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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. Who does Bam meet that would like to use the gun?

2. Where does the photograph of Maureen and Lydia end up later in Life?

3. What is understood by July's girlfriend in the city to be July’s responsibilities?

4. What is a Primus?

5. What does July bring into the hut in Section 4?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Maureen get the car keys in Section 4, why, and what is July’s reaction?

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

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

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

5. Explain what Maureen discovers as she notices various gadgets being used around the village.

6. What is happening in South Africa at the time of the novel?

7. Explain Martha and July's mother's reaction to meeting Maureen in Section 2.

8. Describe what Bam and July are able to make for the village.

9. What does Victor’s anger at the “stealing” of “their” water show?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

July’s mother is a powerful female figure in his life. At the same time, however, she is being forced to do as July says. How does her role as a woman in the novel differ from the role of Maureen as a woman? Both are mothers and strong women. How do their differences show the differences in cultures, and how do their similarities show similarity in culture?

Essay Topic 2

Apartheid is another primary topic in the novel, as the blacks were continuously kept down by the white minority in power. Bam and Maureen claimed to fight against this concept. Do you think they really did? Why or why not? How do their actions in the novel show they enjoyed their privileged state more than they openly admitted? How did July feel about this?

Essay Topic 3

Although Maureen and Bam claim to be against the life of privileged whites, their children’s behaviors betray this concept. Choose one scene in which the behavior of the children leads one to believe they are, indeed, over privileged, and that they don’t share their parents’ views of equality for blacks.

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This section contains 856 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample