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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. After Patrick is confirmed as dead, who arrives next to Mary’s house to join the investigation?

2. The plot structure of “Lamb to the Slaughter” depicts which qualities?

3. How many police officers initially arrive after Mary calls the police?

4. What food item does Mary offer to Patrick after he arrives home?

5. As Patrick begins to talk to Mary, the lamplight leaves what aspects of his face in shadow?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What actions does Mary plot on her way home from the store? How do these actions play out?

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

4. Who is Sergeant Noonan in the story? When does he arrive in “Lamb to Slaughter”?

5. How is the concept of identity as seen in popular psychology depicted through the character of Mary in the novel?

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

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

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

9. How does Patrick Maloney feel about his wife Mary in “Lamb to Slaughter”?

10. What appear to be Patrick’s motivations and desires in “Lamb to Slaughter”?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Define situational, verbal, and dramatic irony and discuss examples of each in the narrative. How is Mary’s conversation with Sam the grocer ironic? Is this an example of dramatic or verbal irony? What type of irony is illustrated in the end of the story?

Essay Topic 3

Describe the character of Mary and analyze her personality and characteristics as described in the narrative. How are Mary’s feelings about her husband indicated in the text? How does Mary Maloney fulfill the “archetype” of the American housewife in the 1950s? What characteristics does Mary exhibit that fulfill this archetype? How does Mary break from the archetype, and what do you think this indicates?

(see the answer keys)

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