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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why did Lessing not like the clothes that her mother had made for her?
(a) Because her mother always insisted on making clothing that was too big.
(b) Because her mother was a poor seamstress.
(c) Because her mother always made her clothes look too youthful.
(d) Because her mother had poor taste in clothing design.

2. What did Biddy O'Halloran's skin resemble?
(a) Peaches and cream.
(b) Olives.
(c) Red jelly and cream.
(d) Bronze.

3. What type of play did Lessing write while at the Convent?
(a) An English tragedy.
(b) A Ciceronian tragedy.
(c) A one-act Shakespearean play.
(d) An Aristophanean comedy.

4. What year did Lessing leave Southern Rhodesia?
(a) 1945.
(b) 1934.
(c) 1919.
(d) 1949.

5. Which of the following historic examples does Lessing use to support her claims about human nature?
(a) The Crusades.
(b) The Renaissance.
(c) The Reformation.
(d) The Holocaust.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many biographers were writing about Lessing at the time that she wrote the book?

2. In which book did Lessing write about Mr. Whitehead?

3. When did Lessing experiment with drugs?

4. Which of the following was the "chief wrong" that Lessing's mother cited in her diatribe against the Catholic Church?

5. What was the name of Lessing's nanny?

Short Essay Questions

1. While their mother was bedridden, what did Lessing and her brother do?

2. In Chapter 7, what did Lessing and her brother do in the bush?

3. Describe the English views of themselves and their relation to other people as Lessing portrays it in this chapter.

4. In Chapter 8, how did the girls at the school avoid exams?

5. Describe the circumstances that led to Alfred's depression.

6. What advantage does Lessing that claim she has in writing her autobiography late in her life?

7. In your opinion, why does Lessing trace her lineage in the opening chapter?

8. According to Lessing in Chapter 2, what is the role of truth in autobiographical writing?

9. Describe Lessing's outlook on the future of the world and human society.

10. In Chapter 6, what was Lessing's mother's primary concern about the children?

(see the answer keys)

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