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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. How does Mary reenter her home after going to the store?
(a) Through the back door
(b) Through the cellar door
(c) Through the front window
(d) Through the front door

2. Of the murder weapon, one of the policemen in the kitchen says that it is probably where?
(a) In an alleyway somewhere
(b) Long gone
(c) Right under our noses
(d) Somewhere hidden in the garden

3. What kind of meat does Mary take from the freezer in the story?
(a) A string of sausages
(b) A leg of lamb
(c) A venison roast
(d) A whole salmon

4. What day of the week is it in “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) Tuesday
(b) Friday
(c) Thursday
(d) Sunday

5. Mary complains about what aspect of Patrick’s job after his arrival home in “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) Sitting in a chair behind a desk all day long
(b) Driving all day long
(c) Talking all day long
(d) Walking about on his feet all day long

Short Answer Questions

1. The narrator's description of Mary and her husband’s home leads the reader to assume they fit into what economic bracket?

2. What is a prominent literary element in “Lamb to the Slaughter”?

3. What does Mary attempt to do when Patrick tells her to “sit down” after he arrives home in “Lamb to the Slaughter”?

4. How is Mary said to greet the store clerk when she arrives after killing Patrick?

5. Mary tells herself as she walks home from the store, “That’s the way. Do Everything” how?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. What social and cultural elements influenced the Post-War period in Western literature?

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

6. Where in the story does the denouement take place? What happens in the denouement?

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

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

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

10. What is foreshadowed by Patrick’s action of downing of his drink in the story?

(see the answer keys)

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