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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. Where in “Lamb to the Slaughter” does the rising action take place?
(a) When Mary calls the police
(b) When the police arrive at Mary’s door
(c) When Mary goes to the store
(d) When Patrick tells Mary he’s leaving her

2. What is the first question that Mary asks Patrick after he arrives home?
(a) Where shall we go for dinner?
(b) How was your day?
(c) Catch any criminals today?
(d) Tired darling?

3. From what narrative tense is “Lamb to the Slaughter” related?
(a) Future imperfect tense
(b) Present possessive tense
(c) Present tense
(d) Past tense

4. What does Mary say when the police pick up after she calls them?
(a) There has been a murder
(b) Quick! Come quick! Patrick’s dead!
(c) My husband has been attacked
(d) I need an ambulance

5. According to the narrator, “the detectives kept asking [Mary] a lot of questions. But they always treated her” how?
(a) Suspiciously
(b) Innocently
(c) Kindly
(d) Respectfully

Short Answer Questions

1. Who does Mary rehearse speaking to in her bedroom after killing Patrick?

2. The narrator compares “that warm male glow that came out of him to her when they were alone together” to what in the beginning of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?

3. As Mary, in the living room, listens to the policemen in the kitchen, their voices are described as being what “because their mouths were full of meat”?

4. When Sergeant Noonan offers to take Mary to another house for the night, she responds that she “didn’t feel like she could move even” how much “at the moment”?

5. What is Mary’s response when she sees Patrick’s body after returning from the store?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the author establish and develop tension through using sound in the beginning of the story?

2. How would you characterize the tone and mood of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?

3. How do Mary’s actions after the murder resemble those of an actor preparing for a role?

4. What foreshadowing can be seen in the curtains as described in the first paragraph of “Lamb to Slaughter”?

5. How is “climax” defined? Where in “Lamb to the Slaughter” does the climax occur?

6. What is the central example of dramatic irony in “Lamb to Slaughter”?

7. What symbolism surrounds the murder weapon in “Lamb to Slaughter”?

8. Where does the rising action take place in the narrative? What happens in the rising action of the story?

9. How is Mary’s transformation metaphorically depicted in her descent into the cellar?

10. Who is Sam? What role does he play in “Lamb to Slaughter”?

(see the answer keys)

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