her fifth novel,
Beloved, wins Pulitzer
prize in 1988
 About the Novel
Protagonist: Pecola
Breedlove, African-American
female, 11 years old
Setting: Lorain, OH; early
1940’s
Major Conflicts:
1. Internal—the protagonist feels
a profound since of self-hatred
that leads her to believe that if
her eyes are blue her life will
improve
2. External—American society’s
standard of beauty and how it
impacts those who do not
meet that standard
 An Example of American
Naturalism
Like other examples of the genre, the
novel portrays a protagonist whose
attempts at exercising free will are
thwarted by forces beyond her control.
The barriers faced by the protagonist may
be biological, psychological, or economic.
Practitioners of the genre include Richard
Wright, Upton Sinclair, Stephen Crane,
and John Steinbeck.
 A Question about the Genre
Why do we need literature that shows how
people fail to overcome certain obstacles?

Some student responses from the past:

“Because people need to know the truth.”
“So that it doesn’t happen to others.”
“Because not everybody has the same
experience.”
 Activating Prior Knowledge
Students bring their own unique prior knowledge to the
reading of any text . . . To activate students’ prior
knowledge, teachers may ask students to draw on their
personal experiences . . . Teachers can assist this
process by showing pictures, encouraging the sharing of
anecdotes, and using graphic aids related to the story. . .

Educating Everybody’s Children: Diverse Teaching

Strategies for Diverse Learners: What Research and
Practice Say about Improving Achievement
Robert W. Cole, Editor
A Rat’s Chance
Given the rat’s current
environment, does it
have a chance to
survive and live a
long life?
What barrier exists?
Can this rat’s reality
mirror the reality of
some people?
 The Importance of Opening
Questions
Questions are effective learning tools even when asked
before a learning experience. We generally think of
questioning as something teachers do after students
have been engaged in a learning experience . . .
Teachers, however, can use questions before a learning
experience to establish a “mental set” with which
students process the learning experience.

Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-Based

Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement
Robert J. Marzano
 Exercise 1
Have students to respond to the following
question, either in writing or in a class
discussion:
Given a person’s environment at birth,
can we predetermine their future
(especially if there is no intervention)?
As students continue reading, have them
revisit this question in a journal that they
keep to see if their response changes.
 Exercise 2
Have students read the opening Dick and Jane
story. Draw a picture of what you read.
Now read the italicized section at the beginning
of the novel. Draw a picture of what you read.
Students do not have to share their pictures.
Using the pictures as a guide, have students
write about the contrast between both
environments.
Later, write about how Morrison creates this
contrast (symbols, archetypes, imagery, etc.).
 The Importance of Drawing
Pictures
Drawing pictures or pictographs (i.e.,
symbolic pictures) to represent knowledge
is a powerful way to generate nonlinguistic
representations in the mind . . . [it] helps
students understand content in a whole
new way.
Marzano
 Exercise 3
Have students research interventions that
could change the story of Pecola Breedlove
and her family. Come up with
recommendations for a plan of action to
remedy Pecola’s situation.
Students should work in groups of no more
than five to focus on one of the specific
intervention areas: psychological, economic,
educational, media.
Students may research organizations that work
to address the issues faced in the novel.
 Sources of Information
Psychological: American Counseling
Association, local school psychologist
Economic: National Urban League,
NAACP, Children’s Defense Fund
Educational: FCPS Office of Student
Achievement, National Alliance of Black
School Educators
Media: National Association of Black
Journalists, Black Actors Guild
 Reality-Based Learning
The combined process of analyzing real problems and
then suggesting solutions to them not only motivate
learners, but also enable them to range in their thinking
processes from recognizing information they need . . . to
gathering relevant information . . . to summarizing
ideas . . . to generating potential solutions . . . to
analyzing . . . their solutions.

Cole
 Exercise 4
Have students read excerpts from the
following texts and compare similarities in
effect, form, characterization, theme, and
atmosphere:
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Woman at Point Zero
“The Man Who Was Almost a Man”
“Roselily”
The Handmaid’s Tale
 Exercise 5
Read and discuss links on Blackboard:
1. http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/nat
ural.htm
2. http://varenne.tc.columbia.edu/class/com
mon/dolls_in_brown_vs_board.html
3. http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/commi
ttees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/masl
ow.htm
Discussion Board Comments
After reading the link on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, discuss how
this theory may explain the characterization of Pecola Breedlove. 
After reading the hierarchy of needs, it became more clear to me just
how lacking Pecola's life is. Above physiological needs, she does not
meet Maslow's requirements for a fulfilling existence. She does not
feel safe, as her parents are constantly fighting, often physically,
instilling a feeling of instability and violence in her home
environment. Love, affection, and belongingness needs are not met
because neither of Pecola's parents show that they care for her on a
consistent basis, sometimes being abusive instead, physically and
verbally. Also, Pecola is made to feel as if she does not belong in the
community, as she is black and "ugly", and is ignored or made fun of
in school. Therefore, her esteem is almost non-existent, from herself
and others. It seems that self-actualization may not ever be possible
for her, as she has become a social outcast with minimal education,
no self-esteem, and no stable relationships. How many black
Americans have faced such difficulty in finding their own identity?
Discussion Board Comments
After reading the link on Dr. Clark, explain how this information may
help to explain Pecola's characterization and her self-loathing.
Pecola is characterized as wanting blue eyes. Quite obviously, she
wants to be similar to the white doll, the "nice doll". I also found it
interesting that even in desegregated states, the results of the
survey could hold true, but this seems to apply to her as well. Being
around Maureen, the blonde girl, did not allow Pecola to better
accept her race but instead caused her to see proof of what she
considered her inferiority in the way her classmates and teachers
treated the other girl. Where she was abused, Maureen was
worshipped. In that way, the book was very much like the survey:
the white doll was able to be beloved by everyone (except the
occasional disgruntled child like Claudia), and the black doll was
looked down on. Perhaps what the schools really needed went past
desegregation to actual equality, so that Pecola's teachers could be
attentive to her as well.