A ticking clock is usually good for creating suspense. What device does Lessing use to create a sort of "ticking clock" that increases our anxiety?

Read the information in A Closer. Do you think Jerry's experience can be viewed as an initiation rite? What similarities and differences can you find in his experience and the coming-of-age rites in other cultures?

What do you think is the main message, or theme, of this story? Consider: • what the swim through the tunnel means to Jerry • why Jerry no longer feels he has to go to the bay

What material(s) would you use if you were creating a new United States coin? Why?

Retell the main events of this story as Jerry might tell them to his best friend when he returns from vacation or to his own son later in life.

Find the passage that explains the story's title.