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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. How do Kumalo and Msimangu travel to Alexandra?
(a) They take a taxi.
(b) They accept a ride from a white man.
(c) They walk eleven miles.
(d) They take a bus.

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

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

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

5. What weapon did Absalom use to kill Arthur Jarvis?
(a) A revolver.
(b) His bare hands.
(c) A knife.
(d) An iron bar.

Short Answer Questions

1. What tribe does Kumalo belong to?

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

3. What country does Father Vincent come from?

4. Chapter 12 steps out of the main plot to relate snippets of whites reacting to “native crime” via what platform?

5. Msimangu ministers to a community of people who suffer from which of the following?

Short Essay Questions

1. What unofficial title do most members of Ndotsheni bestow on Kumalo’s wife, and what does it signify?

2. Compare and contrast Kumalo and Msimangu’s reaction to Absalom’s pregnant girl.

3. What feelings do Stephen Kumalo and his wife have before they open the letter they receive at the beginning of the book? Why do they feel this way?

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

5. Describe some ways John Kumalo has changed since he moved to Johannesburg from Ndotsheni.

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

7. What happens to Kumalo as soon as he arrives in Johannesburg? How does this reinforce his feelings about the city?

8. 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?

9. Describe two sides of the debate that whites have about “native crime” as indicated in the conversations in Chapter 12.

10. Explain the irony of the death of Arthur Jarvis at the hands of a black person.

(see the answer keys)

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