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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. Where did Lessing's family live before they found property?

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

3. Which of the following does Lessing blame for the distrust that 20th Century people have in their governments?

4. How did Lessing's mother cure Lessing's lice problem?

5. Which of the following does Lessing state as signifying the end of any war?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Lessing's parents plan to acquire land in Southern Rhodesia?

2. According to Lessing's memory, how did she learn to interact with people around her?

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

4. From the details Lessing provides in Chapter 1, describe the circumstances which led to Maude's broken heart.

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

6. In Chapter 3, what type of child abuse does Lessing describe?

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

8. How did Lessing avoid dealing with her conflicts with her mother?

9. Describe Lessing's father's medical condition in this chapter.

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

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

Discuss Lessing's views on the role and consequences of violence. How did she define violence? What was her stance regarding violence on the personal or national level? Did her opinion remain consistent in all instances? Or did it vary by circumstance? According to Lessing, were there instances of justified violence or war?

Essay Topic 3

History plays a key role in forming the text of the autobiography. Examine the ways in which Lessing relied on, recounted, or challenged history in the text. How central was history in Lessing's understanding of her own life? How essential was Lessing's life in her understanding of history? Were those two elements inextricably linked? What did Lessing's autobiography contribute to your understanding of history, understanding of historical events, or the way in which history is recorded?

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