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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Where was the white man murdered?
(a) He was murdered while working with poor blacks.
(b) He was murdered on the street.
(c) He was murdered in his own home.
(d) He was murdered at the gold mines.

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

3. What strategy does the lawyer intend to use in Absalom’s case?
(a) He plans to hire false witnesses to claim they saw one of the other defendants fire the gun.
(b) He believes the truth of Absalom’s testimony and will center the case on it.
(c) He intends to center the argument around the testimony of the beaten house servant.
(d) He believes there is no way to win because Absalom has already confessed and is sure to hang.

4. 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) Deliberately.
(b) Slowly.
(c) Cheerfully.
(d) Confidently.

5. How long does it take to erect Shanty Town?
(a) One year.
(b) One week.
(c) One month.
(d) One night.

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

7. What is Stephen Kumalo’s profession?
(a) He is a teacher.
(b) He is a tribal chief.
(c) He is a reverend.
(d) He is a farmer.

8. What is the main industry that drives Kumalo’s village?
(a) Fishing.
(b) Agriculture.
(c) Mining.
(d) Industrial factories.

9. What tribe does Kumalo belong to?
(a) Xhosa.
(b) Sotho.
(c) Bantu.
(d) Zulu.

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

11. What kind of protest affects Kumalo and Msimangu’s attempts to locate Absalom?
(a) A voting rally.
(b) A mining strike.
(c) A bus boycott.
(d) A labor march.

12. Why are Absalom’s accomplices angry with him?
(a) Because he refuses to lie and take all the blame for the crime upon himself.
(b) Because he is collecting false witnesses who saw them at the crime scene.
(c) Because he lied to the police about which of them shot Arthur Jarvis.
(d) Because he faked illness to get a better prison cell than them.

13. What is the profession of the murdered white man?
(a) He is a university professor.
(b) He is a mining executive.
(c) He is an engineer.
(d) He is a doctor.

14. What year does the novel take place?
(a) 1936.
(b) 1946.
(c) 1956.
(d) 1966.

15. How does Kumalo torture Absalom’s girl at first out of his disgust for her previous lifestyle?
(a) He tells her he knows Absalom is not the baby’s father and they bear no responsibility for it.
(b) He tells her Absalom has refused to marry her.
(c) He tells her she must sleep with him if she wants to be looked after.
(d) He tells her she must give the baby to him to raise with his wife while she remains in Johannesburg.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Kumalo do with Gertrude and her son after she has apologized for her sinful ways?

2. What is the name of the taxi driver who is friends with Absalom?

3. What hardship did Absalom’s girl suffer as a child?

4. Why does Kumalo go to see his brother before visiting Absalom in jail?

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

(see the answer keys)

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