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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. According to Lessing, what do novelists have the ability to do?

2. Lessing believes the reaction of both Christians and Leftists to opposition is a form of ___________.

3. Which leader of the miner's strike was referenced by Lessing?

4. Lessing referred to the sciences regarding human behavior as what type of science?

5. In what time period did Lessing grow up?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Lessing believe sub-groups with opposing positions were dangerous?

2. What service did Lessing feel that novelists brought to the world?

3. Why did Lessing believe the tendency to buy into vilification was a form of popular lunacy?

4. Lessing believed that if humans could learn from our history, we could change our future in what respect?

5. What was the political climate in Lessing's country when she was growing up?

6. Why does Lessing consider the age of Arthastra to be significant?

7. What did Lessing mean when she said that groups will often "vilify their opposition"?

8. What ideas do the quotes prior to "When in the Future They Look Back on Us" demonstrate?

9. What comments did Lessing make about the length of time the white ruling class was in power in Rhodesia?

10. Why was Lessing discouraged by the application of behavioral data uncovered through the "soft sciences"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

According to Lessing, what is the role of novelists in a society?

Essay Topic 2

Lessing felt that humans suffered from an "awful primitivism." What were some of the examples she gave to support this theory?

Essay Topic 3

Mass insanity is a concept Lessing used to describe the tendency of people to accept ideas based on nothing found in reality. What did she mean by this?

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