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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Bam do for leisure in Section 3?

2. What did July’s wife give up for the Smalls?

3. Why does Maureen not enter July’s hut?

4. When were July’s children conceived?

5. Why does Maureen want to keep the small warthog?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain Maureen’s reaction to meeting Martha and July’s mother in Section 2.

2. What do Maureen and Bam argue about in Section 3?

3. What does the author mean by “a contempt and humiliation that came from their blood and his” (pg 62)?

4. What does Martha mean in Section 2 when she says she was surprised at the way Maureen looked?

5. Why does July object to Maureen’s use of his wife’s cough syrup?

6. Why is July so humiliated that Maureen doesn’t like him having the car keys?

7. What is happening in South Africa at the time of the novel?

8. Describe the situation with the vehicle in Section 3.

9. Describe the bakke, and its use in the Smalls family, both previously and currently.

10. What does the son mean when he says “They can’t do anything. Nothing to us anymore” (pg 21).

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

July plays up his power role in his home community, telling the Smalls he is listened to in his village and that he is powerful. However, Maureen accuses him of attempting to use them, and their belongings, to further his power. Why would July need the Smalls, or their things, to improve standing in his community, and what does this imply about July as a person?

Essay Topic 2

July’s mother is a powerful female figure in his life. At the same time, however, she is being forced to do as July says. How does her role as a woman in the novel differ from the role of Maureen as a woman? Both are mothers and strong women. How do their differences show the differences in cultures, and how do their similarities show similarity in culture?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast July’s life in town with his life in his own village. What does he have in town that he doesn’t have at home? How does this change him? Which life does he prefer? How can you tell? How does his refusal to use African medicine, and his constant comments that the whites don’t need to work show his underlying resentment and humiliation for his life in his village?

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