Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye

Full Tuition: $200 — Scholarship options are available in the drop-down enrollment menu for you to self-select.

Instructor: Spratley | 3-Week Reading Group | Mondays | November 27 - December 11 | 5:00 - 7:00 PM ET | ONLINE

Please note that students who enroll after 11/17 will receive the syllabus on Monday, 11/27

Toni Morrison emerged as one of the most skillful and important minds in American literature with the publication of The Bluest Eye in 1970. Yet the concepts and narrative of The Bluest Eye initially received such little consideration from readers and critics that it went out of print by 1974. Of writing the novel, Morrison said, "What was driving me to write was the silence--so many stories untold and unexamined." Together we will read this novel and consider the story of Pecola Breedlove, a character whose interiority Morrison brings into stark, living relief. We will ask ourselves: How do white supremacist constructs of beauty live inside the minds and bodies of us all--and at what cost? What does it mean to be observed, and what does it mean to be an observer? And whose gaze do we observe with?

Students will focus on reading sections of The Bluest Eye between classes, with no other preparation required. During class, we will also reference work by Kimberlé Crenshaw, Nikky Finney, Claudia Rankine, and other scholars examining the intersection of race and class through the Black female experience. 

Classes are recorded to allow for students to participate asynchronously. If you want to take a class but cannot make the class time, sign up for the asynchronous audit option to follow along on your own. Recordings are password protected and will only be available for the duration of the class and two weeks after it ends.

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Night School Bar pays instructors and staff a living wage, and your tuition goes toward supporting this practice. Please pick the payment tier that corresponds to your needs, and consider our commitment to fair labor practices when doing so. We will never request or require proof of need, and do not use an income-based sliding scale; we trust you to decide what payment tier is right for you. If you would like additional support deciding or would like to learn more about the practice of using a sliding scale, we recommend this resource from Embracing Equity. 

We are currently able to offer three full scholarships per class, and one full scholarship per person per term. If the scholarship tier you need is sold out or you would like to pay tuition on an installment basis, please email us directly, and we will work with you.

If at any point up to 48 hours before your first class session you realize you will be unable to take the class, please email us and we will reallocate your funds to a future class, to another student’s scholarship, or refund it. After that point, we are able to offer 50% refunds.