View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of Lessing's books began at that time in her life?
(a) Martha Quest.
(b) Going Home.
(c) The Cleft.
(d) Landlocked.

2. Who recommended that Lessing see a particular doctor for an abortion?
(a) Mabel Griffiths.
(b) Ivy.
(c) Frank's sister.
(d) Her mother.

3. Which activity did Lessing both love and hate?
(a) Tea parties.
(b) Nursing John.
(c) Walking John in the pram.
(d) Knitting.

4. Which of the following was NOT a language commonly spoken in the Lessing home?
(a) German.
(b) Russian.
(c) French.
(d) Spanish.

5. What did all the women assume about Lessing's marriage to Frank?
(a) That they had married too soon.
(b) That they did not love each other.
(c) That they fought constantly.
(d) That their sex life was a failure.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why was it especially dangerous for Gottfried to carry on an affair?

2. What did Lessing's landlady think about her stream of visitors?

3. How does Lessing describe the letters that she received from her mother?

4. In Chapter 17, how did Klaus' father keep his name off the debt list?

5. Where did Lessing first experience a social event in which she and black people were treated equally?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Lessing support herself when she no longer lived with her parents?

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

3. How did John react to the birth of his little sister?

4. In Chapter 15, what reason did Lessing give for switching law firms?

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

6. In Chapter 11, who was Dorothy Schwartz?

7. What conditions did Lessing ponder as possible circumstances that would have changed her views on Communism?

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

9. Describe Lessing's reaction to the end of World War II.

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 782 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample