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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. What was the primary battle between Lessing and her mother centered upon?
(a) Clothing.
(b) School.
(c) Boys.
(d) Religion.

2. How does Lessing describe the letters that she received from her mother?
(a) Refreshing.
(b) Docile.
(c) Frantic.
(d) Furious.

3. What type of culture existed in Southern Rhodesia?
(a) A sexually permissive culture.
(b) A drinking culture.
(c) A racially-integrated culture.
(d) A smoking culture.

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

5. In Chapter 10, which of the following countries was Lessing thinking about as she stood at the edge of the tobacco field?
(a) Germany.
(b) France.
(c) England.
(d) Spain.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was the name of the building in which Lessing and Gottfried rented their flat?

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

3. Which of the following phenomenons did Frank and Lessing consistently criticize?

4. In Chapter 14, what year did Lessing marry Gottfried Lessing?

5. What affliction struck all members of Lessing's family except her?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Lessing's decision to marry Frank Wisdom.

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

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

4. What rationale did Lessing give for her marriage to Gottfried Lessing in Chapter 14?

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

6. Ultimately, why did Lessing think that she and Gottfried were mismatched?

7. In Chapter 11, who was Dorothy Schwartz?

8. 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?

9. In Chapter 13, how did Lessing rationalize her decision to leave Frank and their two children?

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

(see the answer keys)

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