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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to the narrator, Mary “knew [Patrick] didn’t want to speak much until” what was finished?
(a) The first drink
(b) Supper
(c) The second drink
(d) The sunset

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

3. How many police officers initially arrive after Mary calls the police?
(a) 3
(b) 2
(c) 4
(d) 1

4. From what narrative point of view is “Lamb to the Slaughter” related?
(a) First person
(b) Second person
(c) Third person
(d) Fourth person

5. The final comment made by the policemen in “Lamb to the Slaughter” relates to which literary element?
(a) Assonance
(b) Irony
(c) Alliteration
(d) Onomatopoeia

6. Mary tells the police detectives that the meat for Patrick’s dinner is where when they question her?
(a) In the freezer
(b) Thawing in the sink
(c) In the refrigerator
(d) Cooking in the oven

7. What food item does Mary offer to Patrick after he arrives home?
(a) Bread
(b) Fish
(c) Cheese
(d) Cake

8. As Patrick begins to talk to Mary, the lamplight leaves what aspects of his face in shadow?
(a) His cheek and eyebrow
(b) His hair and ears
(c) His chin and mouth
(d) His nose and hair

9. Who is the first police officer to examine Patrick’s body?
(a) O’Malley
(b) Sam
(c) Sergeant Noonan
(d) Charlie

10. Mary explains that she hasn’t made any supper for what reason in “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) She is very sick
(b) They are eating at the neighbor’s house
(c) They are out of food
(d) They eat out on Thursdays

11. Mary is awaiting her husband’s arrival from where in the opening of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) A funeral
(b) The grocery store
(c) The butcher
(d) Work

12. One of the officers in the kitchen says of Patrick, “The doc says his skull was smashed all to pieces just like from a” what?
(a) A piece of firewood
(b) Tire iron
(c) Baseball bat
(d) Sledgehammer

13. What literary style that applies to “Lamb to the Slaughter” refers to the use of the grotesque, morbid, or absurd for darkly comic purposes?
(a) Alliteration
(b) Black humor
(c) Assonance
(d) Metaphor

14. How many table lamps are described in the room in the opening of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) 1
(b) 4
(c) 2
(d) 3

15. What is the store clerk’s response when Mary asks him if he thinks her dinner will be all right despite being cooked from frozen?
(a) I wouldn’t know, I am a vegetarian
(b) Personally, I would thaw it first
(c) Personally, I don’t believe it makes any difference
(d) Personally, I will only eat them fresh

Short Answer Questions

1. What word from the story means a punishment imposed or incurred for a violation of law?

2. Where does Mary exit the home after killing Patrick?

3. What does Patrick say when Mary “began to get frightened” in the first section of the story?

4. Mary is said to watch Patrick as he relates his statement “with a kind of dazed” what?

5. What reason does Mary give to the store clerk for her staying in tonight?

(see the answer keys)

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