Lamb to the Slaughter

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 4

Learning goals:

- You can analyze a short story.

- You understand and know how to use the correct terminology for the analysis. 

At the end of the lesson I can:

- Evaluate and analyze a fictional character that I have read about in a short story. 

- Select evidence from the text to support my evaluation. 

Lamb to the slaughter

Roald Dahl

British author

Wrote both children's and adult books and stories

Children's often funny

Adults often bizar. 

What tragic news does Patrick give Mary at the beginning of the book? How do you think this impacts her emotionally? How does she react?

What does Patrick Maloney tell Mary before she kills him?

1. He does not like her cooking.
2. That he is not happy with his job.
3. That he is having an affair.
4. That he wasn't hungry.

Write your impression of Mary Maloney as a wife. Multiple answers are possible.

What is the significance of Patrick's profession and Mary's interaction with the police?

Justify the title of the story "Lamb to the Slaughter."

Conflict: protagonist and antagonist

Who is the protagonist (main character) in "The Lamb to the Slaughter?"

1. Jack Noonan, the detective
2. Mary Maloney
3. Patrick Maloney
4. Sam, the greengrocer

Who is the antagonist in the story?

1. Mary Maloney
2. Patrick Maloney
3. Jack Noonan
4. the detectives

Dynamic character

Character that changes during the story (narrative) and learns from the changes. 

e.g. through conflict, challenges, experience.

Describe the first dynamic character moment in the short story.

Character analysis: Write down the evidence from the text about Mary's loyalty to her husband.

Open question: Do you think Mary Maloney is "a good wife" to Patrick? Explain your answer in at least ten words.

Situational Irony

when one’s efforts produces the opposite results of what was expected 

or

difference between what you expect can/will happen and what actually happens

What is an example of situational irony in 'Lamb to the slaughter'?

1. Mary 's personality
2. Patrick's personality
3. The police looking for the murder weapon
4. Mary going shopping for supper.

Dramatic Irony

when the audience/reader knows things the characters do not. Because of this the audience may foresee (NOT FORESHADOW) the outcome. 

Name three situations in the story that could be seen as dramatic irony.

Plot

What is the main climax of the story?

1. Patrick coming home to work.
2. The police giving their estimation about the murder weapon and that it is still in the house.
3. The detectives eating the murder weapon.
4. Mary calling the police to report her husband's murder.

What is the rising action in the story?

1. When Patrick delivers to Mary the bad news.
2. When the policemen arrived.
3. When Mary gets the leg of lamb from the freezer after being in shock.
4. When Mary called the police.

What is the falling action in the story?

1. Mary crying to the police.
2. Mary giggling.
3. The policemen eating the evidence.
4. When Mary cooks the lamb, goes to the store to buy vegetables and rehearses.

What are some themes of Lamb to the Slaughter?

What does the leg of lamb symbolize in the "Lamb to the Slaughter?"

Watching

You have read the story, now watch the (rather old) version from the series "tales of the unexpected"

What happens to the murder weapon?

1. Mary threw it away.
2. Mary puts it back into the freezer.
3. Jack Noonan found it under the sofa.
4. The detectives ate it.