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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 garage
(b) In the basement
(c) In the closet
(d) In the shed

2. What are the first thoughts that Mary thinks after killing her husband?
(a) I must call the police
(b) Oh dear Lord what have I done
(c) Hail to Mary, I’ve done it
(d) All right. So I’ve killed him

3. What does Mary do with the meat after killing Patrick?
(a) Throws it onto the grill
(b) Puts it into the fireplace
(c) Throws it into the trash
(d) Puts it in the oven

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

5. Where does Mary discover her dead husband lying after she returns from the store?
(a) In the living room
(b) In the bedroom
(c) In the bathroom
(d) On the stairs

Short Answer Questions

1. How are the curtains arranged in the opening of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?

2. Author Roald Dahl was born in what year?

3. What word from the short story means to be reluctant or wait to act because of fear, indecision, or disinclination?

4. What is Patrick’s profession in the short story?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Sergeant Noonan in the story? When does he arrive in “Lamb to Slaughter”?

2. What central injustices mark the narrative of “Lamb to Slaughter”?

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

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

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

6. What is the motivation for the crime committed in “Lamb to Slaughter”? How is this motivation established in the beginning of the story?

7. At what point in the story is Mary’s sense of identity shattered? What does she do to regain her sense of identity?

8. What differences can be seen between the 1950s society in the short story and society today?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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