Beloved
STUDENT COPY
Beloved
Part 1
Chapter 1
l.
How does Morrisons personification of the house help reveal both plot and characterization?
2.
Explain the literal and figurative significance of "milk' and the "chokecherry tree" in this
chapter.
3.
\\'hat is the nature of the relationship between Sethe and Denver?
Chapter 2
l.
Explain the point of view used by Monison in Beloved. What purpose does it seem to serve?
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Beloved
STUDENT COPY
Chapter 3
l.
What, according to the text is nmemory? How has this concept already defined and influenced
the novel?
2.
Why is this chapter-even though it recounts Sethe's escape from Sweet Home-largely
told from Denver's perspective?
Chapters 4- 6
l.
ln light of Beloved's appearance at the start of Chapter 5, what is the thematic significance
of the carnival scene that immediately precedes it?
2.
\\'hat is ironic about Sethe's and Denver's initial reactions to Beloveds presence?
3.
After relating Sethe's fragmented memories of her mother in Chapter Six, the text notes
that Sethe "was angry, hut not certain at what." What is the likely reason for this anger?
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Beloved
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Chapters 7- 8
l.
What does Paul D mean when he describes his inner self as having a "tobacco tin buried
in his chest where its heart used to be... its tin rusted shut," and what were the primary
reasons for the development of this state of mind?
2.
Explain the significance of the fifth paragraph from the end of the chapter, which starts
with "Spores of bluefern," and ends with '·longer, perhaps, than the spore itself," to the
chapter as a whole.
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Beloved
STUDENT COPY
Chapters 9- 11
l.
Compare and contrast Baby Suggs before and after Sethe's arrival at 124 Bluestone.
2.
What, according to the chapter, has caused 124 Bluestone to have a "presence full of spite"?
3.
How does Paul D's experience at the prison camp transform him?
4.
What is the symbolic significance of turtles in this portion of the text?
5.
Morrison ends Chapter 11 with Beloved's seduction of Paul D. and his screams of "red
heart." How is this phrase symbolic of Paul D's present emotional state?
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Beloved
STUDENT COPY
Chapters 12 -14
l.
What is the significance of Denver!> retreating so often to the secret field behind the house?
2.
Why are learning to read and write so important to Denver?
3.
What is Denver's '·original hunger"?
Chapters 15 -1B
l.
The description of Sethe's murder of Beloved is told over the course of three chapters and
from three different perspectives. From whose perspective is each chapter told, and what
is each character's response to Sethe's killing her child?
2.
\\11at might he the authors purpose for presenting this single act from multiple viewpoints?
3.
\\'hat does Paul D. mean when he thinks that "more important than what Sethe had done
was what she claimed"?
STUDY GUIDE
Beloved
STUDENT COPY
Part 2
Chapter 1
l.
How does what Stamp Paid hears outside of 124 Bluestone differ from what is taking place
inside of the house?
2.
How does guilt shape how Sethe and Stamp Paid are characterized in this chapter?
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Beloved
STUDENT COPY
Chapters 2- 5
l.
Who is speaking in each of these chapters? To whom?
2.
How does milk function as a symbol throughout this sequence?
3.
Why does Morrison have all three women invoke the refrain "she is mine"?
4.
What does Beloveds monologue describe? \Vhatis the "hot thing"? How does this description
connect to Sethe?
5.
Explain the stylistic dements of Beloveds monologue and Morrison\; purpose in constructing
the chapter this way.
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Beloved
STUDENT COPY
Chapters 6 & 7
l.
Why, at this point in the novel, does Morrison choose to focus on Paul D,s failure to
escape Sweet Home?
2.
What does Paul D'S designation of Beloved as "reminding me of something,, ,something,
look like, I'm supposed to remember" suggest about her symbolic role in the novel?
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STUDY GUIDE
Beloved
STUDENT COPY
Part 3
Chapter 1
l.
How have Beloved's, Sethe's, and Denver's roles changed in the months following their
retreat from the outside world?
2.
\\11at is ironic about the community's confrontation with Beloved at the end of the chapter?
Chapters 2- 3
l.
How has Paul D.'s narrative changed from earlier chapters?
2.
ln what ways is the novel's ending ambiguous?
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