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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 word did Kurt ask Esther not to use?

2. What had Lessing become after attending meetings with Dorothy?

3. In Chapter 16, which part of Esther and Kurt's house was exclusively Esther's?

4. Why did Kurt and Esther refuse to attend meetings?

5. Who vouched for Gottfried Lessing to get him out of jail?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Lessing believe to be the true cause of her father's death?

2. In Chapter 11, who was Dorothy Schwartz?

3. Describe Lessing's activities in Capetown in Chapter 17.

4. Why did Lessing direct her focus on the Communist ideas that she was developing in this chapter instead of focusing on the events of her life?

5. Discuss Lessing's mini-vacation to Capetown.

6. What did Lessing realize when she was diagnosed with Low Fever and sent to the mountains to recover?

7. In Chapter 12, how does Lessing describe her first son, John?

8. In Chapter 19, what does Lessing describe as the smartest decision that she ever made?

9. How did Lessing respond to increasing unhappiness with her marital and home situation?

10. What became of the three husbands who enlisted to fight Hitler?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explore and discuss the way in which Lessing deals with mental illness in her autobiography. How did she approach the issue of mental illness? How did she treat the people whom she mentioned within her autobiography who suffered from mental illness? Was she sympathetic? Compassionate? Understanding? What effect did mental illness have on her life? How might that effect, if any, explain or illuminate her position on mental illness?

Essay Topic 2

As a child, Lessing grew up in Persia and Southern Rhodesia - regions that were both part of the British Commonwealth. Examine the way in which Lessing discussed life as an English citizen living in the Commonwealth. What were the conditions of their lives as English citizens? How did the lives of the English differ from the lives of the indigenous peoples? How did Lessing treat those conditions and differences?

Essay Topic 3

During her young adult years, Lessing becomes affiliated with the Communist Party of Southern Rhodesia - at the time, considered a very political party for a young British woman to join. Discuss Lessing's initial feelings regarding the Communist Party, as well as the changes that occurred to that opinion during the rise and fall of the Soviet Union. What was Lessing's political stance at the time of her autobiography? How does she comment on the ideals and implementation of Socialism or Communism? How would instituting a Communist government in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) have been different than instituting a Communist government in Europe?

(see the answer keys)

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