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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. As Mary walks home from the store, the narrator states, “Mind you, she wasn’t expecting to find anything. She was just going home with the” what?
(a) Vegetables
(b) Bread
(c) Steak
(d) Whiskey

2. What is Mary doing as she enters her home from the store?
(a) Humming and smiling
(b) Laughing and giggling
(c) Crying and thinking
(d) Frowning and praying

3. What kind of store does Mary go to after killing Patrick?
(a) A grocery store
(b) A candy store
(c) A bookstore
(d) A taxidermy store

4. How is Mary said to greet the store clerk when she arrives after killing Patrick?
(a) Sadly
(b) Faintly
(c) Brightly
(d) Decisively

5. Where does Mary exit the home after killing Patrick?
(a) Through the front window
(b) Through the cellar door
(c) Through the back door
(d) Through the front door

Short Answer Questions

1. When Mary leaves the store, she tells herself that she’s returning home to do what?

2. What kind of look describes Mary’s eyes in the beginning of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?

3. Who discovers a small patch of congealed blood on Patrick’s head when the police arrive?

4. 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”?

5. Mary tells Patrick that he can eat his dinner where in the beginning of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Mary giggle at the end of “Lamb to Slaughter”?

2. How is the concept of identity as seen in popular psychology depicted through the character of Mary in the novel?

3. After the murder has been committed, what is Mary’s central objective in “Lamb to Slaughter”?

4. How would you compare the style of “Lamb to the Slaughter” to other horror short stories?

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

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

7. How would you characterize Sergeant Noonan’s behavior toward Mary in “Lamb to Slaughter”?

8. What actions does Mary plot on her way home from the store? How do these actions play out?

9. What crucial information to the story is omitted? Why do you think the author omitted these details?

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

(see the answer keys)

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