Literary Terms
the intense feeling that an audience goes through while waiting for the outcome of certain events.
SUSPENSE
French for “the ending,”
DENOUEMENT
The story reaches the point of greatest tension between the protagonist and antagonist
CLIMAX
The author of Lamb to the Slaughter
Roald Dahl
“For her, this was a blissful time of day. She knew he didn’t want to speak much until after the first drink was finished, and she was content to sit quietly, enjoying his company.” Mary loves just being with her husband and looking at him. He has a “faraway look in his eyes, “ and she thinks he is _______.
a. grouchy
b. cruel
c. content
d. tired
d. tired
Mary’s world is shattered. Instead of dealing with the pieces, she decides to pretend the last ten minutes never happened; she deludes herself: “It occurred to her that perhaps he hadn’t even spoken, that she herself had imagined the whole thing. Maybe, if she went about her business, … she might find that none of it had ever happened.” Mary is stunned; she is in a state of ________.
a. awe
b. denial
c. composure
d. expectation
b. denial
Mary calls the police, and when they arrive, Mary falls into one of their arms, “weeping hysterically.” Mary recites her story to the policemen. It is easy for her to narrate her alibi because it is all true; she tells exactly what happened, with one major _______.
a. addition
b. omission
c. change of clothes
d. change of date
b. omission
In addition to the policemen and the detectives, a doctor, a police photographer and a ________ expert come to the house.
a. handwriting
b. lie detector
c. fingerprint
d. blood splatter analysis
c. fingerprint
While the men eat the leg of lamb, Mary stays in the adjoining room and listens to the ________.
a. rain
b. cars
c. sirens
d. conversation
d. conversation
/ permitting the passage of light
translucent
a type of wrench
spanner
feeling or showing hesitation or unwillingness
reluctant
A group of words that has meaning only as a phrase.
IDIOM
The storyteller sets the scene and the character’s background
EXPOSITION
The character reacts to something that has happened, and it starts a chain reaction of events
INCITING INCIDENT
Mary Maloney waits for her husband to return home from work. She is an attentive wife and a good housekeeper. While waiting for his return, Mary watches the clock “to please herself with the thought that each minute gone by made it nearer the time he would come home.” Mary ________ her husband.
a. loves b. suspects c. rejects
d. doubts
a. loves
Patrick empties the last half of his drink “in one swallow,” which is quite unusual, and then he gets up to make himself another drink, even though Mary usually makes the drinks. She says she will make it, but he refuses her offer. Patrick wants to talk, and he needs the alcohol to give him ________.
a. courage
b. reason
c. cause
d. sanity
a. courage
When Mary enters the living room, Patrick’s back is to her; he is standing at the window. He speaks to her, but never turns around, “ ‘Don’t make supper for me. I’m going out.’ At that point Mary walked up behind him and without any pause, swung the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his ______.”
a. neck
b. spine
c. shoulder
d. head
d. head
When she arrives home, Mary happily hums a song and calls out to her husband, as if she expects him to answer. When she finds him dead, Mary is actually shocked and heartbroken and ______ in earnest.
a. cries
b. sighs
c. faints
d. curses
a. cries
The policemen want her to go somewhere, “to her sister’s perhaps,” but Mary says she is too exhausted to even move. The police continue their investigation and deduce Patrick was probably killed with large, heavy, metal object, maybe a big metal vase or a “spanner” (a pipe wrench). The police search the ______.
a. house
b. garage
c. yard
d. all of these
d. all of these
The police literally eat the evidence while discussing the whereabouts of the __________.
a. neighbor’s car
b. family dog
c. murder weapon
d. backyard fence
c. murder weapon
prompt; on time
punctual
business
to set or keep apart (v); existing by itself
seperate
a way of indicating or hinting at what will come later.
Foreshadowing
the use of words to mean something different from what a person actually says.
VERBAL IRONY
The character solves the problem or conflict.
RESOLUTION
Mary is content with her middle class life and looks forward to the future because she is _______.
a. moving
b. pregnant
c. about to graduate
d. starting a job
b. pregnant
Patrick upsets Mary’s perfect world of domestic happiness by telling her he is ______.
a. sick
b. leaving
c. unhappy
d. dying
b. leaving
The leg of lamb is frozen solid. “She might as well as have hit him with a _______ club.”
a. wooden
b. steel
c. rubber
d. feathery
b. steel
Mary does an extremely good job of convincing herself that nothing has happened. She keeps telling herself to “Do everything right and natural.” She does such a good job of self-persuasion, that when she gets home she is not “expecting to find anything at all.” She reaffirms that if she keeps everything “absolutely natural, there’ll be no need for _______.”
a. sadness
b. acting
c. joy
d. emotion
b. acting
Mary asks for a drink, and she persuades the men to also have one, even though “It is not strictly allowed” because they are _______.
a. religious
b. alcoholics
c. on duty
d. all of these
c. on duty
One of the policemen thinks the weapon is still “right here on the premises,” and another man replies, “Probably right under our very _______.”
a. feet
b. floor boards
c. chairs
d. noses
d. noses
to thrive or revel in
luxuriate
extreme disgust; a stomach distress with the urge to vomit
nausea
free from agitation of mind or spirit
tranquil
This occurs when the audience is aware of something that the characters in the story are not aware of
DRAMATIC IRONY
The story builds and there is often a complication during this part of Freytag's Pyramid.
RISING ACTION
The main character or hero of a story
PROTAGONIST
To pass the time while she waits for her husband’s arrival home, Mary _______.
a. crochets
b. knits
c. sews
d. scrapbooks
c. sews
Patrick tries to comfort and console Mary by saying, “I’ll give you money and see that you are looked after.” Patrick feels _______.
a. relieved
b. sympathetic
c. guilty
d. sensitive
c. guilty
Mary’s decision to attack her husband is ________.
a. premeditated
b. expected
c. unfeeling
d. spontaneous
d. spontaneous
Sam, the grocer, suggests she should also buy a slice of ________ for Patrick’s dessert.
a. apple pie
b. chocolate cake
c. cheesecake
d. blueberry strudel
c. cheesecake
Mary seems surprised when Jack Noonan, one of the policemen, tells her she left the ______ on.
a. lights
b. oven
c. washer
d. sprinklers
b. oven
This story could be classified as a ________ thriller.
a. psychological
b. physiological
c. sci-fi
d. logistics
a. psychological
to irritate or enrage
exasperate
viscous or jelly-like
gelatinous
to entrust; to carry into action deliberately
commit
An example would be when someone buys a gun to protect himself, but the same gun is used by another individual to injure him. One would expect that the gun would keep him safe, but it has actually caused him injury. What is it?
Situational Irony
The story shifts to action that happens as a result of the climax, which can also contain a reversal
FALLING ACTION
The Villain or the character who is against the main character
ANTAGONIST
Patrick is a ________.
a. fireman
b. carpenter
c. delivery man
d. policeman
d. policeman
Mary usually has dinner ready for Patrick, but on this night she has not made supper because it is Thursday, and on Thursday they go _________.
a. for pizza
b. to Patrick’s parents
c. to Mary’s parents
d. out for dinner
d. out for dinner
The noise of her husband hitting the floor brings Mary out of her state of shock. “All right, she told herself. So I’ve killed him.” She recognizes and acknowledges what she has done, and then her mind clears very quickly because “she knew quite well what the penalty would be.” She has little concern for herself; in fact, she admits the punishment “would be a relief.” However, she is very concerned about her _______.
a. parents
b. child
c. neighbors
d. friends
b. child
Mary decides to tidy herself up and practices reciting an alibi. She manufactures a story for the grocer, saying she is there to buy ______ and _____ to go with some meat she is cooking for her husband’s supper
a. pasta, beans
b. rice, salad
c. potatoes, peas
d. corn, cauliflower
c. potatoes, peas
At first they hesitate, but Mary _______, and the men give in.
a. cries
b. insists
c. begs
d. stares into the distance
b. insists
Mary is questioned but not interrogated because the police do not consider her ________.
a. honest
b. worthy
c. a suspect
d. in her right state of mind
c. a suspect
a small quantity of liquor
nip
an expert
connoisseur
changed to a fluid or a solid; made rigid or immobile
congealed