The Lottery by Shirley Jackson: Reading Comprehension Notes
The Lottery - Reading Comprehension
By Karen N - 9C
· The townspeople are holding the lottery because it is their tradition that they have followed for many, many years.
· The people didn’t stop the lottery because it was considered [kind of] absurd to do so. It is a ritual that they did, and it was part of who they were.
· I don’t think the writing style of this story would be considered horror. The way the author describe the story throughout and at the end did not send me any chills or leave me feeling goose bumps like The Landlady, by Roald Dahl, did.
· The atmosphere that Shirley Jackson (author) created in The Lottery was pretty pleasant; everyone in town was coming together and socializing at this one main event that was quite important.
· Theme is the main ‘topic’ or idea that the story circles around.
· Some themes in the story would have to be Chance/Luck. Every citizen in the town is practically risking their life by being in the lottery. It depends on their luck, and if they can live until the next lottery, or if they are a part of one unfortunate family and one member would have to be executed.
· The Lottery prevents breakdown of society because everyone follows the tradition, no one seems to boycott it (if they were even allowed). o This story reminds me a lot of The Giver, by Lois Lowry. In both stories, the communities are one unit that have all the same worldviews of life and the people of both are sort of controlled, none of them really have feelings about anything. Jackson never described what Mrs. Hutchinson was feeling, only that she thought it wasn’t fair. o It was also surprising that no one in town, not even the Hutchinson family, felt anything for Tessie as she they were killing her. Everyone was compassionless and just followed the rules.
· The roles of society were very organized, and old fashioned. The men seemed to be the ones in charge,(which is sexist). The women are wearing house dresses, and
By Karen N - 9C
· The townspeople are holding the lottery because it is their tradition that they have followed for many, many years.
· The people didn’t stop the lottery because it was considered [kind of] absurd to do so. It is a ritual that they did, and it was part of who they were.
· I don’t think the writing style of this story would be considered horror. The way the author describe the story throughout and at the end did not send me any chills or leave me feeling goose bumps like The Landlady, by Roald Dahl, did.
· The atmosphere that Shirley Jackson (author) created in The Lottery was pretty pleasant; everyone in town was coming together and socializing at this one main event that was quite important.
· Theme is the main ‘topic’ or idea that the story circles around.
· Some themes in the story would have to be Chance/Luck. Every citizen in the town is practically risking their life by being in the lottery. It depends on their luck, and if they can live until the next lottery, or if they are a part of one unfortunate family and one member would have to be executed.
· The Lottery prevents breakdown of society because everyone follows the tradition, no one seems to boycott it (if they were even allowed). o This story reminds me a lot of The Giver, by Lois Lowry. In both stories, the communities are one unit that have all the same worldviews of life and the people of both are sort of controlled, none of them really have feelings about anything. Jackson never described what Mrs. Hutchinson was feeling, only that she thought it wasn’t fair. o It was also surprising that no one in town, not even the Hutchinson family, felt anything for Tessie as she they were killing her. Everyone was compassionless and just followed the rules.
· The roles of society were very organized, and old fashioned. The men seemed to be the ones in charge,(which is sexist). The women are wearing house dresses, and