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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the name of the taxi driver who is friends with Absalom?
(a) Dubula.
(b) Hlabeni.
(c) Pafuri.
(d) Matthew.

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

3. What is the FIRST place Kumalo and Msimangu visit to track down Absalom?
(a) They visit the Shanty Town in Orlando.
(b) They visit a factory where Absalom worked.
(c) They visit Mrs. Ndlela’s house.
(d) They visit a reformatory.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What was the murdered man most well-known for?

2. What neighborhood is Gertrude living in?

3. How does Absalom’s girl react when Kumalo tells her she will have to leave Johannesburg if she marries Absalom?

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?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Msimangu apologize to Kumalo after they have met the pregnant girl?

2. What are two ways Absalom seems to have been getting into trouble since moving to Johannesburg?

3. How does Kumalo treat the pregnant girl when she reveals she has had two other “husbands,” and why?

4. What additional errand does a friend of Kumalo’s ask him to run while he is in the city? How does this reflect the themes of the novel?

5. Why is Kumalo upset that John Kumalo decides to get a lawyer to defend his own son in the trial about the murder?

6. Describe the reaction of the pregnant girl to the prospect of living in Ndotsheni. Why does she react this way?

7. Briefly discuss John’s hypocritical attitude towards both the church and tribal chiefs.

8. Explain how Kumalo and his wife a.) mainly intended to use their savings; b.) how they have to use it now; and c.) why this shift does not ultimately matter.

9. How does the white reformatory worker’s attitude toward Absalom differ from all the other people who have interacted with Absalom that Kumalo meets?

10. Explain why the lawyer, Mr. Carmichael, takes Absalom’s case without payment.

(see the answer keys)

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