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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. Which of the following historic examples does Lessing use to support her claims about human nature?

2. What was the difference between African huts and English huts?

3. Which of the following names does Lessing give the personality that would comes out of her while under the influence of drugs?

4. What remained unaffected by the Lessings' existence for 20 years?

5. After returning to England, where did Lessing's family settle?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Lessing do one night when she was forced to remain in the cabin while her parents attended a dance?

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

3. What essential skill did Lessing learn in Chapter 5?

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

5. Why did Lessing's parents have all their teeth removed before leaving for Africa?

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

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

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

9. How did Lessing become an atheist?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine the way in which Lessing presented her relationship with her mother. Did she respect or resent her mother? What strained their relationship? Why did Lessing's mother disapprove of Lessing's choices? Ultimately, how did Lessing reflect on her relationship with her mother?

Essay Topic 2

As Lessing recounted the details of her young adult life, she commented on the institution of marriage through a discussion of her three unsuccessful unions. Examine Lessing's position on marriage and divorce in the text. Was her notion of marriage and divorce congruent with the notion of marriage and/or divorce at that time? If not, how did her opinion vary? What were her messages regarding marriage and divorce customs in the British Empire at that time?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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