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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Mary gets up to leave the room after Patrick’s related his story, she cannot feel what?

2. Who arrives after the police detectives to investigate Patrick’s death?

3. Patrick tells Mary in the story, “I've thought about it a good deal and I've decided the only thing to do is” what?

4. What word used in describing the story’s setting refers to a piece of furniture, as in a dining room, often with shelves or drawers?

5. Where does Mary sit in the bedroom after killing Patrick?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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. Whom does Mary call after “discovering” the body? What happens next in the story?

9. How would you characterize the tone and mood of “Lamb to the Slaughter”?

10. What is ironic about Mary’s answer to Sam regarding “meat” in “Lamb to Slaughter”?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the author’s development of suspense and tension in the rising action of “Lamb to the Slaughter.” What are the main risks that the protagonist faces in the story? How are these risks compounded in the rising action? How does Mary deal with them?

Essay Topic 2

Identity in “Lamb to the Slaughter”

a. How does author Dahl explore the theme of identity through the character of Mary in the story? How does Mary’s identity become threatened and what does she do as a result?

b. How does the theme of identity relate differently to the men and women in the story?

Essay Topic 3

Define “conflict” in literature as well as the subcategories of conflict such as “internal conflict,” “external conflict,” and “relational conflict. What are the internal conflicts that Mary faces in the story? How are these resolved? What relational conflict is established between Mary and Patrick in the story? What is the resolution of this conflict?

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