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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 was the motive for Absalom and his accomplices to break into the Jarvis house?

2. How long has it been since the Kumalos heard from their son?

3. Which word(s) best describes John’s feelings toward tribal chiefs and the Church?

4. What does Mrs. Ndlela tell Kumalo and Msimangu about Absalom that concerns them?

5. Where does the taxi driver tell Kumalo and Msimangu that Absalom might be living?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. Explain why the lawyer, Mr. Carmichael, takes Absalom’s case without payment.

5. Explain the irony of the death of Arthur Jarvis at the hands of a black person.

6. Why does Msimangu apologize to Kumalo after they have met the pregnant girl?

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

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

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

10. How does Kumalo treat the pregnant girl when she reveals she has had two other “husbands,” and why?

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 author's use of irony in Cry, the Beloved Country. What are specific examples of irony from the text? What type of irony is being used? How does this example further the plot of the narrative?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the changes in Johannesburg from the time that the novel is set to today. How has Apartheid changed and is it still practiced in South Africa? What has prompted the changes in the country?

(see the answer keys)

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