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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. When Mary leaves the store, she tells herself that she’s returning home to do what?
(a) Cook dinner for her husband
(b) Wash the dishes
(c) Finish the laundry
(d) Call her sister on the phone

2. Mary hides the truth about Patrick’s murder to presumably protect whom?
(a) Her mother
(b) Her unborn child
(c) Patrick’s lover
(d) Her secret lover

3. What is a literary technique used to develop suspense in “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) Literary allusion
(b) Assonance
(c) Nonlinear plot
(d) Foreshadowing

4. Where does Mary say there’s “plenty of meat and stuff” after Patrick’s arrival?
(a) In the cellar
(b) In the cabinets
(c) In the garage
(d) In the freezer

5. One of the officers in the kitchen says of the murder weapon, “"Personally, I think it's” where?
(a) Right here on the premises
(b) Out in the yard
(c) Long gone
(d) In the basement

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the “small favor” that Mary asks of Sergeant Noonan and the other officers?

2. By what name does Mary call Sergeant Noonan as the investigation continues?

3. Where is Patrick standing when Mary reenters the living room with the meat from the freezer?

4. What word from the story refers to keen mental suffering or distress over affliction or loss?

5. What dessert does Mary purchase at the store?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is black humor? When did black humor rise in popularity in literature and entertainment?

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

3. How does Roald Dahl demonstrate black humor through the act of murder in “Lamb to Slaughter”?

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

5. How is the theme of passivity in “Lamb to the Slaughter” illustrated through Patrick’s character?

6. How is the theme of passivity in “Lamb to the Slaughter” illustrated through Mary’s character?

7. What action does Patrick commit in “Lamb to Slaughter” to propel the action of the story forward?

8. How did “Lamb to Slaughter” fit in with the popular fiction of the era when it was published?

9. Whose point of view does the narrative of “Lamb to Slaughter” revolve around?

10. What is ironic about Mary’s answer to Sam regarding “meat” in “Lamb to Slaughter”?

(see the answer keys)

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