The Lottery By Shirley Jackson Writing Style Analysis

In order to write a good short story you need to learn from authors and their techniques. Shirley Jackson uses many techniques that make her stand out from other short story authors. These techniques range from character's personality through dialogue and action, to foreshadowing, and theme. I attempted to incorporate some of these techniques into my short story.

Shirley Jackson uses themes to use that she can relate to from her past conflicts. Her most commonly used theme is tradition can be bad. I decided to use a different theme that was similar. My short stories theme was good can turn to bad quickly. I can relate to this problem because I can have a great morning and one bad grade can make the rest of the day or week horrible. I used the narrator's description of the crowd and scene to show the characters reaction to different events. During the soccer game Kathy or number 26 scores a goal to win the game. With the good
Jackson uses a collection of different ways of showing foreshadowing. Foreshadowing is using clues that indicate an event in the future. Jackson uses foreshadowing in ‘The Lottery’ when she wrote, “Bobby Martin already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys followed by his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones.” Shirley Jackson was trying to tell the reader that the stones mean something for the future. A key way to figure this out is to reread the story and try and recognize any similarities between the text and the future event. I tried using the same technique with my short story writing. I use this technique multiple times but one time I used it when describing Kathy (26) getting ready to shoot the ball, “Shoot it. Shoot it. Shoot it. A word with so many different meanings.” the reader asks what meaning it means and doesn't figure it out until the end. Foreshadowing is yet another form of amazing writing Jackson