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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. After meeting with Absalom’s girl, how does Kumalo feel about the prospects for the future?
(a) He feels pessimistic.
(b) He feels a little bit of weight lifted from his shoulders.
(c) He feels completely optimistic.
(d) He feels exactly the same.

2. What title of respect do most people address Kumalo with?
(a) Umlungu.
(b) Amakhosi.
(c) Sawubona baba.
(d) Umfundisi.

3. When Kumalo et al. visit Absalom’s girl, how long has it been since she last saw Absalom?
(a) 4 days.
(b) 1 week.
(c) 2 weeks.
(d) 1 month.

4. How does Kumalo travel to the city?
(a) He travels by plane.
(b) He travels by train.
(c) He travels by ferry.
(d) He travels by bus.

5. Which character is angriest that Absalom has disappeared?
(a) Kumalo.
(b) The reformatory worker.
(c) The girl.
(d) Msimangu.

6. Which of the following reactions are black leaders NOT hoping to elicit from whites with the decrepit conditions of Shanty Town?
(a) Shock.
(b) Anger.
(c) A need for immediate action.
(d) Pity.

7. How does Absalom’s girl react when Kumalo tells her she will have to leave Johannesburg if she marries Absalom?
(a) She wants to put her baby up for adoption instead.
(b) She sulks and wishes to break off the engagement.
(c) She demands financial compensation for the inconvenience.
(d) She is pleased at the idea of a quiet, rural life.

8. What does Kumalo harshly criticize his son for doing before the crime was committed?
(a) He criticizes him for keeping company with “friends” he knew were not trustworthy.
(b) He criticizes him for failing to find Gertrude like he was supposed to.
(c) He criticizes him for getting a young girl pregnant.
(d) He criticizes him for leaving the village in the first place.

9. Who does Stephen Kumalo receive a letter from in the opening pages of the novel?
(a) John.
(b) Absalom.
(c) Gertrude.
(d) Msimangu.

10. Why did Kumalo’s sister originally go to the city?
(a) She went to search for Kumalo’s son.
(b) She went to find her husband who was working in the mines.
(c) She went to pursue a job as a teacher.
(d) She went as a servant to a white family.

11. What is the name of the murdered white man that Kumalo and Msimangu hear about upon returning to the mission?
(a) Arthur Jarvis.
(b) Michael Seme.
(c) Johannes Pafuri.
(d) Father Vincent.

12. Kumalo is described as moving _______, in the same rhythm as the tribal life. What is the adjective that best describes both tribal life and Kumalo’s movements?
(a) Cheerfully.
(b) Deliberately.
(c) Slowly.
(d) Confidently.

13. Which of the following is John’s main political agenda?
(a) He wants blacks to have the right to vote.
(b) He wants complete equal rights for blacks.
(c) He wants blacks to separate and form their own country.
(d) He wants better wages for blacks working in the gold mines.

14. Which of the following does the black woman NOT lament?
(a) That she does not have enough money to buy her way higher on the housing waiting list.
(b) That she and her husband ever left their small village.
(c) That she cannot send her children to better schools.
(d) That she has to take in boarders to feed her family.

15. What is John Kumalo’s profession?
(a) He is a mine worker.
(b) He is a preacher.
(c) He is a carpenter.
(d) He is a liquor bootlegger.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which woman has a reputation for being involved in illegal activity?

2. What was the motive for Absalom and his accomplices to break into the Jarvis house?

3. Where was the white man murdered?

4. Which of the following is NOT something Kumalo and his wife were saving money for?

5. What is the name of the family Absalom was living with in Orlando?

(see the answer keys)

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