Name__________________
“Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl
Literary Techniques
Part 1: Authors employ literary techniques to make their writing more expressive and to go
beyond the literal interpretation of their text. Below are the examples of literary techniques Roald
Dahl uses in his short story “Lamb to the Slaughter.”
Match each term to its definition.
Biblical Allusion
Oxymoron
Onomatopoeia
Contrast
Parallel Structure
Alliteration
Repetition
Irony
Simile
__________________ 1. A comparison using like or as
__________________ 2. Repetition of beginning word sounds
__________________ 3. Two contradictory terms put together
__________________ 4. Showing opposites
__________________ 5. A reference to a story or symbol in the Bible
__________________ 6. Repetition of parts of phrases, clauses or sentences with the same pattern
__________________ 7. Words imitate sounds
__________________ 8. Repeating exact words or phrases for emphasis
__________________ 9. The opposite of what is expected happens; a twist or paradox
Part 2: Match each example of literary technique to the correct sentence.
Biblical Allusion
Oxymoron
Onomatopoeia
Contrast
Parallel Structure
Alliteration
Repetition
Irony
Simile
__________________ 1. The police station was robbed.
__________________ 2. The stuffed animals were placed two by two on the bed in a Noah’s ark fashion.
__________________ 3. Jane jumped joyfully.
__________________ 4. Help me! Help me! Help me!
__________________ 5. I tried to stand; I tried to flee; I tried to get away.
__________________ 6. The wise fool called himself a cheerful pessimist.
__________________ 7. The rat-ta-tat –tat of the rain on the shingles was calming and put me to sleep.
__________________ 8. The tallest boy danced with the shortest girl.
__________________ 9. The walking on the hot sand on the beach was like treading on a stovetop.
Part 3: Identify the types of literary technique in the following quotations from the
story. Some are used more than once.
Biblical Allusion
Oxymoron
Onomatopoeia
Contrast
Parallel Structure
Alliteration
Repetition
Irony
Simile
__________________ 1. “She loved to luxuriate in the presence of this man – almost as a sunbather feels in
the sun –”
__________________ 2. “… alone together.”
__________________ 3. “… for the way he sat loosely in a chair, for the way he came in a door …”
__________________ 4. “… the ice cubes clinking against the side of the glass.”
__________________ 5. “Sit down … sit down … sit down.”
__________________ 6. “… the light … in shadow.”
__________________ 7. “She couldn’t feel her feet touching the floor. She couldn’t feel anything at all ...”
__________________ 8. “… the cellar, the light switch, the deep freeze, the hand …”
__________________ 9. “… a leg of lamb.”
__________________10. “Then she washed her hands …” (as if to cleanse herself of the murder, not just
from making the meal.)
__________________11. “… and now she was returning home [from the grocery store] to her husband and
he was waiting for his supper.”
__________________12. “She was humming a little tune …”
__________________13. “ ‘Is he dead?’ she [Mrs. Maloney] cried.”
__________________14. “There was a great deal of whispering and muttering …”
__________________15. “ ‘Personally, I think it [the murder weapon] is right here on the premises.’
‘Probably right under our very noses.’ ” (The police say this as they eat the
murder weapon.)