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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. “Lamb to the Slaughter” was adapted for an episode of what television show?
(a) The Twilight Zone
(b) Alfred Hitchcock Presents
(c) Saturday Night Live
(d) Unsolved Mysteries

2. Patrick tells Mary after relating his story that “there needn’t really be any” what?
(a) Agony
(b) Fuss
(c) Yelling
(d) Hatred

3. Patrick tells Mary that he’ll give her what after he’s related his story in “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) The child
(b) Money
(c) The car
(d) The house

4. What word from the story refers to keen mental suffering or distress over affliction or loss?
(a) Frantic
(b) Wonder
(c) Grief
(d) Astonishment

5. What is a prominent literary element in “Lamb to the Slaughter”?
(a) Onomatopoeia
(b) Repetitive verse
(c) Symbolism
(d) Literary allusion

Short Answer Questions

1. How are Mary’s eyes described in the story?

2. When Mary leaves the store, she tells herself that she’s returning home to do what?

3. Where does Mary tell the police officer on the phone that Patrick is when she calls them?

4. Mary tells herself on the way home from the store that if she does things correctly “there’ll be no need for any” what at all?

5. Where does Mary go after leaving Patrick in the living room in “Lamb to the Slaughter”?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How is the theme of passivity in “Lamb to the Slaughter” illustrated through Mary’s character?

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

5. What elements of the setting of “Lamb to the Slaughter” indicate the time period for the story?

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

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

8. How is the setting described in the first paragraph of “Lamb to Slaughter”? What items are described in the room?

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

10. What symbolism surrounds the murder weapon in “Lamb to Slaughter”?

(see the answer keys)

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