SUGGESTED ANSWERS
ANSWERS TO CONTEXTUAL QUESTION
These qUestions rely on both content and interpretation.
Each answer is followed by a comment on how yo U shoUld deal with the qUestion.
This is only a guide. YoU will have answered qUestions in yoUr own way and words.
Extract A (p. 55)
1. Things were not going well in Bulawayo. There was no food in the house. Patson’s
stepmother, Sylvia (The Wife), has insisted they leave to live with her family in the diamond
region. Joseph has secured a teaching post in Marange. The family is ready to begin over
again. (3)
This qUestion reqUires yoU to recall what yoU have read and Understood Up to this point in the novel.
2. Patson has seen how desperate the miners are to find diamonds. He is not used to hard,
physical labour. However, he agrees to become a miner and rely on his luck. Patson is
undertaking “men’s work”. (3)
In answering this qUestion, yoU have to rely on the extract. YoU have to look forward to what is
going to happen. YoU have to base yoUr answer on what yoU know aboUt the novel. YoU coUld also
have added here that Patson will be lUcky becaUse he has “the eye”.
3. In his short interjection, the father shows concern for his son’s proposed undertaking. It is
only one word of warning but it carries a lot of weight in terms of apprehension. Also,
Joseph interrupts Patson and his face shows his anxiety. (3)
There is some interpretation needed here. The qUestion reqUires looking at the single word or
interruption carefUlly and then interpreting what the aUthor is sUggesting. YoU need to comment on
what his father says, as well as what the description adds to his reaction.
4. Patson will achieve “great things” because he seems to have the ability to find bigger sized
diamonds and to be able to hide them so that he can smuggle them out. Uncle James
describes this as having “the eye.” (3)
Again, yoU need to look fUrther than this extract. The answer needs to take into accoUnt what Uncle
James senses: that Patson has the ability to discover where the diamonds are to be foUnd.
5. James Banda is a powerful man as he supervises, and has a partnership in, the mines.
However, once corrupt Commander Jesus arrives, he carries the authority of the
government. He humiliates and beats up Uncle James. The Commander takes James’
stash of diamonds without any compensation, saying he had been stealing from the
government, and forces him to continue working under the Commander on the mines.
These events are humiliating and indicate the loss that Banda must endure. (4)
This qUestion needs yoU to look ahead to what will happen later in the novel. It also reqUires some
detail. It is, however, a qUestion that only needs clarification regarding what happens later in the
story. YoUr answer shoUld inclUde a reference to corruption and loss.
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