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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who wrote the Arthasastra?

2. Lessing believes the reaction of both Christians and Leftists to opposition is a form of ___________.

3. When the bull keeper was killed, who asked for compensation?

4. According to Lessing, what do novelists have the ability to do?

5. Where did Lessing grow up?

Short Essay Questions

1. What comments did Lessing make about the length of time the white ruling class was in power in Rhodesia?

2. What was the purpose of cutting down a tree associated with a traitor? Why did Lessing find it ridiculous?

3. Why was Lessing not surprised by the story of the attack on the British miner who was beaten by his friends?

4. Why did Lessing believe the tendency to buy into vilification was a form of popular lunacy?

5. What ideas do the quotes prior to "When in the Future They Look Back on Us" demonstrate?

6. What was Lessing's opinion regarding war as a basis of our mentality?

7. In terms of collective beliefs during her life time, what idiocy struck Lessing?

8. How did the ruling class in Rhodesia get others to go along with their beliefs?

9. According to Lessing, how is the group mentality different from individual mentality?

10. Why did Lessing feel that our ability to consider differing viewpoints might save the human race?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When examining the miner's strike, Lessing noted that onlookers knew both sides of the debate were lying about the issues, yet people took sides in spite of the lack of accurate information.

1) What type of information should people use to come to conclusions?

2) What type of information do people typically use to come to conclusions?

3) What does Lessing say about the tendency of people to come to conclusions in spite of a lack of information?

Essay Topic 2

According to Lessing, what is the role of novelists in a society?

Essay Topic 3

Lessing believed that the human race would be stronger and better if it could only learn from its past. Why do humans choose to ignore history, with the effect of repeating lessons that should have already been learned?

1) In what ways do humans have the ability to learn from history?

2) What are some examples in history that humans should learn from?

3) Why do humans often end up repeating mistakes already made in the past?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 746 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample