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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 does Greer tell Rosa about the book that he has read from a former political prisoner now in exile?

2. What did the trial after the strike allow the government to do?

3. What is James afraid of in regards to the black children?

4. Why do Rosa and Marcus go to Cape Town?

5. What is mealie?

Short Essay Questions

1. What cloak and dagger stuff has Rosa been involved in in the past, and what were the results?

2. From pages 62-70, how does Rosa view herself? What does she know about herself that she wishes she could change but won't?

3. What memory does Rosa describe as she and Conrad stop in front of her dad's house one evening while taking a walk?

4. What politics are the Burgers involved in and what is their stand on the issue?

5. What offering does the baby boy make to Rosa? Where does the item come from, and what is its significance?

6. How does Conrad see Rosa's childhood and where does he believe it will lead her?

7. In the first section of the novel pages 9-39, many points of view are used. Whose points of view is the story told from?

8. How is Rosa's life tragic as shown in the first section of the novel?

9. How is Rosa's life different than her cousin who carries her name?

10. What recollections does Rosa have and why is she thinking about the past in after her visit to the Terblanche's home?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is Bernard's role in the novel? Why does Gordimer create his character? What contrasts is the reader made to see through him?

Essay Topic 2

What is Apartheid? Where did it stem from? What was the reasoning behind it? How long did it exist in South Africa? What were the effects of it?

Essay Topic 3

Explain the theme of the novel that relates to Rosa and her destiny. She states that "Our children and our children's children". What is meant by that fragment in relation to her destiny?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,124 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample