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From Robben Island

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  • What verb form is used in: “I was told to go to the Head Office to collect a telegram”?
    Passive voice, Past Simple.
  • What does the word haggard (line 25) mean?
    Looking thin, tired, and worn out.
  • What responsibility as the eldest child did Mandela regret not fulfilling?
    Burying his mother.
  • In which year did the narrator’s mother visit him in prison?
    1968
  • What physical changes did the narrator notice in his mother?
    She had lost a lot of weight, her face looked haggard, and she seemed very old.
  • What does incremental (line 8) mean?
    Gradual, step by step.
  • Which phrase from the text means “felt troubled or worried”?
    “I was uneasy about my mother’s health.”
  • Why does Mandela compare time in prison to time outside prison?
    Because in prison life seems frozen, while outside, people change and grow.
  • Why was the narrator not allowed to attend his mother’s funeral?
    The authorities feared that his people would try to kidnap him.
  • What does Mandela’s reflection reveal about his character?
    His strong sense of duty to his people, even at great personal sacrifice.
  • How did Mandela feel about his choice between political struggle and family?
    He struggled with guilt but believed he had made the right choice for the people.
  • What is meant by the conundrum in paragraph G?
    The difficult question of whether he chose the right path by putting politics above his family.
  • How long was the extended visiting time?
    Forty-five minutes.
  • Who seemed unchanged during the visit?
    His sister Mabel.
  • What sad news did the narrator later receive?
    That his mother had died of a heart attack.
  • How does the passage show the conflict between personal life and political struggle?
    Mandela’s fight for freedom brought suffering to his family, yet he felt he could not ignore the needs of his people.
  • Who accompanied the narrator’s mother on the journey?
    His son Makgatho, his daughter Makaziwe, and his sister Mabel.
  • Identify the tense: “I had not seen her since the end of the Rivonia Trial.”
    Past Perfect
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