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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. Bessie states that the system in South Africa sees blacks as not what?

2. Bessie feels that the main function of a writer is to communicate what?

3. Bessie states that one day all nations shall dwell under what shadow?

4. How many cattle died in the major drought in Botswana?

5. In Chapter 2, Bessie states that Botswana has survived by what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Bessie's opinion of Botswana men?

2. Why was it so difficult for Bessie to deal with South Africa creatively?

3. In "African Religions," what does Bessie state is at the root of religion in Africa?

4. How does Bessie describe the world that a black South African is born into?

5. In "God and The Underdog," what does Bessie feel fuels revolutions?

6. Why does Bessie think of the American woman as some sort of goddess?

7. In Chapter 2, what does Bessie think that the spirit of the Nigra Goddess has done for the blacks in America?

8. Why according to Bessie has Botswana survived by "sheer luck and unexpected good fortune"?

9. What was Bessie's first experience of racism in a black form?

10. In Chapter 2, why is the friendship between Bessie and the American woman painful?

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

While Bessie is a true supporter of the black Africans, she can also be highly critical of them. Their lack of initiative in trying to better their situation is a common frustration to Bessie. List three examples that illustrate Bessie's frustration with perceived "passivity" of other black Africans. Bessie admits that she prefers to be on the sidelines when writing. Do you think that it's fair for Bessie to judge others from the sidelines instead of getting actively involved herself?

Essay Topic 3

After reading "A Woman Alone," what are your views on oppression? How does it begin? What is it based on? Does it spiral out of control or is it a deliberate action? How do events in South Africa since he 1990s seem compared to the hopes of the previously oppressed people?

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