View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What inexplicable activity does the character who unexpectedly appears in Ndotsheni with the village chief and magistrate participate in?
(a) They cut down trees.
(b) They dig up and remove buckets of dirt.
(c) They mark the ground with sticks and flags.
(d) They pull up crops.

2. Which character unexpectedly appears in Ndotsheni with the village chief and magistrate?
(a) The Judge.
(b) James Jarvis.
(c) Father Vincent.
(d) John Kumalo.

3. What other action does Absalom claim he took after ridding himself of the weapon?
(a) He encouraged his accomplices to turn themselves in with him.
(b) He prayed for forgiveness.
(c) He returned to the Jarvis house to try to revive Arthur.
(d) He planned to run away from Johannesburg.

4. What was the name of the paper Arthur Jarvis was writing about justice for blacks?
(a) “The Truth About Native Crime.”
(b) “A Modern Emancipation Proclamation.”
(c) “Don’t Blame the Natives.”
(d) “Equality and Justice for All.”

5. Which of the following is NOT a reason the Bishop wants to send Kumalo away from Ndotsheni?
(a) The Bishop thinks Kumalo is not educated enough to handle the financial accounting of the changes coming to Ndotsheni.
(b) The Bishop thinks Kumalo is too old to organize the construction of a new church.
(c) The Bishop thinks Kumalo’s close presence must distress the grieving Jarvis family.
(d) The Bishop thinks Kumalo has endured too much scandal to effectively lead his people.

Short Answer Questions

1. What option does Kumalo briefly consider upon returning home due to his shame regarding his family’s behavior?

2. What is the agricultural demonstrator’s attitude toward white people?

3. How many bullets were in the revolver at the time Absalom shot Arthur?

4. What time of day will Absalom be executed?

5. What word does Kumalo use to describe a quality about Arthur to James?

Short Essay Questions

1. What surprises James Jarvis most about people’s reaction to his son’s death?

2. Describe the reactions of Kumalo, Msimangu, James Jarvis, and the police to John Kumalo’s speech about black mining laborers need to demand more pay for their work.

3. How does the village chief’s interaction with the magistrate and James Jarvis support John Kumalo’s earlier statement about chiefs, “He is a trick, a trick to hold together something that the white man desires to hold together.”

4. What becomes Kumalo’s obsession when he returns to Ndotsheni, and what ways does he act on it? What are the results of his efforts?

5. Summarize the main events of the meeting between James Jarvis and Kumalo at the house of Jarvis’ kinswoman Barbara Smith.

6. Describe the incident Kumalo tells his friend about as a way of explaining his idea that James Jarvis is a compassionate man.

7. How does James Jarvis react when Kumalo tries to thank him for all the good work he is doing in Ndotsheni? Why does he likely react this way?

8. Describe how Kumalo reacts when the Bishop tells him he wants to remove Kumalo from Ndotsheni.

9. In Book Two, Chapter Five, who does the author make ultimately responsible for South African law, Judges or white South Africans, and why?

10. Briefly describe the relationship between James and Arthur Jarvis. How does it differ from Arthur’s relationship with his mother?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,339 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample