...The two different stories Persepolis and “The Lottery” are similar and yet different in many ways, such as temporary violence, people blindly follow what they are told, and how one community stays the same while the other goes through a drastic change. Both of the pieces of written contain People growing up in an environment that is very hostile for a Temporary part of time “A stone hit her in the side of the head.”(Jackson 220). This is one of the ending lines of “The Lottery” where all of the people are gathered in the center of the town to “win” the lottery. How the lottery is conducted is by people taking pieces of paper out of a box and whoever takes the piece of paper that has the black circle drawn on it “wins” then the rest of the...
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...“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson (1948) ------------------------------------------------- Group work: Everyone must complete task 1 and choose at least 2 other tasks (one of which you will be presenting in front of class tomorrow). Remember to take notes ------------------------------------------------- Presentations: Some of you will be chosen to present your topic in front of class (5 minutes). You must provide the rest of class with useful notes about your topic: Google Drive: 2xEn Rediger EVIL “The Lottery, NOTES”. TASKS: 1. Analyze and interpret the following quotes from “The Lottery” a. “Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box” (p. 2) b. “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon” (p. 4) c. “Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones” (p. 6) 2. Themes – what are the central themes in “The Lottery” and why? Your arguments must be well documented. 3. Symbolism – find important symbols (like the title, names of characters etc) in the short story and interpret them. Support your arguments with examples from the text. 4. Foreshadowing – how is the violent ending foreshadowed in the short story? Give examples from the short story. 5. Suspense – how does Shirley Jackson build suspense in the short story? Support your arguments with examples...
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...Jackson of “The Lottery,” and Flannery O’Connor of “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” strike chords in the reader’s humanity. These short stories portray grotesque, sadistic violence, committed with no “apparent reason or preparation.”(Page 146). As readers begin their journey through these two short stories, they realize the frustration will take a toll on them soon. In the beginning of “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson gives the readers a detailed picture of a beautiful, warm, sunny summer day. The readers interpret this as the short story contains happy and inspiring events. Soon this will be seen as a misleading factor by Shirley Jackson. As the readers continue to read “The Lottery,” they come to find that the short story develops questions for the reader midway through, catching most readers off guard. Having to review what they just read to make sure the short story makes sense. In some parts of this short story, the way Shirley Jackson portrayed certain things, makes it difficult for readers to understand if they do not have an open mind to begin reading the story with. In “The Lottery,” the conclusion bewilders the readers, in the sense that lotteries correspond with winning. In retrospect the conclusion does not quite come as a surprise, due to the foreshadowing throughout the short story. Whereas, it seems in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” readers find the change refreshing from the unfortunate ending in “The Lottery.” The turning point in that short story comes as an unexpected...
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...Visualize winning the lottery. Maybe it is a tradition that is done in some sort of way in your family or town. In the short story “The Lottery” the tradition in this small town is not quite as it seems. The two characters I’m about to specify personifies the tradition of this lottery. The first character in this short story that personifies the tradition is a man named Old Man Warner. Old Man Warner is a 77 year old man that has been in the lottery 77 times. When I glance at the name “Warner”, it emulates the word “warning” that tends to grab my attention as a reader. Besides that, in this short story the old man calls the people a pack of crazy/young fools. The reason behind calling them crazy/young fools is because he is a mundane person...
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...ID#25840627 APA Format Compare and Contrast Short Story Fiction Essay Jessica Jack Liberty University English 102-B43 Outline for Compare and Contrast Essay Thesis: “The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence and “The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson provide two contrasting uses of Setting in a short story which accentuate the importance of the element in a story. One author has the ability to distract the reader, while the other author creates the structure of the story. 1. Introduction a. A brief summary of the “The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson b. A brief summary of the “ The Rocking-Horse Winner’, by D.H. Lawrence 2. Overview of the use of the Setting a. “The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson i. Shirley uses the setting as a distraction from the theme ii. The description of the setting, such as the happy characters, the sunny and bright outdoors to set the scene b. “ The Rocking-Horse Winner”, by D.H. Lawrence i. The author uses the setting to support the story and theme ii. The author allows the setting to draw and pull the audience into the story 3. The similarities and differences between the two short stories a. After reviewing both stories, it is evident that both are convincing and true to life b. The use of the setting in “The Lottery” diverts the reader away from the theme. It draws to the surrounding and characters, that you forget the main point of the story telling. c. The use of the setting in “The...
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...Literary Analysis of “The Lottery” In the year of 1948, author Shirley Jackson wrote a non-forgettable, haunting, short story about a lottery that takes place in a rural city. The author writes the story to take place in a small city in New England. This is not the typical lottery that first comes to mind. This is not a lottery where a one or more lucky winners are chosen at random to be given a great amount of money, but rather a lottery that is held annually in the city and one individual is selected at random to be killed by the citizens of the village. The tradition of the lottery has been practiced for many years by the people living in the city. The setting of ‘The Lottery’ hides the significance and the purpose of the lottery that actually takes place in the small city. Typically, if a ritual such as “The Lottery” has been part of society for such a great amount of time the habit is hard to break. Even as negative as someone being chosen at random to be killed by the people around them, others seek out that it will happen once per year no matter what. Jackson uses symbolism throughout the short story through objects and names of characters that hold meaning to the lottery. This short story may infer that a theme for the story is that not all traditions are positive and the outcome could literally be life changing. The name of each character in ‘The Lottery’ holds a symbolic meaning within the story. By using symbolic names, Jackson can foreshadow things that...
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...“The Lottery” is a short story written by Shirley Jackson that depicts a small village and its citizens as they perform a ritualistic ceremony of human sacrifice once a year to ensure an abundant yield of crops. During the ceremony, Mr. summers; one of the village leaders takes his position on a platform, and places a vestige of a black box is placed on a three-legged stool. Inside is a majority of small unmarked strips of paper. However, one has a tiny black dot marked in the center. The unlucky recipient of the winning lottery ticket is then brutally sacrificed for the better of the Village. A film adaptation of the story has been made with a number of differences and similarities in things such as theme, setting and characters. When comparing and contrasting “The Lottery” in the short story and film version’s setting is a major factor. The film opens with a young man named Jason Smith leading a seemingly ordinary life in Boston working as a tow truck operator and spending time with his girlfriend, far from events of the short story. When Jason's father falls ill, he explains to Jason, he would like his ashes spread next to Jason's mothers grave in the town of New Hope....
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...In the instance of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and D. H. Lawrence’s “The Rocking Horse Winner” the characters are built and the story is wrapped around the individual characterizations. In both Jackson’s and Lawrence’s short stories the reader is allowed to assume any of the possible details to fill in the missing parts of the story. It is not until the end that the reader understands that the characters were giving away the ending the throughout the story. Along with the relationships established, the dialogue and simply executed actions of the main characters the story begins to unfold. The family and friends that are closest to the main character tends to make the story. In both cases of “The Lottery” and “ The Rocking Horse Winner” the extras of the short stories help to reveal the main characters real attitude, honest behavior, and their transparent emotions. In “The Lottery” it is evident that the characters closest to the main character can easily fall in line with the rest of society; in “The Rocking Horse Winner” family and friends can do all they can to help and still not be enough. In “The Lottery”, Jackson begins by setting the up the events that will inevitable come to pass. A few characters are introduced towards the beginning but who they are is not as important as their actions. Following the imagery of the location Jackson introduces Mr. Summers, one of the most prominent characters. As described in the short story, Mr. Summers is the head of the town activities;...
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...Fiction Essay ENGL 102 Literature and Composition Fall D 2014 Summer Martin L25637775 APA Formatting Running head: USE OF SYMBOLS TO CONVEY THEME OF STORY Use of Symbols by Authors to Help Readers Understand the Theme of Short Stories Summer Martin Liberty University Online Use of Symbols by Authors to Help Readers Understand the Theme of Short Stories Thesis: The two short stories, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Rocking Horse Winner” by D. H. Lawrence both use symbols to help the reader understand the theme of the story; however the themes of both stories were completely different, one about love the other the lack of love. I. In “The Lottery” and “The Rocking Horse Winner” both authors use symbols to help convey the central message of the story to their readers. a. In “The Lottery”, Jackson uses the black box to symbolize the villagers’ connection to the tradition of the lottery. i. “The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago” The villagers were willing to let some parts of the lottery change but never question why or even think about changing the lottery itself ii. “The black box grew shabbier each year”. Falling apart but villagers show no interest in replacing it iii. The Black box had no significance the rest of the year and could be found in several different locations throughout the town b. In “The Rocking Horse Winner”, Lawrence uses the whispering house and the rocking horse to show how...
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...The cover of a short story or book is the first thing a reader sees before opening to create their own vison of the text. Because of this, the cover can be important to allude to the story inside. Even the smallest details on the cover can foreshadow deeper meaning than one might realize. The cover alone can potentially stand as its own story. For these reasons, I chose this cover by Adelaide C. Rooney for “The Lottery” because it illustrates the theme of the short story in a simple yet effective way. Rooney’s drawing capture’s Shirley Jackson’s story by highlighting the key component of innocence, while simultaneously displaying unique imagery of the text on the cover, and foreshadowing of the story itself. One reason this cover is a perfect fit for “The Lottery” is its...
