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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. What book does Lessing cite in her discussion of the Russian front?

2. How many jobs was Gottfried working?

3. Which activity did Lessing both love and hate?

4. Which book on the experience of Communism does Lessing cite in this chapter?

5. In Chapter 15, whom did Lessing find drinking wine with Gottfried?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Describe the beginning of Lessing's relationship with Gottfried.

3. Describe the feeling that Lessing had before she left Frank.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Gender emerges in the autobiography as a determining factor in Lessing's life that influences her behavior and reception as a young woman within her community. Discuss the way in which Lessing portrayed the effect of gender roles on her growing identity. How did Lessing's mother model femininity? How did Lessing act out against or comply with that model of female behavior? How did she seem to define herself as a woman?

Essay Topic 2

In a memoir that spans three continents over the course of the author's life, space and place become particularly significant to the story and to Lessing's overall commentary. Examine the way in which she treats various spaces and places in the text. What themes, messages, or ideas does Lessing develop through her treatment of spaces and places? How does she portray those spaces and places? Be sure to consider limited spaces such as the various houses that Lessing recalls, and places as broad as the countries she lived in, to the various cities or communities where she resided.

Essay Topic 3

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?

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