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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. Who is July’s favorite child?

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

3. What does July say about Bam to Victor when he complains about the water?

4. What makes the children happy, as nothing can?

5. What is understood by July's girlfriend in the city to be July’s responsibilities?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What was the relationship between July’s “town woman” and July? What was the relationship between July's town woman and Maureen?

3. What does Maureen mean when she says “death is a purchase” (pg 65)?

4. Explain what Maureen discovers as she notices various gadgets being used around the village.

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

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

7. Why do you think July is so insistent that the Smalls continue to allow him and his family to work for them?

8. Where does July explain he has been with the car in Section 4, and what is Bam’s concern?

9. What does July say that makes Maureen equally angry in Section 5?

10. What happened to the blacks under the Small’s employ, including July?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The children in the novel regress throughout the book, and by the end, they are having difficulty even reading. Describe at least three moments in the book where one of the children “loses” their privileged behaviors and instead substitutes behaviors they are learning from the village children. What does this indicate about their ability to adapt, as opposed to their parents’ ability?

Essay Topic 2

The photograph of Maureen and Lydia is a focal point for Maureen in the novel. Explain what that photograph would mean in apartheid South Africa. Why was this so important for Maureen as an adult? What did the photograph imply, to her, as she noted her ignorance? Do you think she has changed? How?

Essay Topic 3

In the story, Martha’s character dreams of keeping her husband near, while her husband dreams of returning to life in the city. What do you think explains these differences, and what do you think this means for the couple? What do you think July will do, regardless of the outcome of the riots? What will Martha do, and why?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 912 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample