Figurative Language
"She loved to luxuriate in his presence and to feel almost as a sunbather feels the sun"
What is a simile
Mary Maloney kills her husband.
Man vs. Man
"The room was warm and clean, the curtains drawn...Mary Maloney was waiting for her husband to come home from work?"
What is the exposition
Mr. Maloney's profession.
What is a detective/police officer?
Why are cops more friendly with Mrs. Maloney than they would be with most other people at a crime scene?
Because they are friends with her husband and she knows most people in the precinct.
"Then he crashed to the carpet"
What is onomatopoeia?
Mary Maloney trying to cover up the crime from the cops.
What is Man vs. Society
The cops eating the leg of lamb as Mary Maloney giggles in the other room.
What is the resolution?
The murder weapon.
What is a frozen leg of lamb?
What evidence is there that the cops do not suspect Mrs. White?
- They are looking for a man
- They eat food she gives them
- They have a drink at the house.
"His skull was smashed to pieces"
What is a hyperbole?
Mary Maloney is nervous about what will happen to the baby if she gets arrested for murder.
What is Man vs. Self?
Mr. White tells his wife he wants to leave her.
What is the rising action?
why did Mary Maloney kill her husband?
Because he was leaving her/cheating on her.
Why is Mary Maloney giggling at the end of the story?
Because she knows she will get away with the crime.
"Large leg of lamb"
What is alliteration?
Mary Maloney being depressed and angered about her husband leaving her.
What is man vs. self?
Mrs. Maloney kills her husband with the leg of lamb.
What is the climax?
What happened to the murder weapon?
Mary Maloney fed it to the cops.
Before the murder, how does Mary Maloney feel about her husband? How do we know?
She loves him or is obsessed with him.
"Probably right here under our very noses"
What is an idiom?
Mr. Maloney is unsure about how to break the news that he wants to leave his wife, so he starts to drink.
What is man vs. Self
Mary Maloney goes to the grocery store to buy potatoes in order to create an alibi.
What is the falling action?
Why did Mary Maloney go to the grocery store after killing her husband?
To create an alibi
"Personally, I think the murder weapon is right here on the premises...probably right our very noses"