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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. What did people think of the farmer's decision to punish the bull?

2. According to Lessing, what religion has encouraged Europeans to kill in the name of God?

3. Growing up, Lessing was briefly a member of what party?

4. Lessing felt that the party ruling Rhodesia was ____________.

5. When did the political group Lessing belonged to in Rhodesia fall apart?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Why does Lessing consider the age of Arthastra to be significant?

3. What is Lessing's prediction concerning what every viewpoint will become with time?

4. Why did Lessing join a communist group in Rhodesia?

5. When onlookers recognize that others are lying, Lessing believed they refuse to protest the lies for what purpose?

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

7. What did Lessing mean when she said that groups will often "vilify their opposition"?

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

9. What service did Lessing feel that novelists brought to the world?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The desire for war was something Lessing believed was innate in man.

1) How might different points of view influence a man's desire to fight?

2) Why did Lessing suggest that the word "blood" taps into an instinct to fight?

3) According to Lessing, what is the result of war on society?

Essay Topic 2

Akhnaton was an Egyptian ruler who changed the concept of Egyptian religion in spite of popular opinion.

1) What factors allowed Akhaton to be a free thinker?

2) What was the response from the masses?

3) What effect did his decision have on the future?

Essay Topic 3

Lessing was raised in Rhodesia, where a small ruling class of whites dominated the black majority. Based on Lessing's theories, create an argument as to why the whites were successful in this endeavor.

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This section contains 624 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample