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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 walk eleven miles.
(c) They take a bus.
(d) They accept a ride from a white man.

2. What is Stephen Kumalo’s profession?
(a) He is a farmer.
(b) He is a reverend.
(c) He is a tribal chief.
(d) He is a teacher.

3. 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?
(a) Confidently.
(b) Cheerfully.
(c) Deliberately.
(d) Slowly.

4. What is the name of the lawyer who agrees to represent Absalom?
(a) Mr. Christie.
(b) Mr. Smith.
(c) Mr. Johannes.
(d) Mr. Carmichael.

5. What is John Kumalo’s profession?
(a) He is a mine worker.
(b) He is a carpenter.
(c) He is a liquor bootlegger.
(d) He is a preacher.

Short Answer Questions

1. What country does Father Vincent come from?

2. After meeting with Absalom’s girl, how does Kumalo feel about the prospects for the future?

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

4. Why does Kumalo go to see his brother before visiting Absalom in jail?

5. What major family news did John fail to reveal to his family back in Ndotsheni?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

6. How does Gertrude react to seeing Kumalo in Johannesburg? How does she feel about her own behavior, and the prospect of returning to Ndotsheni?

7. Why does the government like Msimangu as a preacher? How is he like John Kumalo in his oratory?

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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