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...“The Lottery” “The Lottery” is a short story written by Shirley Jackson. The story is set in the small town of Bennington, Vermont and is a fictional dark tale about the dangers of blindly following tradition. There is symbolism in the story dealing with the objects involved, the event is held on the 27th of July every year. The black box and three legged stool along with the paper used to perform the event. Gathering of the stones and the use of the stones to complete the final part of the lottery ritual. The town square of Bennington, Vermont, between the towns Post Office and the Bank is where the town’s people would meet every June 27th for the event. Everything about the Lottery is tradition and ritual. The town children would start to gather first in the town square a little before 10 o’clock am, and then the men show up a few minutes after the children. The women of the town are the last to show up and they would begin talking with one another as they waited for Mr. Summers to arrive for the lottery to begin. “Soon the men begin to gather together, surveying their own children and speaking of planting crops, rain, tractors and taxes” (Jackson 290). “Soon the women by their husbands as they begin...
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...Miller My two favorite short stories are “The Lottery and “Young Goodman Brown”. Making a decision which is better will be a tough choice. Although both stories are similar in its theme, it is transported differently in each story. The stories display different character analysis and word choice. I. My favorite pastime is reading short stories. a. Two stories I can read repeatedly. i. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. ii. “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. b. The authors battle with depression in their lives. i. Shirley Jackson was stricken server depression from time to time. ii. Nathaniel Hawthorne was depressed because of his ill health and the toll of the Civil War. II. Scenery and characters of “The Lottery” and Young Goodman Brown. a. Towns identified as small villages. i. “The Lottery” was a small village with no name. 1. The story gives a population of 300 people living there ii. “Young Goodman Brown” story took place in a small village called Salem. b. The wives in the story played contrast characters. i. Tessie Hutchinson was a main character that went through climax and denouement. ii. Faith Brown played somewhat of a static character. c. The husbands were portrayed differently in the stories. i. Bill Hutchinson persona was very multi-dimensional ii. Goodman Brown played the main character that was a foil to Ms. Hutchinson. III. How are we to use the themes of these stories? a. Analyzing the moral...
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...around the world read short stories that were written by the author. Every short story shows a message or interpretation of the world. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” expresses her thoughts about humans and their atmosphere. For a fact, Shirley Jackson didn’t care about the level of psychology she wrote in her short story. Her main opinion is based on the thought of humans being barbaric when they are uncontrolled. She starts off describing the rural setting of a village right from start. Then she describes what everyone was doing in the village, which was gathering together for the lottery. Everyone starts off being in a festive mood. Its as if the lottery is just another typical errand. It’s not! The lottery only happens once a year. Adults and ladies go around making joking gestures while boys start stuffing their pockets with stones. Who knows what the boys are going to do with these stones. As the ceremony starts, the anxiety in all of the villager’s minds takes over them. This anxiety deepens when Jackson mentions that the original rituals were lost. The villagers change the ceremony for a darker reason. The words and description in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” weren’t the only...
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...The world today has faced many trials and tribulations. It is quite similar to the two short stories ‘Young Goodman Brown” and “The Lottery.” In these stories, characters are faced with situations beyond their own imagination and to makes things worse is how they are tested. They will encounter people and other things that are unjust. These stories bring a lot of comparisons such as the setting of the stories, but mostly there are contrasts such as the symbolism within the stories and the meaning each author put behind their stories. In comparing the two short stories “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Lottery,” it is easily noticed that both of these stories takes place well within the community setting. Each story has the involvement of the people who lives within the town. Details in the story showcase how the communities makes the characters feel accepted one way or another to a certain extinct. Within these communities, each has their own traditions, laws, and perimeters that justify the reasoning behind what they do. In turn it kind of makes these communities have a sense of uniqueness to them and that is why individuals are pulled in and want to be part of these communities. In addition, both of these stories showcase a sense of a happy ambience and exuberance. In “The Lottery,” the author, Shirley Jackson illustrates a perfect day by stating “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with a fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely...
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...The Lottery: Annotated Bibliography Nebeker, Helen. The Lottery: Symbolic Tour de Force", in American Literature, Vol. 46, No. 1, March, 1974, pp. 100-07. Print. Nebeker uses this piece of literary work to argue that each and every name used in “The Lottery” has a special or distinct significance (3). The author hints at some of the larger meanings, especially through name symbolism. At the end of the second paragraph, for instance, Nebeker asserts that Jackson had indicated and presented the season. It was time of ancient sacrifice and excess, with stones representing the most ancient sacrificial weapons (2). Apart from that, the name Martin signifies monkey or ape. The above is juxtaposed intentionally with Dickie Delacroix and Harry Jones with an aim of urging the people to be aware of the Ape residing within them. Indeed, “Delacroix has been vulgarized in the story to “Dellacroy,” who becomes the first person to pick a large stone something that encourages others to stone Mrs. Hutchinson. The above is a clear indication of forces against change in the society. The presence of Old Man Martin further symbolizes conservatives whose role is to undermine any attempt to discard old traditions (3). In a nutshell, this is a reliable source for my research since Nebeker has made every possible attempt to identify various facts about the historical context of the short story. Jackson, Shirley. The Lottery. Mankato, Minnesota: The Creative Company, 1948. In this short story Shirley...
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