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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 Sergeant Noonan offers to take Mary to another house for the night, she responds that she “didn’t feel like she could move even” how much “at the moment”?

2. What is Sergeant Noonan’s first name in the story?

3. What overturns when Patrick falls to his death in “Lamb to the Slaughter”?

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

5. Who is the officer who is asked by another in the kitchen, “What do you think?”

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What crucial information to the story is omitted? Why do you think the author omitted these details?

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

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

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

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

8. After the murder has been committed, what is Mary’s central objective in “Lamb to Slaughter”?

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

10. How is Biblical allusion depicted through the title of “Lamb to Slaughter”?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Define “narrative point of view” and discuss the point of view of “Lamb to the Slaughter.” Is the story related in the past, present or future tense? Is the story told from a first, second, or third person point of view? How limited is the narrator’s perspective? Why do you think the author chose this narrative style?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the historical context of “Lamb to the Slaughter.” Consider how the story relates to its time period in terms of societal, political, cultural, and technological aspects. Do you think the story effectively reflects the time period in which it is set? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Describe the setting of “Lamb to the Slaughter” and the time period in which the short story was published. What literary movements took hold in America and Europe during the Post-War period? What qualities defined these movements? How is the setting of the 1950s evident in the story?

(see the answer keys)

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