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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following areas was the homeland of Lessing's mother's doctor?
(a) Persia.
(b) Zimbabwe.
(c) Johannesburg.
(d) Sinoia.

2. In Chapter 4, what city did Lessing's mother insist on traveling through on the way back to England?
(a) Moscow.
(b) Brussels.
(c) Paris.
(d) London.

3. Which of the following books did Lessing use to illustrate the difference in transitioning from the consciousness of a child to that of an adult?
(a) The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
(b) Hamlet.
(c) Pride and Prejudice.
(d) Tristram Shandy.

4. What did Doris insist on having with her in the photograph for which she posed?
(a) Her cat.
(b) Her teddy bear.
(c) A book.
(d) A flower that she picked herself.

5. How did Lessing's mother cure Lessing's lice problem?
(a) By shaving her head.
(b) With paraffin.
(c) With expensive shampoo.
(d) By washing her hair with scalding hot water.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Biddy O'Halloran's skin resemble?

2. What article of clothing caught young Lessing's attention on Bayswater Road?

3. How did the author feel about her childhood?

4. To which book did Lessing often compare her childhood?

5. Which of the following did Lessing delight in telling the other children at the school?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 4, what prompted the Tayler family to move to Africa?

2. While their mother was bedridden, what did Lessing and her brother do?

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

4. How did Lessing become an atheist?

5. How does Lessing describe her childhood vulnerability?

6. According to Lessing in Chapter 2, what is the role of truth in autobiographical writing?

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

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

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

10. What did Lessing suspect was the root of her mother's illness?

(see the answer keys)

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