THE COFFEE-CART GIRL SHORT STORY
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
GRADE 12
THE COFFEE-CART GIRL BY ES’KIA MPHAHLELE
Read the extract below and answer the questions that follow.
Extract A
[China and Pinky meet again after the violent strike.]
“Oh!” She gave a gasp and her hand went to her mouth. “You’re the good uncle who saved my cart!”
“Don’t uncle me, please. My name is Ruben Lemeko. The boys at the factory call me China. Yours?”
“Zodwa.”
His eyes travelled from her small tender fingers as she washed a few things, to her man’s jersey which was a faded green and too big for her, her thin frock, and then to her peach-coloured face, not well fed, but well framed and compelling under a soiled black beret. As he ate hungrily she shot a side-glance at him occasionally.
There was something sly in those soft, moist, slit eyes, but the modest stoop at the shoulders gave him a benign appearance; otherwise he would have looked twisted and rather fiendish. There was something she felt in his presence: a repelling admiration. She felt he was the kind of man who could be quite attractive so long as he remained more than a touch away from the contemplator; just like those wax figures she once saw in the chamber of horrors. |
- Describe the events that lead to China saving Pinkie’s cart
Give THREE points. (3) - Why does Pinkie refer to China as “uncle” in line 2 of extract A? (1)
- Choose the correct answer to complete the following In line 3, China says: “Don’t uncle me, please.” His tone in this line is one of:
- happiness.
- satisfaction.
- annoyance.
- sadness. (1)
- Refer to lines 6-9 of extract A (“His eyes travelled ... soiled black beret”). What do these lines show you about Pinkie’s circumstances? (1)
- In lines 11–14 of extract A (“There was something .. a repelling admiration”), Pinkie has mixed feelings about China. What are these feelings? (2)
- Refer to lines 17 of extract A (“just like those ... chamber of horrors”).
- Identify the figure of speech in these (1)
- In what way does China remind Pinkie of the wax figures? (1)
- How is China affected by the strike? (1)
- How are Pinkie and China victims of apartheid prejudice? (2)
- Later, Pinkie gives China coffee and pancakes. What does this behaviour tell us about the kind of person Pinkie is? State TWO points(2)
- At the end of the story Pinkie disappears because the police no longer allow her to operate her coffee-cart on the street. In your opinion, is the action of the police justified? Discuss your view (2) [17]
Answers - The strikers become violent. ✓ The strikers destroy some of the carts. ✓ China pulls Pinkie’s cart across the street. ✓
- To show respect. ✓/He is older than Pinkie. ✓
- C/annoyance ✓
- She is poor. ✓/She appears to be undernourished. ✓
- She finds him attractive yet repulsive. ✓ She is attracted to him but realises that he might be dangerous. ✓
-
- simile ✓
- He is beautiful/scary/emotionless ✓
- He loses his job. ✓
- Pinkie leads a poor life. ✓/She cannot get a proper job. ✓/ She is no longer allowed to operate her cart. ✓ China is underpaid. ✓/He loses his job when he participates in a protest strike. ✓/He has trouble finding a new job. ✓ (2)
- She is ✓/ She is caring. ✓ / She is sympathetic. ✓/ She is unselfish. ✓ / She is grateful. ✓ (2)
- The action of the police is not justified because the coffee-cart was how Pinkie made her living and now she would have no work. ✓
OR
The action of the police is justified because it was enforcing the laws of the city to keep it clean. ✓ (2) [17] |
Read the extract below and answer the questions that follow.
Extract B
[China attacks Pinky in her coffee-cart.]
At that very moment she realised fully the ghastliness of a man’s jealousy, which gleamed and glanced on the blade and seemed to have raised a film which steadied the slit eyes. Against the back wall she managed to speak.
“All right, China, maybe you’ve done this many times before. Go ahead and kill me; I won’t cry for help, do what you like with me.”
She panted like a timid little mouse cornered by a cat. He couldn’t finish the job he had set out to do. Why? He had sent two men packing with a knife before. They had tried to fight, but this creature wasn’t resisting at all. Why, why, why? He felt the heat pounding in his temples; the knife dropped, and he sank on to a stool and rested his head on the wall, his hands trembling.
After a moment he stood up, looking away from Pinkie. ‘I’m sorry, Pinkie, I pray you never in your life to think about this day.”
She looked at him, mystified.
“Say you forgive me.” She nodded twice.
Then she packed up for the day, much earlier than usual.
The following day China did not visit Pinkie; nor the next. He could not decide to go there. Things were all in a barbed wire tangle in his mind. But see her he must, he thought. He would just go and hug her; say nothing but just press her to himself because he felt too mean even to tell her not to be afraid of him any more. |
- Complete the following sentences by using the words in the list below;
| jersey; guilty; ring; happy; compassionate; jealous; aggressive |
China sees Pinkie wearing a (a) .... He is (b) ... because Naidoo gave it to her. China becomes (c) ... towards Pinkie. Later, he feels (d) ... about this behaviour. (4) - How does Naidoo make a living? (1)
- Is the following statement TRUE or FALSE? Write “true” or “false” and give a reason for your answer.
Pinkie accepted the gift from Naidoo as a token of his love. (2) - Refer to line 6 of extract B (“She panted like ... by a cat”).
Why does the writer compare Pinkie to a mouse and China to a cat? (2) - Refer to lines 7-8 of extract B (“He had sent ... a knife before”).
What does this line show you about China’s past behaviour? (1) - Refer to line 12 of extract B (“She looked at him, mystified”). Explain why Pinkie feels this way. (2)
- Refer to the last paragraph of extract B (“The following day ... him any more”).
- Why does China’s behaviour change at this stage in the story? (1)
- In your opinion, is China being realistic when he hopes that Pinkie will not be afraid of him anymore? (2)
- Does Pinkie really forgive China? Give a reason for your answer (1)
- Pinkie and China do not meet Is this an effective conclusion to this story? Discuss your view. (2) [18]
Answers -
- ring ✓
- jealous ✓
- aggressive ✓
- guilty ✓ (4)
- He is a cheapjack/hawker/vendor ✓ (1)
- False. Naidoo gave her the ring as payment for the coffee and cakes. ✓✓ (2)
- A cat is ferocious and a mouse is timid✓
OR
Just as a cat can overpower a mouse so, too, can China overpower Pinkie. ✓
OR
She has no chance against China, as he is much stronger than she is. ✓ (2) - He was aggressive ✓/violent ✓/He was a murderer✓ (1)
- She is puzzled ✓/does not understand that his aggressive behaviour has changed to that of being apologetic ✓ (2)
-
- He realises that she is ✓/He still loves her. ✓ (1)
- He is being realistic because she nods her head to say she forgives him and he knows he must never be violent with her again. ✓✓
OR
He is not being realistic. Now that she has seen for herself how violent China can be, she will never be able to trust him again. ✓✓ (2) - Yes, Pinkie forgives She shows this by nodding twice when he asks for her forgiveness. ✓
OR
No, Pinkie has not forgiven China. She may have nodded that she had forgiven him, but she packs up early to get away from him because she is afraid. ✓ (1) - It is an effective conclusion to the story because it shows how uncertain their lives are and keeps us guessing about what happens next ✓✓
OR
It is not an effective conclusion to the story because it is dissatisfying to the reader not to know what happens next. The writer should have been clearer about the outcome. ✓✓(2) [18] |