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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. What is described as being “twisted back underneath [Patrick’s] body” when Mary returns home from the store?
(a) Patrick’s foot
(b) Patrick’s arm
(c) Patrick’s leg
(d) Patrick’s neck

2. “Lamb to the Slaughter” was initially rejected by what periodical for publication?
(a) Readers Digest
(b) Newsweek
(c) The New Yorker
(d) Harper’s Magazine

3. What look in Patrick’s eyes does Mary love, as described in the beginning of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) The rambling, wide look in his eyes
(b) The humble, keen look in his eyes
(c) The intent, far look in his eyes
(d) The specific, narrow look in his eyes

4. What is Mary doing as she enters her home from the store?
(a) Crying and thinking
(b) Laughing and giggling
(c) Frowning and praying
(d) Humming and smiling

5. What is the store clerk’s response when Mary asks him if he thinks her dinner will be all right despite being cooked from frozen?
(a) Personally, I will only eat them fresh
(b) Personally, I would thaw it first
(c) Personally, I don’t believe it makes any difference
(d) I wouldn’t know, I am a vegetarian

Short Answer Questions

1. Which object from “Lamb to the Slaughter” symbolizes “revenge”?

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

3. What kind of quality describes Mary’s skin in the beginning of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?

4. Patrick tells Mary after relating his story that “there needn’t really be any” what?

5. Author Roald Dahl is perhaps best known for writing what children’s novel?

Short Essay Questions

1. What conversation between Mary and Sergeant Noonan leads to the destruction of the evidence in “Lamb to Slaughter”?

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

3. How do Mary’s actions after the murder resemble those of an actor preparing for a role?

4. How does the author establish and develop tension through using sound in the beginning of the story?

5. Who is Sam? What role does he play in “Lamb to Slaughter”?

6. How would you compare the style of “Lamb to the Slaughter” to other horror short stories?

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

8. What foreshadowing can be seen in the curtains as described in the first paragraph of “Lamb to Slaughter”?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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