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

2. In "God and the underdog," what do the Ku Klux Klan members discover when they get to heaven?

3. What was Bessie suffering from when she was trying to forge a friendship with the American woman?

4. What did Bessie feel defeated her in South Africa as a writer?

5. In "African religions," what does African religion focus on?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

5. Why does Bessie consider Botswana the "most unique and distinguished country in Africa"?

6. In "Despite Broken Bondage . . .," how were women treated in Africa before independence?

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

8. Why was Bessie able to write in Botswana rather than South Africa?

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

10. When Bessie arrived in Botswana in 1964, what were the major differences that she noticed between that country and South Africa?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Bessie views African religion as "within oneself," with no need for institutions or communal worship. Does this seem to work well, for them? Why does Bessie think that this fits into their basic philosophy of life? Bessie states that this is the religion of any people who have never been wanted by the rest of mankind nor had the means or education to find God in a "posh place." Do you agree with this statement? Does a place of worship have to be posh? Is the fact of a community coming together more important than the structure that they worship in? Why, do you think, she assumes that all organized religions have elegant places of worship? Do you think she's right? Given the black South African's sense of being set apart from the rest of the world, do you think their type of "individual" worship only serves to emphasize their "aloneness"? Would a more group-based religion make them feel like part of something larger?

Essay Topic 2

Bessie thinks that friendship is very important in South Africa. What kind of country is South Africa, according to her? What do you find yourself doing if you have friends? What are you left alone to face if your friends flee the country? What do friends allow you to do that Bessie feels is essential to not becoming passive? Describe the good friend that Bessie had in South Africa and what effect his fleeing the country had on her.

Essay Topic 3

Khama the Great had a great impact on the history of Botswana. What was his most important accomplishment? Why was he so different? What did he possess that made even the British, stand in awe of him? In a nation of downtrodden people how did he manage to have such strength? How did he retain this and not fall into the doom and despair mind-set of his countrymen? Why did the British give him rights that no black man had ever gotten? Were they not used to seeing integrity and strength in a black man? Do you think that they were afraid of him? What would have been the result for Botswana had he not existed?

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