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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. Besides Pieter, who is angry about being born?

2. In Chapter 21, who said to Pieter, "duty is duty"?

3. According to Jakob in Chapter 15, who thinks the phalarope is a bird of the coast?

4. Trying to find out if anyone in the black community knew what he had done, who did Pieter ask his house boy about?

5. Who has a heart-to-heart conversation in the kitchen pantry?

Short Essay Questions

1. What news does Japie bring about Stephanie and Abraham Kaplan?

2. Why does Pieter decide not to confide in the new dominee about Stephanie? Later, why not confide in Nella? Who does he decide to confide in?

3. Pieter tried to go on with his life as usual. How?

4. After being with Stephanie the first time, why is Pieter terrified by the sound of a twig cracking a note on his door?

5. Who went on the van Vlaanderen family picnic and who went bird watching during this picnic?

6. When Japie brought Pieter back home, what did Pieter do?

7. What does Pieter's mom do after Jakob dies?

8. When Pieter went to see the old woman, Esther, after Stephanie's prison time ended, what happened?

9. After being with Stephanie a second time, the lieutenant is even more upset with himself. How does he respond to being asked to be a diaken?

10. Why does Pieter go to the park and what are his thoughts while there?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Several people make decisions in the first few chapters of the story (Pieter, Nella, Dick, Stephanie, Esther). What do these decisions reveal about each of these characters? What do these decisions reveal about the society in which they live? How do any of these decisions serve as an early indicator of what is to come in the story?

Essay Topic 2

How does the author convey happiness in Chapters 13 and 14? How does this affect the story's pace, tone, etc.? Use details from settings and character interactions to support your responses.

Essay Topic 3

Each character's response to Pieter's involvement with Stephanie reveals something about them. Discuss this unveiling for Kappie, Sophie, Koos, Jakob, Pieter's mother, Vorster, and Pieter's younger sister and the captain.

(see the answer keys)

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