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. How do villagers respond to Kumalo’s return?
(a) They demand his resignation because of his family’s immorality.
(b) They are disappointed to see his replacement leave the village.
(c) They are overjoyed to have him back.
(d) They are indifferent and barely notice his return.

2. Who does Absalom claim planned the time and place for the house break?
(a) Richard Mpiring.
(b) Johannes Pafuri.
(c) Absalom himself.
(d) Matthew Kumalo.

3. Which of the following worry that John Kumalo’s speech to black miners could lead to an uprising?
(a) None of these answers.
(b) The police.
(c) Msimangu.
(d) James Jarvis.

4. How did the three accomplices disguise themselves during the housebreak?
(a) They pulled stockings over their faces.
(b) They wore sunglasses.
(c) They wore hats pulled low over their eyes.
(d) They tied handkerchiefs around their mouths.

5. Who has disappeared on the morning Kumalo is set to return to Ndotsheni?
(a) Gertrude.
(b) Absalom’s wife.
(c) Msimangu.
(d) Mrs. Lithebe.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which character unexpectedly appears in Ndotsheni with the village chief and magistrate?

2. Complete the following statement Kumalo makes when Arthur Jarvis’ son announces he will soon leave Natal: “When you go, something _______ will go out of Ndotsheni.”

3. Kumalo gets a packet of mail all at once. Which character does NOT send him a letter?

4. Whose death devastates the villagers of Ndotsheni?

5. What do Ndotsheni’s children lack which is causing them to die in greater than average numbers?

Short Essay Questions

1. What anxiety does Kumalo have over the death of Margaret Jarvis, and how does James Jarvis ease it?

2. What is the Judge’s ruling in the cases against Absalom and his two accomplices, Johannes and Matthew, and what are the Judge’s reasons for his verdicts?

3. 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.

4. Describe the final meeting between Stephen and John Kumalo.

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

6. Compare Arthur Jarvis’ son’s attitude toward Kumalo and by extension blacks, to the attitude of the generations above him.

7. Describe how Napoleon Letsitsi comes to be in Ndotsheni.

8. Describe Barbara Smith’s response to Kumalo’s question about her servant, and explain the significance of James’ translation of this answer to Kumalo.

9. 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?

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,189 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample