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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What was the murdered man most well-known for?
(a) He spoke and wrote publicly for equal rights for blacks.
(b) He had married a black woman.
(c) He advocated for a separate nation for blacks.
(d) He was a rising local politician.

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

3. What wealth-making industry has drawn so many young men to the city?
(a) Diamonds.
(b) Platinum.
(c) Oil.
(d) Gold.

4. Which character shows the most disgust toward the Absalom’s girl’s behavior?
(a) The reformatory worker.
(b) Msimangu.
(c) Absalom.
(d) Kumalo.

5. What neighborhood is Gertrude living in?
(a) Orlando.
(b) Claremont.
(c) Alexandra.
(d) Sophiatown.

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

7. How does Absalom react to Kumalo’s news that he will be married?
(a) He is happy to hear it.
(b) He begs his father to spare the girl the humiliation of marrying a condemned man.
(c) He is so despondent nothing can affect his mood.
(d) He is displeased to hear it.

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

9. Chapter 12 steps out of the main plot to relate snippets of whites reacting to “native crime” via what platform?
(a) Private conversations.
(b) Radio addresses.
(c) Newspaper articles.
(d) Public meetings.

10. What major family news did John fail to reveal to his family back in Ndotsheni?
(a) He never told them he divorced his wife.
(b) He never told them he had given his daughter up for adoption.
(c) He never told them he was terminally ill.
(d) He never told them his son was in jail.

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

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

13. Who does the letter at the beginning of the novel claim is sick?
(a) Kumalo’s nephew.
(b) Kumalo’s brother.
(c) Kumalo’s sister.
(d) Kumalo’s son.

14. Who tells Kumalo that Absalom is responsible for the murder?
(a) Father Vincent.
(b) Gertrude.
(c) John Kumalo.
(d) The reformatory worker.

15. What is Kumalo’s connection to the murdered man?
(a) The man worked at the reformatory where Absalom was held.
(b) The man visited Ndotsheni to lecture on agricultural reform.
(c) His father owns a farm near Kumalo’s village.
(d) Kumalo’s mother was a cook for the man’s family.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why are Absalom’s accomplices angry with him?

2. What language does John prefer to speak?

3. How does Kumalo travel to the city?

4. How long is the waiting list for a new house in Orlando?

5. What country does Father Vincent come from?

(see the answer keys)

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