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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. What is the name of the woman who rents a room to Kumalo?
2. What is Stephen Kumalo’s profession?
3. After meeting with Absalom’s girl, how does Kumalo feel about the prospects for the future?
4. What is the name of the taxi driver who is friends with Absalom?
5. Which character encourages Kumalo to pray and look for things to be grateful for rather than to wallow in self-pity?
Short Essay Questions
1. What does Kumalo tell Father Vincent worries or saddens him about the way Absalom is handling his arrest?
2. Briefly describe the life of the woman who is the protagonist of Chapter 9, living in Orlando’s Shanty Town.
3. Why does the government like Msimangu as a preacher? How is he like John Kumalo in his oratory?
4. 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?
5. Describe three excuses Absalom gives to his father for why he killed Arthur Jarvis.
6. Why is Kumalo upset that John Kumalo decides to get a lawyer to defend his own son in the trial about the murder?
7. Why does Mrs. Lithebe warn the pregnant girl about spending time with Gertrude?
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. Explain how Kumalo and his wife a.) mainly intended to use their savings; b.) how they have to use it now; and c.) why this shift does not ultimately matter.
10. Compare and contrast Kumalo and Msimangu’s reaction to Absalom’s pregnant girl.
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Who is the protagonist of the novel and why? Would you have preferred the novel be told from another character’s perspective? Who and why? Make a strong argument for your protagonist, and support your argument with examples from the text.
Essay Topic 2
Discuss the historical context of Cry, the Beloved Country. When was this novel written? What real-life experiences influenced the author in this work? How does the novel reflect upon the political and social atmosphere of South Africa?
Essay Topic 3
Discuss the theme of intention in Cry, the Beloved Country. In this novel, the narrator points out when characters act cruelly despite opposite intentions. What are examples of miscommunicated intentions in the novel and how do they impact the plot?
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This section contains 1,174 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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