Guided Reading Questions for Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime
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Instructions:
Part I Questions
1. How did the young Trevor Noah explain the comparative length of black church services compared to white church services?
2. What major historical event happened when Trevor Noah was 5 or 6 and was referred to as the "Bloodless Revolution"?
3. Why did Trevor Noah's mother push him out of a moving vehicle?
4. Why did Trevor Noah yell at his mother after they ran from the mini-bus?
5. Where did the Afrikaners find inspiration when designing the apartheid system?
6. Why does Trevor Noah say that he was "born a crime" (26)?
7. Why does Trevor Noah say the township of Soweto only has two roads leading in and out?
8. How does the author describe the prevalence of traditional South African beliefs in the foreword to the story, "Trevor, Pray"?
9. What does the author say he has in common with the other children in Soweto during the story "Trevor, Pray"?
10. Who did the author credit with keeping communities together in Soweto during apartheid?
11. Why did Patricia believe that a demon was in her house?
12. How does the author describe the relationship between racism and language in the foreword to "Chameleon"?
13. Why did Frances Noah refuse to beat the author whenever the author misbehaved growing up?
14. What did the author realize about his racial identity after he started attending H. A. Jack Primary?
15. How did South African schools founded by British missionaries differ from Bantu schools founded by Afrikaners, according to the author?
16. What reasons does the author give for saying it was a "lie" (64) that the tribal homelands of South Africa were a place where native South Africans could be free?
17. Why did Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah name her son "Trevor"?
18. Why were Japanese people classified as being white under apartheid?
19. How did Patricia handle disputes with the author once he was too old to be tricked?
20. How did Patricia react when the author was punished for stealing the eucharist?
21. According to the author, why are black people in South Africa suspicious of cats?
22. What does a veterinarian reveal to the author about his dog, Fufi, after her death?
23. What did the author discover about Fufi when he was home alone for the holidays?
24. Why did the author call his father "Robert" when he was a child?
25. How did Robert, the author's father, feel about apartheid?
26. How was it possible for Robert to open an integrated restaurant during apartheid?
27. Why did the author have trouble learning more about Robert after their reunion?
28. Why does the author claim that the "colored people" of modern South Africa are in some ways worse off than the black people of South Africa?
29. What happened to the Khoisan tribe after Europeans colonized South Africa?
Part II Questions
30. How did Patricia respond when the author tried to tell Abel what happened under the mulberry tree?
31. What did the author realize when Abel beat up the ringleader from the incident under the mulberry tree?
32. What aspect of Patricia's romantic advice did the author have the most trouble understanding?
33. Why did the girls in the author's grade at H. A. Jack Primary think that he and Maylene would be perfect for each other?
34. Why did the author think it made sense for Mayelene to leave him and date Lorenzo instead?
35. According to the foreword of the story "Outsider," what was the most embarrassing part of the author's life?
36. Which racial group accepted the author as soon as he enrolled in Sandingham High School?
37. What niche did the author find at Sandingham high school during lunch time?
38. Why does the author believe that regret is the thing that we should fear most?
39. What attribute of the author's aided him in his business fetching lunch for people but also prevented his romantic success?
40. Why did the author feel regret regarding his friend Zaheera?
41. How does the author explain Patricia's ability to buy a house in Highlands North?
42. How was the author eventually able to make friends at Highlands North?
43. Why could none of the police recognize the author in the security footage?
44. How multilingual is South Africa?
45. How was the author able to pose as an American rapper for the talent show in Hammanskraal?
46. Why did Abel initially agree to loan the author his BMW?
Part III Questions
47. Why was the author late to the dance?
48. What difference does the author see between German education around the Holocaust and South African education around apartheid?
49. How does the author explain the abundance of South Africans with names for controversial historical figures like "Napoleon," "Mussolini," and "Hitler"?
50. What was the purpose of the event where the author and his crew got in trouble for chanting Hitler's name?
51. What geographical explanation does the author give when he states that "it's physically impossible for [Alexandra] to change" (201)?
52. How does the author describe his early thoughts about his victims when he starts a life of crime in the story "The Cheese Boys"?
53. How does the author describe the relationship between regular people and criminals in Alexandra?
54. What conclusion did the author draw after his encounter with the police at the end of the story "The Cheese Boys"?
55. What did Patricia tell the security guard to do when he reported the author for shop-lifting at the age of ten?
56. Why did Patricia encourage the author to hang out with his cousin at the university?
57. How did the author get through to his cellmate whom he initially compared to the Hulk?
58. What final disagreement convinced the author to spend less time around Abel and Patricia?
59. Why did the author believe that Andrew suffered more from Abel's attack than he did?
60. What was Patricia doing when Abel's gun jammed?
- Choose 10 questions out of Part I to respond to. Choose three of the highlighted questions (5, 8, 12, 15, 25, & 28) must be answered in ACE format (Answer, Cite, Explain). Thirteen questions total for Part I.
- Choose 5 questions from Part II to respond to. Three of these must be chosen from the highlighted questions (35, 38, 44, 45). These questions must be answered using the ACE format. Eight questions total for Part II.
