CHAPTER 1: THE BEGINNINGS (1918-1941)
COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS – MODEL ANSWERS
1. What was Nelson’s life like before he went to school?
Before he went to school, Nelson was probably a mischievous child who
often got in trouble. We can imagine that this was so because his name in
Xhosa was Rolihlahla, which means “troublemaker”.
2. Why did Nelson move with Chief Jongintaba at the age of
nine?
Nelson moved with Chief Jongintaba at the age of nine because his dad had
died.
3. What does the following sentence mean: “The silence of the
heart between a mother and a child is not a lonely one. My
mother and I never talked very much, but we didn’t need to.”?
With this sentence, Mandela probably referred to the fact that although his
mother and him didn’t have long conversations or spend a lot of time
talking together, they loved each other very much and were very close to
each other.
4. What qualities did Nelson learn from his uncle?
From his uncle, Nelson learnt to be patient, understanding, to deal with
people and to behave like a leader, just like his uncle was.
5. What two groups of white people decided to cooperate to fight
against African people? Why?
The two groups of white people that allied against black South Africans were
the British and the Afrikaners, descendants of Dutch people from the
Netherlands.
6. How did the discovery of gold and diamonds change the
history of South Africa?
Basically, the discovery of gold and diamonds in the way that white people
became the owners of these mines and forced black South Africans to dig in
them under very poor working conditions.
7. How did black African’s legal rights change from this moment
on?
From this moment on, black South Africans were forced to identify
themselves at all times by carrying a pass. Also, in the 1920s, new laws
were passed so that they were not allowed to own land and houses or to get
a good salary.
8. Why did Nelson finish his studies at Fort Hare college sooner
than he expected?
Nelson was expelled from Fort Hare in his final year because he had
protested about the food in the college and had asked the teacher to listen
to the opinions of students’ committee (to which he had been elected
president in his second year in college).
9. Why did he escape to Johannesburg with his cousin Justice?
Nelson and his cousin Justice left for Johannesburg because Chief
Jongintaba (Nelson’s uncle and Justice’s dad) had arranged a marriage for
each of them, which neither Nelson nor Justice felt comfortable with.
CHAPTER 2: JOHANNESBURG (1941-1952)
COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS – MODEL ANSWERS
1. When Mandela arrived in Johannesburg he said “I had reached
the end of what seemed like a long journey, but it was
actually the beginning of a much longer and trying journey”.
What does that mean?
This sentence expresses the idea that Mandela thought that after arriving in
Johannesburg his life would be much easier, but it actually wasn’t true
because he still went through a lot of trouble and had to fight really hard
during his time there. Probably, Nelson couldn’t imagine how much his life
would still change after his arrival in the city of gold and how many difficult
situations he would still have to overcome.
2. What was Nelson’s first job in Johannesburg?
When he got to Johannesburg he first worked as a guard in a gold mine.
3. Why did he change jobs? What was his second job?
Nelson had to change jobs because the mine owner found out that he had
escaped from his native village and he got fired.
4. What did Nelson study at the University of Witwatersrand?
Was this university similar to Fort Hare College? Why (not)?
At the University of Witwatersrand Nelson studied Law in the evening. This
university was completely different from Fort Hare College because it was
basically a university for white students.
5. Who was Evelyn Mase?
Evelyn Mase was a young woman who was training to be a nurse and who
worked with Albertina Sisulu, Walter Sisulu’s wife. It was at Walter and
Albertina’s house that Nelson Mandela met Evelyn and fell in love with her.
6. What was the ANC? What does this acronym stand for?
The ANC was (and still is) a political party started in 1912 by four African
lawyers who wanted to change South Africa so that black South Africans
could vote, be elected to Parliament and own land.
ANC actually stands for African National Congress.
7. What was the result of the elections in 1948?
The elections in 1948 were won by the Afrikaner National Party, which
believed that white people were superior and that black people should not
have the right to own land, to earn a decent salary or to intervene in South
Africa’s political life. Its leader was Daniel Malan and as a result of the
election he introduced a political system called “apartheid”.
8. What was “apartheid”? What does this word mean?
“Apartheid” was a political system first introduced by Daniel Malan which
separated white and black South Africans in all spheres of life to marginalise
black people.
9. When did Nelson graduate from university?
Nelson graduated from university in 1952.
10.
What did he do after his graduation?
After his graduation, Nelson became a lawyer and he opened the first
African law office in Johannesburg together with Oliver Tambo.
11.
What was the aim of the Defiance Campaign?
The Defiance Campaign aimed at improving the living conditions of black
South Africans by showing defiance against laws that were unfair for them.
The campaign consisted in getting black South Africans to stop obeying
these laws to make the white minority realise that they were strong, wellorganised and didn’t accept the conditions they had been forced to live in.
12.
What was its result?
The campaign was a resounding success and as a result of it, white South
Africans realised that black South Africans hadn’t lost their dignity and were
not afraid to fight for their rights and against apartheid.