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

2. By what name is Mary addressed by the store clerk?
(a) Mrs. M.
(b) Mrs. Maloney
(c) Miss Mary
(d) Mary

3. What is Patrick’s profession in the short story?
(a) He is a policeman
(b) He is a taxicab driver
(c) He is a doctor
(d) He is a truck driver

4. Who discovers a small patch of congealed blood on Patrick’s head when the police arrive?
(a) Charlie
(b) O'Malley
(c) A police photographer
(d) Sergeant Noonan

5. Mary notices a little muscle twitching where on Patrick’s face as he begins to talk to her?
(a) Near the left corner of his mouth
(b) Near the corner of his left eye
(c) On his forehead
(d) Near the corner of his right eye

Short Answer Questions

1. Patrick is described as sitting how in a chair in the beginning of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?

2. According to the narrator, Mary “knew [Patrick] didn’t want to speak much until” what was finished?

3. What is Mary’s response when the police officer on the phone asks, “Who’s speaking?”

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

5. What is Mary’s response when Patrick tells her, “Listen, I’ve got something to tell you”?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Biblical allusion depicted through the title of “Lamb to Slaughter”?

2. Where in the story does the exposition take place? What important information is revealed through the exposition?

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

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

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

6. How is the character of Patrick Maloney described in “Lamb to Slaughter”?

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

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

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

10. What can be seen as ironic in Mary’s ability to evade suspicion and prosecution in “Lamb to Slaughter”?

(see the answer keys)

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