Assignment 1) The Lottery by Shirley Jackson DEADLINE 11th of September
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
In 1948, The New Yorker published the most controversial short story in its history: "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, a 31-year-old wife and mother living in Vermont. The simply told tale covers a ritual lottery in a sunny, rural town. Soon after the piece was published, angry letters poured in to The New Yorker. Readers canceled their subscriptions. And while many claimed they didn't understand the story, the intense reaction indicated they understood it all too well.
You can read the story Here or Here
Choose ONE of the following questions. Write a paragraph of about 150 words.
- Use P.E.E.L and at least 2 Conditionals!
- Don't forget to start with your first name.
- - Shirley Jackson foreshadows the ending in multiple ways. How does she foreshadow the end? How do the character names (Mr. Graves, Mrs. Delacrois and Mr. Summers) play a role in this?
- - Describe the point of view of the story. How does the point of view affect what we know about the situation?
- - This story was published in 1948. Are there any cultural or historical events that Jackson might be commenting on here?
- - What kind of symbolism can you find? What do they represent?
- - Why do the villagers 'need' the lottery? Are there any real-life (perhaps not as gruesome) examples of traditions you'd rather see forbidden?
- - What do you think happens after this story? Do the villagers go back to normal life or do you think they are going to change their ways?
- - Shirley Jackson writes about seemingly normal people. How can normal people do such a vile and cruel thing? Use the term 'scapegoat' in your answer.
- In what way is the setting (=time and place) important in this story?
- How is this story different the second time you read/see it?
- How does Tessie change throughout the story?
Mika Brons
BeantwoordenVerwijderenThe first time you read it its very unclear. You don’t understand what’s happening and can’t really comprehend the way they are talking, and the way Jackson made this story
For example, at the beginning of the story they are just talking, and kids are on stone piles.
it is unclear what he is talking about. It is not clear which way he wants you to read the story
I think its actually quite nice that he does this, he lets you really think about how the story will continue and will make it come together.
He lets you think things like. If they eventually get to the lottery, what will happen?
or what do those stones have to do with the story?
If you read the story for the second time, I think it will make more sense.
My point is, you can see things more clearly when you read it for a second time
Very good use of the conditionals, but Shirley Jackson is a woman.
VerwijderenRIK MARCHELINUS
BeantwoordenVerwijderenThe first time I’ve read the story, I didn’t really understand what the tried to tell us. For me it just looked like a normal story as they are just having a normal day. It was just not clear for me. I also didn’t know why Shirley Jackson wanted us to read the, or what he was trying to tell us. Which is actually also a nice thing, because that gives you the feeling to find out what the story is about. But at the end of the story is just made a bit more sense and I also understood the story better. Which makes you think like, ‘ if they open the black box after winning the lottery, what will happen?’ or ‘what is the connection between the beginning and the end?’ Well after these questions I’ve read the story for the second time, and then everything came together like a puzzle. What I’m trying to say is. If you do something for the second time, you will start to understand things better.
Nikola Celan – How does Tessie change throughout the story?
BeantwoordenVerwijderenIt is quite obvious that Tessie Hutchinson in ‘’The Lottery’’ written by Shirley Jackson, is a protagonist of the story. In her first appearence, she stood out from all the other villagers by her actions. If she came more relaxed, she’d not stand out as much. Although instead she came running and out of breath, making her stand out from all the others. Tessie although had a very quick character development in a short-time. As soon as her husband Bill, was the one with the paper and the dot on it. She immediately screamed ‘’It wasn’t fair!’’, showing how frustrated and sad she was at the same time. If Tessie hadn’t protested and stayed calm, she wouldn’t have faced what she faced later on. Instead, she involved children in order to save her husband. Although she was quite unlucky and it was soon revealed that she had the paper. So, Tessie’s character stood out so much and developed so quickly throughout the story, that her own behaviour spiraled into her own death.
Thomas van pul
BeantwoordenVerwijderenHow does Tessie change throughout the story? First of all in the beginning Tessie is joyful and happy even joking around while she enters the lottery just in time to not be late for the lottery but her joyfulness changes throughout the story as the lottery continues she becomes less talkative and extroverted and then a big swing of emotions happen her family is chosen from the box and she becomes scared and insecure also she wants to include more people in to the family to increase her chances of surviving. I think this is where she gets her karma as she is chosen to be executed by stoning . if she had never chosen to include more children I think the story would have ended differently. if she would have come in later I think she would have a very different approach to the situation as she would have entered when the family had already been pulled.
i really like how you explained the mood of tessie, i think you did a very good job but you maybe have to focus a bit more on your punctuation because you sentences are a bit long sometimes.
VerwijderenTyler Edwards
BeantwoordenVerwijderenHow does Tessie change throughout the story?
You can see that Tessie is happy in the beginning and angry and scared in unbelieve at the end of the story because she won the lottery but at what cost! In the story you can see her facial emotion change. If I was her I would have done the same to be honest. She was happy because she was in a hurry and she made it just in time. And she was angry and scared in unbelieve because she won the lottery but lost her live. She won the lottery and stones were thrown to her and she didn’t make it. If stones were thrown at me I will not survive. So that’s why Tessie changes throughout the story.
Beau Nobel – In what way is the setting (=time and place) important in this story?
BeantwoordenVerwijderenI think the setting and time are important for the story. The story is a bit weird and the grim the place is very important for this setting. If this story was in a city the, the setting would be really different than if it was in a small village. The setting of the story is really crucial, because it affects the way you read the story and think about it as well. For example, if it was happening in a castle we would be imagining it would be more realistic, but if it was happening in the present we would think of it not realistic. Why I think the time in which this is occurring is important, is because it this would be happening in the present it would be a very weird and most likely will be stopped by the police. So, I think that the time and setting of the story is very important, because it really affects our point of view.
Noor Bergakker
BeantwoordenVerwijderenI think that the way you look at the story really changes the way you think about it, because the lottery is held for multiple different reasons which you can think about differently than others.
The story could be horrible if you would look at it that way, but if you look at it differently and understand why the people in the story do this it could change all your thoughts about the story. Because my research shows that the people might have pretty good reasons for this lottery.
The lottery is intended to ensure a good harvest of crops and purge the town of bad omens. If you knew this from the beginning you would probably have a different look on the story. Some people think it is still bad it doesn’t matter for what reason it is, but others may think that it could be a good tradition.
And this is why you may have different opinions about the story, because of the way you look at it.
Rahel Siele
BeantwoordenVerwijderen6. -What do you think happens after this story ? Do villagers go back to normal life or do you think they are going to change their ways ?
I think that they are going back to their normal life. Because it is a tradition that takes place every year. As a result of this, they feel no remorse killing someone. If it wasn’t a tradition they would change their ways , because they aren’t used to it and because they are basically killing someone in a gruesome way. Also , they also let the children grab lotteries which further proves my point. If one of the children had gotten the black paper, that would mean that one of the children could have been killed. Besides I saw in the movie that one of the children were given stones to throw at Tessie ( which could have been Tessie’s son ). I also think that they still continued their tradition. That explains why I think that they would go back to their normal life.
great use of conditionals and very good vocabulary!
Verwijderenvery good paragraph, but there were some misspelled words.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenIn “the lottery” Shirley Jackson writes about seemingly normal people, how is it that these people do such vile and cruel things? In the beginning of the story, we read about what seems like a regular day, children playing with stones and parents having normal conversations. If you know how the story ends, then you realise that these people aren’t so normal as you think. As we continue to read the story, we find out that the townspeople have a lottery each year and the winner gets killed. Shirley Jackson portrays the townspeople as good people, she did this to show how quickly people can abandon their family and friends. They don’t think that what they are doing is evil because the tradition is normalized. They all throw stones at one person, so no one is “responsible’ for the murder. To get back to my main point, if this tradition did not exist, they would all live regular lives without so much cruelty and lack of empathy. They believe that they are making a good sacrifice by murdering someone, because they are blinded by the tradition and are afraid to speak up.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenFemke van den Hoeven,
BeantwoordenVerwijderenThe beginning of the story is a bit dark and later in the story it is even more dark.
