The Bluest Eye

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Defining Beauty”

In this activity, students will create collages that explore their perceptions of “beauty” and present them to the class.

Beauty is often tied to identity in The Bluest Eye. Consider your definition of “beautiful” and the factors that have led you to this definition. What has influenced you to define beauty this way?

• Write down your definition of beauty and the factors that have influenced you.
• Create a collage with pictures and words that visually represent your definition.
• Prepare a brief 1-minute presentation showcasing your collage and definition of beauty.
• As a class, discuss society’s expectations for beauty. What words or images are a common thread between society’s definition of beauty and the images and words from the presentations? Are there words or images that stand out? Why?
• Then, as a class, develop a replacement definition for beauty that includes all ages, sexes, races, and abilities.

Teaching Suggestion: It may be useful to have various magazines and other print media available for students to use for their collages. For in-class discussion, it may be helpful to create a two-column chart on the board for students to find similarities and differences in the ideas presented.

Differentiation Suggestion: Students may use a mind map to brainstorm their ideas before creating their collages to support thinking.

Paired Text Extension: “What is Beauty? And What’s Your Definition of Beauty?” by Segun Garuba-Okelarin

• This article may stimulate students’ thinking about an improved definition of cultural beauty.

Teaching Suggestion: Provide students with a list of common sayings regarding beauty, such as “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” and ask students to agree or disagree with each entry. Discuss students’ reasons for agreement or disagreement.