View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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 she must give the baby to him to raise with his wife while she remains in Johannesburg.
(c) He tells her she must sleep with him if she wants to be looked after.
(d) He tells her Absalom has refused to marry her.

2. Why does Kumalo go to see his brother before visiting Absalom in jail?
(a) Because John’s rousing oratory has been implicated in the justification for murder.
(b) Because John’s own son was an accomplice in the murder.
(c) Because John is a powerful man and might be able to help Absalom get bail.
(d) Because John is Absalom’s godfather and will want to visit Absalom as well.

3. Why does Kumalo humbly accept this apology rather than expressing his true feelings about the unnecessary anger directed at him?
(a) Because as a priest, he feels it is his duty to turn the other cheek.
(b) Because he is so preoccupied with worry he did not even register he was being mistreated.
(c) Because as a black man he has no place to criticize a white man’s behavior.
(d) Because he feels so much responsibility for his son’s sins he thinks he deserves to be treated harshly.

4. What neighborhood did the murdered white man live in?
(a) Springs.
(b) Carisbrooke.
(c) Parkwold.
(d) Alexandra.

5. How many “husbands” did Absalom’s girl have before Absalom?
(a) Six.
(b) Four.
(c) Eight.
(d) Two.

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

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

8. Where is Msimangu’s ministry for the disabled?
(a) Umzimkulu.
(b) Springs.
(c) Odendaalsrust.
(d) Ezenzeleni.

9. What is the name of the family Absalom was living with in Orlando?
(a) Pafuri.
(b) Jarvis.
(c) Hlayshwayo.
(d) Seme.

10. 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 cannot send her children to better schools.
(c) That she has to take in boarders to feed her family.
(d) That she and her husband ever left their small village.

11. How long has it been since the Kumalos heard from their son?
(a) One month.
(b) Two years.
(c) One year.
(d) Six months.

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 faked illness to get a better prison cell than them.
(c) Because he lied to the police about which of them shot Arthur Jarvis.
(d) Because he is collecting false witnesses who saw them at the crime scene.

13. Where does the taxi driver tell Kumalo and Msimangu that Absalom might be living?
(a) Claremont.
(b) Carisbrooke.
(c) Shanty Town.
(d) Springs.

14. What neighborhood of the city does Msimangu live in?
(a) Sophiatown.
(b) Orlando.
(c) Alexandra.
(d) Claremont.

15. 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 demands financial compensation for the inconvenience.
(c) She is pleased at the idea of a quiet, rural life.
(d) She sulks and wishes to break off the engagement.

Short Answer Questions

1. How long does it take to erect Shanty Town?

2. What year does the novel take place?

3. What is Gertrude’s main emotion when Kumalo discovers how she is living?

4. Why did Kumalo’s sister originally go to the city?

5. What is Stephen Kumalo’s profession?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 684 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample