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Before Reading
BEFORE READING ACTIVITIES (PAGE 108)
ACTIVITY 1 BEFORE READING
1 Yes 2 No 3 Yes 4 Yes 5 No 6 Yes 7 Yes 8 No
ACTIVITY 2 BEFORE READING
The true statements are numbers 2, 3, and 6. The
others might be rewritten like this:
1 In terms of natural resources, South Africa is one of
the richest countries in Africa.
4 Most black people are still poor, and it will probably
take quite a long time to change this.
5 Some whites have left South Africa, but many have
remained.
While Reading
CHAPTERS 1 AND 2 WHILE READING
1 Acceptable answers: A woman holding a baby in her
arms in front of her wrecked home; two policemen
beating a boy; an old man sitting in an armchair,
with broken walls around him; a policeman with a
whip chasing a girl; a bulldozer smashing through a
tiny kitchen.
2 Because the government did not want the town to
become permanent.
3 Woods did not believe that black people should be
allowed to vote, and he accepted the laws that forced
blacks and whites to live in separate areas, but he
did not like police brutality against black people.
4 Because she thought that Steve Biko was one of the
few people who could still save South Africa, and
that Woods should find out what Bikos opinions
were.
5 Some men and women were painting the walls while
others were putting up partitions. Some girls were
sewing and two older men were making childrens
toys.
6 Any white authority police, government, army.
7 The idea that Biko might have a house, a job and a
Mercedes, while the whites lived in the townships.
CHAPTERS 3 TO 5 WHILE READING
1 What . . .? Organizations where black and white
people could work together.
2 What . . .? Whether Woods had spent any time in a
black township.
3 Where . . .? From churches, from abroad, from black
people, and from some companies.
4 Why . . .? Because if he got caught outside his
banning area he would go to prison.
5 What . . .? They worked as domestic servants for
white families.
6 Who . . .? The white man.
7 Why . . .? Because they didnt want to be put into
white society; they wanted to do things their way.
8 What . . .? How to live together.
CHAPTERS 6 TO 9 WHILE READING
1 Woods, to Ken Robertson, about Tenjy Mtintso and
Mapetla Mohapi, who had just become reporters for
his newspaper.
2 Mzimbi, to the crowd at the football match, about
the white government.
3 De Wet, to the two detectives, about Biko, because
he didnt want any marks on Biko when he appeared
as a witness in a trial.
4 Biko, to the State Prosecutor at the trial, giving an
example of how his call for direct confrontation
need not involve violence.
5 Wendy, to Woods, about Kruger, the Minister of
Police.
6 Woods, to Kruger, the Minister of Police, about
Biko.
7 Kruger, to Woods, about the Afrikaner belief that
South Africa was their country, built by their hard
work.
8 Woods, to Lemick, about Kruger, who had sent his
policemen to demand from Woods the name of the
witness.
9 Biko, to Woods, about how he came to the rugby
game, avoiding his police minders.
10 Biko, to Lemick, about the warrant to search Bikos
house for dangerous documents.
CHAPTERS 10 AND 11 WHILE READING
Possible answers:
Mapetla was the first to be arrested. Tenjy was
arrested next, on no charges, and a week later Mapetla
died in prison. The police said he had hanged himself,
but Woods knew this was not true. At the inquest
OXFORD BOOKWORMS LIBRARY STAGE 6 OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS CRY FREEDOM
Cry Freedom STAGE 6
TALKING ABOUT THE COVER
What connections can you make between this
picture of a thoughtful black man and the word
freedom in the books title?
Do you think this story will be about black people
who are free, or who have given up hope of
freedom, or who are fighting for freedom?
In which countries of the world could this have
happened?
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Tenjy said the bruises on Mapetlas neck were caused
by the security police pulling a towel tighter and
tighter round his neck until he became unconscious.
No one was blamed for Mapetlas death. Then Biko
was arrested because he was stopped at a road-block
outside his banning area. The doctor who saw Biko in
prison found him deeply unconscious and very badly
injured. The police put Biko in the back of a Land
Rover and drove him to the police hospital in Pretoria,
which was a thousand kilometres away over rough,
country roads.
CHAPTERS 12 TO 14 WHILE READING
1 Black crowds attacked police stations and huge fires
were lit every evening.
2 Because his lips were swollen, there was a huge lump
on his forehead, and bruises around his eyes.
3 Because he wondered how people would react to a
white man at the funeral.
4 Sorrow, anger, pride, determination.
5 Woods wanted to go to America to talk about Biko
and force the government to have an inquest.
6 To meet with more than one person at a time, apart
from members of his family; to write anything; to
enter any printing offices; to leave the district of
East London.
7 Because a few minutes after he started using his
typewriter, the police burst into the house.
8 He wanted Bikos life to be remembered, and he
wanted to do something to change the way South
Africa was governed.
9 Because Mary and Duncan were sent T-shirts
containing something in the material which burnt
the childrens skin.
BEFORE READING THE REST OF THE STORY
Open answers. Encourage discussion of Woods best
course of action.
CHAPTERS 15 TO 18 WHILE READING
1 He disguised himself as an Irish priest, Father David
Curren, using the priests passport, dyed his grey
hair black, and didnt wear his glasses.
2 Because everyone would be having parties and
drinking and the police would not be so careful.
3 Because the house was bugged and the police would
know that Woods was leaving.
4 He hid on the floor of the Mercedes, covered with a
blanket.
5 Because the river was too deep and too fast.
6 Tami Vundla drove him in his car.
7 Because he was driving with Moses.
8 To the beach.
9 Because at ten oclock he had to phone Wendy at her
parents home in Umtata.
10 Because she didnt know whether he had reached
Lesotho or not.
11 Because they had to fly 500 kilometres over South
Africa, and the South African Government
demanded that all planes leaving Lesotho landed in
South Africa before going on.
12 By arranging United Nations passports for the
Woods family and by sending Monyane to
accompany them.
After Reading
ACTIVITY 1 AFTER READING
Acceptable answers to this cloze passage are any
words that have an appropriate meaning and fit the
grammar of the sentence. Students might like to check
each others work and discuss alternative answers.
Some alternatives are given below.
Biko was right. Black people know how we whites live,
but we have no idea how black South Africans live.
When we went to the township, there were nine of us
in the taxi. I sat in the back, wearing somebodys hat
to cover my hair. I was so squashed that I couldnt
even move my hands. We drove around, watching the
crowds of people until the evening rush was over.
Then four of us went on foot down the side streets.
The place (township) is full of violence. Gangs of
youths (boys, men) walk the streets. Most women
work as domestic servants, so they see their children
(husbands, families) only on Sundays. Biko took me to
eat with a black family twelve people living in four
rooms, with no electricity, and they have to fetch
water from an outside tap and heat it on the cooker.
We sat and talked about the differences between black
and white societies (communities), and I tried to
understand their anger (despair) and their bitterness. I
realize now that I have never understood the feelings of
the black community.
ACTIVITY 2 AFTER READING
Students can complete the conversation how they like.
Possible responses might be:
WOODS: Hello, Steve. Did you finish that article last
night?
BIKO: No, Im sorry, I didnt.
WOODS: Why not? What happened?
BIKO: Well, I was working late when suddenly someone
banged on the front door.
WOODS: Were you expecting anybody?
BIKO: No, I wasnt. So I quickly gave the pen and the
papers I was working on to Ntsiki.
WOODS: And then?
BIKO: I opened the front door a crack and pretended
Id just woken up.
WOODS: It was the police, I suppose.
BIKO: Yes. Lemick, and my two regular minders.
WOODS: What did Lemick say?
BIKO: He said he had orders to search my house for
dangerous documents.
OXFORD BOOKWORMS LIBRARY STAGE 6 CRY FREEDOM OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
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WOODS: Did he have a warrant?
BIKO: Yes, he did. So I asked him to bring it to the
window so that I could read it.
WOODS: But what did you do with the papers?
BIKO: Well, while I was reading the warrant, Ntsiki put
an extra nappy on the baby and put the papers
inside!
WOODS: Very clever! And did they search the house?
BIKO: Yes. In the end I let them in. They used torches
to search the house, but they didnt find anything.
ACTIVITY 3 AFTER READING
The government accused black leaders like Biko of
being terrorists, but Biko thought the government itself
was guilty of terrorism. He wanted black people to
confront the problems of society and to build a sense
of their own humanity. But although he called for
direct confrontation, he meant a face-to-face challenge
of ideas, not violent action. He did not believe that
violence was the solution and he wanted to influence
the government by the force of his arguments.
ACTIVITY 4 AFTER READING
Open discussion. Encourage discussion of the motives
of those who collaborate with violent political
systems.
ACTIVITY 5 AFTER READING
Free writing.
ACTIVITY 6 AFTER READING
4+9+11 3+8 5+14+1+13 7+15+2+12 16+10+6
After Woods had waved goodbye to Tami, he walked
to the iron gate at the start of the bridge, but it was
locked and there was no one around. Suddenly a Land
Rover came down the hill very fast, and stopped right
in front of him. Woods saw with relief that it was the
postal service, and not the police, and when the driver
offered him a lift across the bridge, he accepted
gratefully. No questions were asked about Woods
passport, and although a frontier policeman asked
Woods what was in his bag, he did not ask him to
open it. Then Moses drove slowly across the bridge,
crossing the frontier out of South Africa, and Woods
saw ahead of him the wet green hills of Lesotho.
ACTIVITY 7 AFTER READING
Open answers. Encourage discussion of the risks of
fighting against political injustice. This could be
extended into some project work on South Africa,
with students finding out and presenting information
on the changes that have taken place in the country.
OXFORD BOOKWORMS LIBRARY STAGE 6 CRY FREEDOM OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS