Lamb to the Slaughter Plot
Lamb to the Slaughter Mix
Characters
Rising Action
Resolution
100
We can reasonably infer based on Mary's routine of waiting for her husband that she is likely...(what does she likely do as a job, and how does she feel about it?)
What is a housewife who anxiously awaits her husband to come home.
100
What is ironic about Patrick's job and what happens to him?
What is he is a police detective. His job is to investigate crimes, yet he is murdered himself by his own wife.
100
This protagonist starts the story as a warm, serene housewife waiting happily for her husband to return from work
Who is Mary Maloney?
100
Mary originally retrieves the leg of lamb from this home appliance, intending to cook it for dinner
What is the deep freeze (or freezer)?
100
This is the physical location of the four officers as they consume the actual murder weapon
What is the kitchen?
200
What is Mary's husband's name, and what does he do for a living?
Who is Patrick Maloney--Police Detective.
200
Which irony is this? "Patrick!" she called. "How are you, darling?"
Verbal Irony
200
This is Patrick Maloney's profession, which makes Mary highly aware of the legal consequences and investigation tactics for murder
What is a detective (or policeman)?
200
Mary takes this sudden, violent action when Patrick turns his back and announces he is going out
What is swinging the frozen leg of lamb high in the air and bringing it down on the back of his head?
200
One of the officers makes this involuntary physical noise right before the group discusses the location of the missing weapon
What is a belch? or burp
300
Patrick knows it's a bad time to be telling her. What does the reader infer he tells Mary, and why is it a "bad time"?
What is he tells her he wants a divorce--it's a bad time because she's pregnant.
300
Which irony is this? "Her husband, he told her, had been killed by a blow on the back of the head administered with a heavy blunt instrument, almost certainly a large piece of metal."
Dramatic Irony
300
This local shopkeeper unwittingly helps Mary establish her crucial alibi when she buys potatoes, peas, and cheesecake from his store.
Who is Sam (the grocer)?
300
To make her upcoming alibi convincing, Mary practices doing these two things in front of her bedroom mirror
What are smiling and speaking in a bright voice?
300
An officer remarks that the weapon is likely "right under our very noses," which is the story's ultimate example of this literary device
What is dramatic irony?
400
Why does Mrs. Maloney go to see Sam?
What is she needs someone such as Sam to be a witness that she was out of the house when the murder was committed--an alibi.
400
Mary takes this sudden, violent action when Patrick turns his back and announces he is going out
What is swinging the frozen leg of lamb high in the air and bringing it down on the back of his head?
400
This physical condition of Mary Maloney—mentioned in the exposition—serves as her primary motivation for covering up her crime
What is being pregnant?
400
Mary tells the grocer she is buying vegetables because Patrick was too tired to engage in this activity?
What is going out to eat?
400
In the story Mary Maloney does this in the other room while listening to the police talk with their mouths full of meat
What is laughing?
500
When Mr. Maloney says, "But there needn’t really be any fuss. I hope not anyway. It wouldn’t be very good for my job," he is showing concern for...
Choices:
His Marriage, His Personal Reputation, or Mary Maloney
What is his own personal reputation.
500
Upon returning home from the grocery store, What does Mary do to the apartment?
Mary starts messing up the room to make it look like someone broke in to rob and kill her husband.
500
What did Mary do at the end of the video?
What is Mary giggling.
500
Upon returning home from the grocery store, Mary uses this mental strategy to make sure her shock and grief are completely genuine when she "discovers" the body
What is telling herself that she is just a wife returning to prepare supper for her husband, expecting nothing unusual?
500
Because the police successfully consume the leg of lamb, this is what ultimately happens to the physical evidence of the crime
What is it is completely destroyed/eaten?