Guiding questions Born a Crime

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 5

Guiding questions Born a Crime

Part one

Immorality Act, 1927:

1. Explain the title ‘Born a Crime’.

Carnal intercourse between Europeans and natives was illegal and Trevor Noah was the ‘result’ of such an act.

Introduction Apartheid:

1. List the differences between South Africa’s most dominant groups: the Zulu and the Xhosa

Zulu

• warrior

• proud and (never stopped ) fighting

• went to war with the white man and many were killed

Xhosa

• thinker

• realized the futility of battle and decided to beat the Europeans at their own game and learn English so they could negotiate.

• “played chess with the white man”

• Nelson Mandela and Trevor Noah’s mother were both Xhosa

1. Run:

1. The first paragraph: “Sometimes in big Hollywood movies they’ll have these crazy chase scenes where somebody jumps and gets thrown from a moving car. The person hits the ground and rolls for a bit. Then they come to a stop and pop up and dust themselves off, like it was no big deal. Whenever I see that I think, That’s rubbish. Getting thrown out of a moving car hurts was worse than that.”

Is this a flash-forward, flashback or foreshadowing.

Explain:

This is foreshadowing since it hints to what is going to happen in the story, namely that Trevor is going to be thrown out of a car (by his mother).

3. Why does Trevor think that the black church services last longer?

He thinks they needed more time with Jesus because they suffered more. 

4. Explain Trevor’s dislike of secondhand cars:

6. Why did Trevor’s mother throw Trevor out of the minibus?

Because Trevor didn’t jump even though she told him to and the situation was getting too dangerous in the car.

This particular minibus driver was a very angry one which was already apparent when he and his mate cut off the driver who had offered them a lift and started shoving their clubs in his face. The minibus driver and his mate being Zulu and Trevor’s mum Xhosa didn’t improve matters and it became clear that they were going to kill them, so they jumped and ran.

Part one, chapter 2

1. What was special about Trevor’s mum’s job?

She trained as a secretary and that was not done at that time. Jobs for black women were usually only working in a factory or as a maid. 

2. Why was she able to get such a job then?

South Africa’s government wanted to stop international protests about apartheid

3. What did his mum do when she was unhappy at home? What were the consequences?

She ran away to Johannesburg, where it was illegal for black people to live. They were only allowed to live in townships there, if they had work there. She ended living on the streets with a group of other black women, prostitutes. 

4. What do we learn about Trevor’s father and mum?

5. Name an example of the consequences of ‘being born a crime’

Trevor couldn’t go outside with his dad or mum really. 

6. Who is Queen?

She’s a colored woman who went out with Trevor and his mum, and pretended to be his mum so that there wouldn’t be any problems. 

7. Why was it harder when they moved back to Soweto?

Only black people were allowed there and there was much more police surveillance.

8. Why didn’t his grandma allow Trevor to play in the streets?

Children of the ‘wrong’ colour were often taken and could strip the parents of custody. He could have ended up in an orphanage.

Chapter 3: Trevor, pray

1. Why was Trevor not allowed to eat the food at his grandad’s house?

His mum was afraid that they’d be poisoned; his grandad has a new family and the first family are the heirs…

2. What was the position of women like when Trevor was growing up? Support your answer with an example

3. Explain the significance of the chapter being called ‘Trevor, pray’.

4. Explain the consequences of Trevor ‘doing his business’ inside the house instead of in the outhouse

As he had wrapped his poo in the newspaper and put it in the bin and hadn’t come clean about that, his mum, grandma and Koko thought they’d been bewitched. The turd had to be burnt and the whole community came out to expel the demons by praying. Trevor was also asked to pray (and couldn’t ask God to kill the demon, otherwise he’d be killed…..).