View a FREE sample

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through "My Mother's Life".

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How did the author respond when another boy claimed that Fufi was his dog?
(a) He cussed the kid out.
(b) He allowed the boy to keep Fufi full-time.
(c) He pretended to let the boy keep Fufi, then kidnapped her under cover of night.
(d) He negotiated shared custody of the dog.

2. Why did Alexandra remain standing while other "black ghettoes" (201) were razed?
(a) The land in Alexandra had been sold to black tenants before doing so was made illegal.
(b) Alexandra was on a piece of holy ground that white people chose to respect.
(c) The residents of Alexandra fought off the white suburbanites.
(d) The white people allowed Alexandra to remain standing as an act of charity.

3. What made the author "realize [he] was black" (59)?
(a) Going to an elite private school where students were socially integrated.
(b) Failing to get along with his white father.
(c) Seeing his mother write "black" on a government census.
(d) Going to H. A. Jack Primary.

4. What happened between the author and the pack of colored boys under the mulberry tree in Eden Park?
(a) They called him "Bushman" and pelted him with berries.
(b) They made him help them burn down the tree.
(c) They shared their berries with him.
(d) They ate his berries right in front of him.

5. How did Frances Noah respond to the news that Abel was beating Patricia?
(a) She suggested that Abel was too drunk to be a real man.
(b) She promised to kill Abel.
(c) She accused Patricia Nombuyiselo of lying.
(d) She claimed that all men beat their wives.

Short Answer Questions

1. What predominately Zulu political group violently opposed the African National Congress after the end of apartheid?

2. What answer did Patricia give when the author asked her why she chose to give birth to him?

3. How did Patricia react after the author explained what happened to him under the mulberry tree?

4. How does the author explain his remark that he and his mother "weren't just mother and son" (70)?

5. Why does the author say he never felt poor when living alone with Patricia?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 459 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample