ELL 3 English
It's time for our final short story. Welcome to "The Lottery", by Shirley Jackson.


--- Level 3/4+ questions ---
1. This story begins with a mood that is very different from the mood at the end of the story. How are these two moods different? What specific words show a change in mood?

2. In the second paragraph of the story, the children are gathering stones, seemingly just for fun. The end of the reading shows why they were actually gathering stones. What is the literary device that describes this?

3. What does it say about the culture of this village that the lottery was conducted in the same manner as "the square dances, the teen club, and the Halloween program."

4. The tone of the lottery is very anxious. What specific words does the author use to show this feeling of worry?

5. On the bottom of page 4, Mr. Adams states that in a neighboring village they don't even have a lottery. Old Man Warner responds that those villagers are a "pack of crazy fools". Why is this ironic?

6. Why do you think the village has a lottery? Is it a good or a bad thing?

7. Do you think it was right for the youth in this story to have been forced to participate in the event?

--- Level 4/5+ questions ---

1. Why has Jackson chosen common people for her characters? Could she have chosen characters from other levels of sophistication with the same effect? What is the irony of the

tone of this story?

2. What seems to have been the original purpose of the lottery? What do people believe about it?

3. Is it important that the original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost? What do you suppose the original ceremony was like? Why have some of the villages given up this practice? Why hasn't this one?

4. What aspect of the lottery does Tessie challenge; what aspect goes unquestioned?

5. This is a different sort of story when you read it for the second time. What elements (such as Mrs. Hutchinson's attempt to have her daughter, Eva, draw with the family) might take on a different meaning the second time through?

6. Some critics insist that the story has an added symbolic meaning. Do you agree? If so, what is Shirley Jackson trying to tell us about ourselves?  (Hint: Consider that this story was written during the height of the rise of Communism and the Soviet Union.)

7. Is the lottery a collective act of murder? Is it morally right? Is tradition a good reason for such actions? How would you respond to cultures that are different from ours that perform "strange" rituals?

8. Describe the point of view of the story. How does the point of view affect what we know about the situation? How does it preserve the story's suspense?

--- JOURNAL RESPONSE ---
What if you were part of one of the families in this village? Create an entry in your journal  on the morning of the lottery, before heading to the village square with your family.