Analyze fiction for its real-world implications. to explain what the text says about racial, economic, and gender-based oppression. to apply feminist concepts to literary analysis.
Audience: write for a reader that has not read The Bluest Eye nor is familiar with feminist theory. Take the role of the expert and explain what the text can teach us about racial, economic, and/or gender-based oppression.
Instructions: Read Toni Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye. Then, your task is to elucidate in writing at least one element of racial, economic, and/or gender-based oppression that is present in the novel. You may rely on Marilyn Frye, Iris Marion Young, bell hooks or any of the other theories we’ve encountered in class so far, but this is not required. Make an argument in response to the broad question: “What is Toni Morrison trying to say about oppression in The Bluest Eye?” Back up your claims about the novel with citations and quotations.
Word to the wise: You do not need to bring other theories or readings of Morrison into your essay; you should not use this essay as an opportunity to write a personal reflection on how the novel makes you feel or what it makes you think of in your own life. The task is to reflect on the lessons Morrison is teaching readers about the experience of oppression.
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