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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. Which car manufacturing plant did Styles originally work for?

2. What is the main character reading at the opening of the play?

3. In the letter being read aloud in Part 2, what does it declare about Sizwe Banzi?

4. Why was the owner of the car manufacturer plant unable to give the speech he wanted to give?

5. What is the name of the character first seen in the opening part of the play?

Short Essay Questions

1. Comment upon the feelings of what a western audience might feel in the face of the idea of changing one's identity.

2. How do Sizwe and Buntu find the dead body after they leave the bar?

3. How do Styles' three stories also paint a clear picture of the living situation of black workers in South Africa in the time of Apartheid?

4. What does Sizwe claim that the dead Robert is doing in light of the idea of Sizwe taking his identity/name?

5. At the start of Part 3, why does Buntu say Sizwe is in real trouble?

6. How does Part 2 draw the audience in to the play in general?

7. Why could it be hypocritical of Buntu to tell the story about Jacob?

8. In Buntu's story about Jacob, what does the preacher say about death?

9. Of what significance is the fact that Styles is the same character as Buntu?

10. How is Buntu's display in order to convince Sizwe to change identities particularly powerful?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Given the desperation of the situation in which blacks found themselves in Apartheid-era South Africa, is it honorable or dishonorable for Sizwe to claim the identity of a dead man? Explain your answer with examples from the text.

Essay Topic 2

Comment upon the notion that Styles' statement that 'we own nothing but ourselves' could be construed as being ignorant, coming as it does from a successful black businessman in South Africa.

Essay Topic 3

How does the playwright reveal information about the central character of Sizwe Banzi, and how does this draw the audience into his story?

(see the answer keys)

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