So in the beginning of the story you see that it is actually a bit awkward but everybody knew what was going to happen you see that in paragraph 3. You see that they are just chatting about planting, the rain and even some gossip. If they didn’t know about what was going to happen, why would they be so relaxed? When you get to know more about the story it gets darker. When you finally see what is going on it is going down fast. If you don’t want to die, don’t play the lottery.
Kyano da costa
BeantwoordenVerwijderenFirst off all, I think life there went further completely normal after this incident.Because they do this every year for a long time and they keep doing this just normally .Maybe it would’ve changed if she’d fly away but unfortunately that didn’t happen. they just do this blindly every year very weird how they move on just fine after a event like this but they do. Even the kids find this normal. So to summarize I think they’ll just go back to their normal life like every year and do the lottery again next year.
Merel Tindal
BeantwoordenVerwijderenI think the villagers will go back to their normal lives, because if they have been doing it for such a long time, why would they suddenly stop? They have been doing it for such a long time, They know that when the lottery happens somebody will get killed, but they are not afraid. Old man Warner said he had been in the lottery for 77 years already and also said that they should never stop with the lottery. We also do not know the reason behind the lottery so maybe it has a good reason to be held every year, for example maybe it is held every year for overpopulation, it is a tradition because it’s held every year so suddenly quitting would be like suddenly quitting celebrating Christmas for us. So basically I think the villagers will continue doing the lottery for a very long time because they have been doing it for so long and it has become an important tradition for them.
Season Wu
BeantwoordenVerwijderenAt the end of the story, we see that Tessie Hutchinson changed a lot. In the beginning she hurried to the square because she forgot what day it was. She happily joins her husband Bill Hutchinson and then the ceremony begins. When Tessie Hutchinson realized her husband had the paper with the black dot on it. She screamed: ‘’It was not fair; they didn’t give him enough time!’’ Then she even tried to involve other family members, so she had less change to get the paper with the black dot. After the Hutchinsons open their papers, it was Tessie Hutchinson that got the paper with the black dot on it. She screamed again: No, it wasn’t fair! If she had better luck, she wouldn’t get the paper. My opinion of Tessie Hutchinson is that she is very selfish and doesn’t care about other people only her own family. Like a dynamic character because she changed and evolved throughout the story. If her husband didn’t get the paper she would not have changed.
Purdey van leersum
BeantwoordenVerwijderenI think the villagers just go back to their regular lives, because the lottery is a tradition. So why would the stop? They know the consequences of the lottery. There also might be a good explanation for the lottery like overpopulation. It would be kinda weird suddenly stopping the tradition. So basically I think they’ll go on with their regular lives and continue the tradition.
Nikky Honkoop
BeantwoordenVerwijderenHow does Tessie change throughout the story?
Throughout the story “The lottery” by Shirley Jackson, Tessie experiences a significant transformation. From a normal acting mother and wife to a participant that starts protesting the lottery.
If Tessie had not been chosen as the victim, she would have continued to support the tradition without even considering the consequences. In her first apprearence in the story she is described as a happy woman that jokes around. When it’s her husband’s turn to grab a slip from the box she even encourages him this shows that there are no signs of resistance and that she beliefs that she will not be chosen. If Tessie had not become the chosen one, she would not have questioned the fairness of the lotteries system. When her name is drawn she start to protest directly saying that “It’s not Fair” and she tries to escape from the horrible outcome.
This shows that she changed drastically in a short amount of time. She blindly follows the traditions of the Lottery which ended up with her getting stoned to death.