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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 did Bessie create in Botswana?

2. Where was Bessie born?

3. Why does Bessie believe that the artist Gladys Mgudlandlu is so successful?

4. What happened to Snowball?

5. In 1966, Bessie wrote that some people from the American State Department came to Botswana, but they couldn't talk about what?

Short Essay Questions

1. In 1966, what changes were made regarding refugees in Botswana?

2. How does Bessie describe Botswana in 1964?

3. In "An Unspeakable Crime," why does Bessie feel discouraged by the South African blacks?

4. Why do the South African blacks relate to the artist, Gladys Mgudlandlu?

5. How does Bessie describe the Botswana flag to students during the independence celebration?

6. How was African Independence celebrated in Botswana?

7. Why was Bessie given up for adoption?

8. How did Bessie react when she was forbidden to visit her adoptive family on school holidays?

9. What facts about her parentage were brutally told to Bessie by the magistrate and the missionary?

10. Why did Bessie keep all the notes that the American woman gave her?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Conflict is the main theme of "A Woman Alone". Do you think that there was just as much internal conflict in the book as external? Do you believe that external conflicts are a direct result of individual internal conflicts? Explain Bessie's internal conflict regarding her avoidance of all things revolutionary and liberatory. Was she always proud of this? Did it sometimes create problems with others? Do you think that Bessie avoided these issues because she didn't think that they were effective or because she knew that she couldn't deal with them mentally?

Essay Topic 2

Bessie developed an early love for Capetown and returned there frequently. What did her friends tell her about Capetown in 1958? Why does she love it so much? What sense does she get there? Why do the whites of the Cape describe it as having a liberal tradition? What does Bessie think of their assessment? Why does she say they pride themselves on this? What kind of personality do the Cape Coloureds have that she admires? What compromise have they made with the ruling group? What impressions do you get from Bessie regarding this compromise?

Essay Topic 3

Oppression stunted and almost obliterated Bessie's creativity. And yet, the musician, Makeba, seemed to revel in it. Why do you think it would affect two people so differently? Is it a question of passion? Does it create more passion for some and less for others? Do you think that Makeba's passion for liberation fueled her in a creative sense? Did she use the situation to her own advantage? Did Bessie's avoidance of anything liberatory or revolutionary deny her this? Had she been more liberal, might she have been able to write?

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