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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 hardship did Absalom’s girl suffer as a child?
(a) Her mother died when she was a baby.
(b) Her mother was an alcoholic.
(c) Her mother beat her daily.
(d) Her mother was sent to a mental asylum.

2. Why does Kumalo feel betrayed by his brother John?
(a) Because John renounces any familial bond with Stephen or Absalom.
(b) Because John is secretly gleeful that a white man is dead.
(c) Because John is prepared to act as an alibi to get his own son off the hook.
(d) Because John is willing to hire a lawyer to lie about his own son’s involvement in the murder.

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

4. What tragedy does the black woman suffer?
(a) Her child dies because she cannot access a doctor.
(b) She is forced to give her child to relatives to care for.
(c) Her child is disfigured when their house burns down.
(d) She miscarries an unborn child.

5. In Chapter 12, which of the following is NOT a suggestion among whites on how to deal with "native crime”?
(a) Some whites want to get blacks better education.
(b) Some whites want to segregate blacks into their own country.
(c) Some whites want to enslave black.
(d) Some whites want to hire more police.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the name of the woman who rents a room to Kumalo?

2. Where was the white man murdered?

3. Why does Kumalo humbly accept this apology rather than expressing his true feelings about the unnecessary anger directed at him?

4. How does Kumalo torture Absalom’s girl at first out of his disgust for her previous lifestyle?

5. What is Absalom’s attitude in jail?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the white reformatory worker’s reaction to the news that Absalom killed Arthur Jarvis, and why he reacts this way.

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

3. Describe three excuses Absalom gives to his father for why he killed Arthur Jarvis.

4. What does Kumalo tell Father Vincent worries or saddens him about the way Absalom is handling his arrest?

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

6. Describe Kumalo’s initial physical reaction when the white reformatory worker comes to apologize. Why does Kumalo behave this way? What effect does it have on the white reformer?

7. Explain why Msimangu wants to see Mrs. Mkize alone rather than telling Kumalo after Mrs. Ndlela tells him the police are looking for Absalom.

8. What does Kumalo fear when he hears of Arthur Jarvis’ murder?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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