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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 does Maureen do when she menstruates?

2. What object does Bam not keep in his home?

3. What has Maureen learned to make appropriately by Section 4?

4. Why does Bam know something has happened in Section 4?

5. How much time has passed since Maureen and Bam left Johannesburg?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the bakke, and its use in the Smalls family, both previously and currently.

2. What happened to the blacks under the Small’s employ, including July?

3. Where does July explain he has been with the car in Section 4, and what is Bam’s concern?

4. What does July say that makes Maureen equally angry in Section 5?

5. Why is July so humiliated that Maureen doesn’t like him having the car keys?

6. What does the author mean by “a contempt and humiliation that came from their blood and his” (pg 62)?

7. Describe the shooting of the warthog, and the resulting meal for the Smalls.

8. Explain Maureen’s reaction to meeting Martha and July’s mother in Section 2.

9. What types of items does July continue to bring the Smalls family, even in his village?

10. Why do you think July is so insistent that the Smalls continue to allow him and his family to work for them?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The children in the novel regress throughout the book, and by the end, they are having difficulty even reading. Describe at least three moments in the book where one of the children “loses” their privileged behaviors and instead substitutes behaviors they are learning from the village children. What does this indicate about their ability to adapt, as opposed to their parents’ ability?

Essay Topic 2

July plays up his power role in his home community, telling the Smalls he is listened to in his village and that he is powerful. However, Maureen accuses him of attempting to use them, and their belongings, to further his power. Why would July need the Smalls, or their things, to improve standing in his community, and what does this imply about July as a person?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast July’s life in town with his life in his own village. What does he have in town that he doesn’t have at home? How does this change him? Which life does he prefer? How can you tell? How does his refusal to use African medicine, and his constant comments that the whites don’t need to work show his underlying resentment and humiliation for his life in his village?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 952 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample