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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. How did the daughters of the mothers of the1960's view sex?

2. In Chapter 13, who did Lessing encounter in the street?

3. What time of day would Gottfried get up to go to the tobacco auctions?

4. Where did Kurt claim his real education occurred?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

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

4. How did Lessing describe Kurt in Chapter 16?

5. What did Lessing realize when she was diagnosed with Low Fever and sent to the mountains to recover?

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

7. Describe Lessing's relationship with Ivy.

8. Describe Lessing's ultimate assessment of the impact of the Communist Party in Southern Rhodesian politics.

9. How did Lessing respond to increasing unhappiness with her marital and home situation?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the role of education in Lessing's writings. How was Lessing educated? How did her education affect her views on class, politics, and gender? What was Lessing's opinion of education as an institution? How did she support her opinion of education throughout her autobiography?

Essay Topic 2

At the same time that Lessing wrote her autobiography, she critically engaged with the strengths and limitations of the form by recounting a valuable form of truth. Explore Lessing's commentary on the autobiography as a genre. What did she believe to be the value in writing her autobiography? What did Lessing perceive to be its limitation? How did exploring Lessing's perspective on the genre that she was using, illuminate the value of the text that resulted from that questioning? What did she ultimately offer her readers with regard to objectivity, subjectivity, or truth? How much more did you know about Lessing herself at the end of her work?

Essay Topic 3

Born during the final days of the British Empire, Doris Lessing presents a unique take on the Empire and imperial policy. Discuss Lessing's developing views on the Empire. Explore themes such as the ethics of the Empire, the financial ramifications of the Empire, and the social changes that she discusses after the fall of the Empire. What does her overall message regarding British imperialism appear to be? Support your answers with evidence from the autobiography.

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