we do what we’re told‚ but never questioning why we do things could lead to disastrous events. In The Lottery Shirley Jackson warns us about the dangers of blindly following tradition. Jackson’s use of foreshadowing‚ symbolism‚ and irony admonish the public of what could go wrong if we never question tradition. The story starts off with the town gathering around for the annual lottery. The men talk‚ the women gossip and children run around playing and gathering rocks. The gathering of
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Written by Shirley Jackson‚ the short story “The Lottery” focuses on a village with a tradition that provides fate by random chance. However‚ in this particular allegory Jackson uses the title to elude the readers mind from the ending to come. Throughout the entire story Jackson uses themes that greatly parallel with American society such as‚ family‚ fiscal and social class‚ and religion. For example‚ Jackson demonstrates family hierarchy comparable to American culture when she writes‚ “Soon the
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the lottery‚ but not its exact purpose. Do the townspeople know? Is this omission significant? Intentional? No‚ the townspeople do not know the lottery’s exact purpose. This omission is not significant because it seems there is no point in the lottery and why these people are operating such horrid acts. It is more intentional; the townspeople are playing it safe thinking they are keeping a tradition‚ yet no one seems brave enough to ask why? 3. Why is much of the history of the lottery and
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Period 8 09/21/14 The Lottery Essay The author Shirley Jackson was the writer of this book the Lottery. Shirley was born on 1916 in San Francisco‚ California. Shirley had begun writing when she was a teenager one of the books written by her was the Lottery. The Lottery is about a tradition that this town upholds they would gather to conduct their annual lottery. The Lottery has a long history in this and surrounding towns. This Lottery is not just any Lottery is something that people would
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“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson‚ initially comes off as a happy and light-hearted story‚ with imagery showing kids playing in a yard and mothers gossipping with each other. An annual ritual called the lottery. Jackson keeps the reader in the dark as to what takes place in the lottery until the very end of the story. The story suddenly gains a very serious and solemn tone. The head of each household draws a slip of paper‚ and when Bill Hutchinson draws the paper with the black dot‚ his wife Tessie
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Jackson’s "The Lottery" as an Allegory Shirley Jackson’s "The Lottery" is an excellent example of an allegorical short story. In this story‚ the reader learns of a town’s "lottery" that takes place once a year‚ every year. It has been a tradition in this small rural town for many years and the villagers never question these activities‚ they just blindly go along with it. But what the reader doesn’t know is just what kind of prize the winner is going to obtain. Jackson’s
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Symbolism in “The Lottery” The definition of the word lottery is a process or happening that is or seems to be determined by chance. In the story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson‚ the author takes this to an extreme level. She uses various symbols to portray this grim story. By using symbols such as the black box‚ the last names‚ the children‚ and the stones‚ we will clearly see the importance of symbolism in this story and in literature today. The 1st symbol that is predominantly used throughout
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Irony in “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” offers an almost classic study of irony of situation: the reader expects a celebration; she gets a stoning. Such a reversal is the work of careful planning by the author. The reader expects the lottery to be a celebration of some sort because Jackson describes the setting‚ details the activities of the townspeople‚ and refers to the lottery itself in terms that belie the outcome of the event. First‚ Jackson establishes a setting which suggests
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the story when old men talked about the other town ending the lottery. He did not want to change like the other town. Theme 2: believing it will increase the growth of the season‚ Tessie was the one who got sacrificed. Theme 3: I believe they count as a serial killer; killing a person every year is a crime. Theme 4: Every year it happens‚ people unable to study their life so they can’t realize mistakes. Theme 5: Tessie realized lottery was wrong when she had the black dot. A List of Horrors: 1) The
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The Lure of the Lottery “The modern experience of state-run lotteries in this country begins with New Hampshire in 1964. In a story that would be repeated across the country‚ New Hampshire faced a difficult choice: either raise taxes or institute a lottery” (Haugen). Since 1964 a myriad of states have been inclined to induce state lotteries to bring in a greater amount of revenue for their individual states. While state lotteries may be a method for converting individual contributions into works
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