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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. Mary tells the police detective that she doesn’t own any items like he suggested for the murder weapon, but that there might be some things like that where?
(a) In the closet
(b) In the basement
(c) In the garage
(d) In the shed

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

3. How does Mary greet her husband when he arrives in the beginning of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) Welcome home
(b) Hello sweetheart
(c) Hullo darling
(d) I missed you

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

5. What does Mary take when she runs downstairs after rehearsing in her room?
(a) Her coat
(b) Her shoes
(c) Her hat
(d) Her purse

Short Answer Questions

1. As the search goes on, Mary knows that there are other policemen searching where?

2. What “unusual” thing does Patrick do after he arrives home in “Lamb to the Slaughter”?

3. Who is the first police officer to examine Patrick’s body?

4. One of the policemen says to Mary, “It’s the old story. Get the weapon, and you’ve got” what?

5. What happens to the murder weapon in “Lamb to the Slaughter”?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What characteristics define Mary Maloney in “Lamb to Slaughter”?

3. How does the author portray women and men differently in “Lamb to the Slaughter”?

4. Why do you think the author chooses not to detail Patrick’s story to the reader?

5. When does Mary appear the most emotionally vulnerable in the story? Is this emotion true or a performance?

6. In examining “Lamb to Slaughter” from an anthropological view of identity, what do you think Dahl’s statement is about mankind?

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

8. What influences can be seen in “Lamb to Slaughter”? When in Dahl’s career was the story written?

9. How is Mary’s discussion with Sam regarding “dessert” an example of verbal irony?

10. What do you think the outcome will be for Mary based on the ending of the story?

(see the answer keys)

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