- Choose 6 questions from Part III to respond to. Choose three of the highlighted questions (48, 52, 54, & 59) to answer in ACE format. Nine questions total for Part II.
- Every question that you choose should show the question and the number. All answers must be in the form of complete sentences. There should be 26 answers to questions: 9 ACE answers and 17 complete sentence answers.
Part I Questions
1. How did the young Trevor Noah explain the comparative length of black church services compared to white church services?
2. What major historical event happened when Trevor Noah was 5 or 6 and was referred to as the "Bloodless Revolution"?
3. Why did Trevor Noah's mother push him out of a moving vehicle?
4. Why did Trevor Noah yell at his mother after they ran from the mini-bus?
5. Where did the Afrikaners find inspiration when designing the apartheid system?
6. Why does Trevor Noah say that he was "born a crime" (26)?
7. Why does Trevor Noah say the township of Soweto only has two roads leading in and out?
8. How does the author describe the prevalence of traditional South African beliefs in the foreword to the story, "Trevor, Pray"?
9. What does the author say he has in common with the other children in Soweto during the story "Trevor, Pray"?
10. Who did the author credit with keeping communities together in Soweto during apartheid?
11. Why did Patricia believe that a demon was in her house?
12. How does the author describe the relationship between racism and language in the foreword to "Chameleon"?
13. Why did Frances Noah refuse to beat the author whenever the author misbehaved growing up?
14. What did the author realize about his racial identity after he started attending H. A. Jack Primary?
15. How did South African schools founded by British missionaries differ from Bantu schools founded by Afrikaners, according to the author?
16. What reasons does the author give for saying it was a "lie" (64) that the tribal homelands of South Africa were a place where native South Africans could be free?
17. Why did Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah name her son "Trevor"?
18. Why were Japanese people classified as being white under apartheid?
19. How did Patricia handle disputes with the author once he was too old to be tricked?
20. How did Patricia react when the author was punished for stealing the eucharist?
21. According to the author, why are black people in South Africa suspicious of cats?
22. What does a veterinarian reveal to the author about his dog, Fufi, after her death?
23. What did the author discover about Fufi when he was home alone for the holidays?
24. Why did the author call his father "Robert" when he was a child?
25. How did Robert, the author's father, feel about apartheid?
26. How was it possible for Robert to open an integrated restaurant during apartheid?
27. Why did the author have trouble learning more about Robert after their reunion?
28. Why does the author claim that the "colored people" of modern South Africa are in some ways worse off than the black people of South Africa?
29. What happened to the Khoisan tribe after Europeans colonized South Africa?
Part II Questions
30. How did Patricia respond when the author tried to tell Abel what happened under the mulberry tree?
31. What did the author realize when Abel beat up the ringleader from the incident under the mulberry tree?
32. What aspect of Patricia's romantic advice did the author have the most trouble understanding?
33. Why did the girls in the author's grade at H. A. Jack Primary think that he and Maylene would be perfect for each other?
34. Why did the author think it made sense for Mayelene to leave him and date Lorenzo instead?
35. According to the foreword of the story "Outsider," what was the most embarrassing part of the author's life?
36. Which racial group accepted the author as soon as he enrolled in Sandingham High School?
37. What niche did the author find at Sandingham high school during lunch time?
38. Why does the author believe that regret is the thing that we should fear most?
39. What attribute of the author's aided him in his business fetching lunch for people but also prevented his romantic success?
40. Why did the author feel regret regarding his friend Zaheera?
41. How does the author explain Patricia's ability to buy a house in Highlands North?
42. How was the author eventually able to make friends at Highlands North?
43. Why could none of the police recognize the author in the security footage?
44. How multilingual is South Africa?
45. How was the author able to pose as an American rapper for the talent show in Hammanskraal?
46. Why did Abel initially agree to loan the author his BMW?
Part III Questions
47. Why was the author late to the dance?
48. What difference does the author see between German education around the Holocaust and South African education around apartheid?
49. How does the author explain the abundance of South Africans with names for controversial historical figures like "Napoleon," "Mussolini," and "Hitler"?
50. What was the purpose of the event where the author and his crew got in trouble for chanting Hitler's name?
51. What geographical explanation does the author give when he states that "it's physically impossible for [Alexandra] to change" (201)?
52. How does the author describe his early thoughts about his victims when he starts a life of crime in the story "The Cheese Boys"?
53. How does the author describe the relationship between regular people and criminals in Alexandra?
54. What conclusion did the author draw after his encounter with the police at the end of the story "The Cheese Boys"?
55. What did Patricia tell the security guard to do when he reported the author for shop-lifting at the age of ten?
56. Why did Patricia encourage the author to hang out with his cousin at the university?
57. How did the author get through to his cellmate whom he initially compared to the Hulk?
58. What final disagreement convinced the author to spend less time around Abel and Patricia?
59. Why did the author believe that Andrew suffered more from Abel's attack than he did?
60. What was Patricia doing when Abel's gun jammed?