Road Map: “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson



Road Map: “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson

Essential Questions

• If the majority of the people are doing something, does it make it right?

• Can good people do evil things?

• What keeps a society or community together?

• What purpose do rituals and traditions serve in a society?

• Why do people sometimes engage in pointless violence and inhumanity?

Literary Elements

Irony—when what actually occurs is the opposite of what you might expect to happen

Mood/Atmosphere—the feeling you get from reading the story

Theme—the main message of the story

Foreshadowing—the use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later

Getting Things Straight

1. What is the mood or atmosphere in the first paragraph?

2. Why was everyone assembled in the square?

3. What were the boys playing with?

4. What is the setting of the story? Are there any details that are not specified?

5. Predict: What do you think the black box is for?

6. From whose point of view is the story being told? (Who do you think is telling the story?)

7. Why didn’t people want to replace the box?

8. How long do you think the lottery has been around for?

9. Who directs the lottery?

10. What happened with Mrs. Hutchinson? Who are the two women she talks to? (3)

11. What will happen because Clyde Dunbar broke his leg?

12. Predict: What do you think the lottery is for? Do you think it is a positive thing or a negative thing? Why? (3-4)

13. How does Old Man Warner respond to talk about giving up the lottery?

14. What does he say is the reason or purpose of the lottery?

15. What does he say will happen without a lottery?

16. Who’s got the lottery ticket?

17. How does the wife respond? Who does she think should be included in her family?

18. Predict again: do you think people want to pick the lottery ticket? Why?

19. What do all the Hutchinson kids have to do now?

20. What have the villagers not forgotten?

21. What do Mrs. Hutchinson and Mrs. Dunbar start to do?

22. What happens to Mrs. Hutchinson at the end?

Delve In Questions

Directions: Please answer only 4 of the 5 questions thoroughly. If you run out of room, please answer these questions on another sheet of paper and staple them to the Road Map.

1. Are there any early clues to later events in the story? Foreshadowing, anyone? (Write your claim and name 2 examples).

2. Consider the range of character “types” presented in the story. Who holds the power in the town? What are the roles of men, women, and children? (Write your claim and give 3 specific examples from the story.)

3. What does the lottery mean to the villagers? (In other words, why do they do it every year?) In spite of its “importance” to them, what attitude toward the lottery is repeatedly revealed throughout the story? (Write your claim and give 3 specific examples or quotes from the story.)

4. What is the significance of the saying, “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon”? (Write your claim and explain thoroughly the context of the quote.)

5. What do you think is the central theme of the story? (Write your claim and give 2 examples as proof.

Creative Writing Extension

Directions: Write a 1-2 page story or letter. Choose one of the following options.

1. Write a letter from Mr. Hutchinson (Mrs. Hutchinson’s husband) to Mr. Summers (the man who holds the lottery), explaining why he thinks the lottery should be abolished, like it has been in other towns.

2. When we look at the lottery, it seems like an evil, barbarous practice from the outside. I want you to choose a practice, tradition, or celebration that we think is normal but that might seem very strange or even immoral from someone who is not from our society. (Examples might include hazing in fraternities, ignoring homeless people on the streets, bombing other countries, etc.) Write a story about this practice from the perspective of an outsider who is appalled.

6.

Name:_________________Period:_____________Date:_______________

Vocabulary (9/25): “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson

|1. profusely (adv) |abundantly; in large amounts |

|2. boisterous (adj) |Loud and noisy |

|3. reprimands (n) |Criticisms; tongue-lashings; scoldings |

|4. reluctantly (adv) |unwillingly |

|5. jovial (adj) |Happy; jolly |

|6. * paraphernalia (n) |Stuff used for a particular activity |

|7. ritual (n) |Ceremonial or traditional practice |

|8. * perfunctory (adj) |careless |

|9. *lapse (v) |Decline |

|10. interminably (adv) |Endlessly |

|11. gravely (adv) |Seriously |

|12. * petulantly (adv) |Irritably |

|13. defiantly (adv) |Rebelliously |

I. Part I: Read the definition, the sentence in the story, and answer each question, without using your vocabulary word.

1. profusely—abundantly; in large amounts

“…the flowers were blooming profusely, and the grass was richly green” (Jackson 1).

What do the flowers look like?

2. boisterous—loud and noisy

“…they tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play” (Jackson 1).

Describe how they were playing:

3. reprimands— criticisms; tongue-lashings; scoldings

“Their talk was of the classroom and the teacher, of books and reprimands” (1).

What were they talking about?

4. reluctantly—unwillingly; doing something without really wanting to

“…the children came reluctantly, having to be called four or five times” (1)

Describe how the children came:

5. jovial—happy, jolly

“He was a round-faced, jovial man…” (1)

What kind of man was he?

6. paraphernalia—stuff used for a particular activity

“The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago” (1)

What had been lost?

7. ritual—a ceremonial or traditional practice, like opening up presents on Christmas Day

“…because so much of the ritual had been forgotten or discarded, Mr. Summers had been successful in having slips of paper substituted for the chips of wood that had been used for generations” (2)

What part of the ritual did Mr. Summers change?

8. perfunctory—not very thorough; careless and without attention to detail

“…a perfunctory, tuneless chant that had been rattled off duly each year…” (2)

Describe how the chant might have sounded:

9. lapse—to decline

“but years and years ago, this part of the ritual had been allowed to lapse” (2)

Did the ritual get better or did it start to fade away?

10. interminably—endlessly

“he seemed very proper and important as he talked interminably to Mr. Graves and the Martins” (2)

How was the man talking?

11. gravely—seriously

“…greeted Mr. Summers gravely and selected a slip of paper from the box”

What was the manner in which he greeted Mr. Summers?

12. petulantly—irritably; sounding annoyed

“’There’s always been a lottery,’ he added petulantly. ‘Bad enough to see young Joe Summers up there joking with everybody” (4).

What the speaker’s tone of voice?

13. defiantly—rebelliously; in a way that resists someone or something boldly

“She hesitated for a minute, looking around defiantly, and then set her lips and went up to the box” (6).

How would you describe the way she went up to the box?

II. Part 2—In the sentences from the story, circle all the adjectives and draw an arrow to the nouns they describe. Then, put a box around all the adverbs in the story and draw an arrow to the verbs they describe.

III. Part 3— Write a meaningful sentence with each of your words. Do these on a separate sheet of paper.

IV: Part 4—Changing parts of speech

1. profusely (adv)( (adj) __________________

2. boisterous (adj) ( (adv) _________________

3. reluctantly (adv) ( (adj) _________________

4. jovial (adj) ( adv) ____________________

5. perfunctory (adj) ( (adv) _______________

6. interminably (adv) ( (adj) ___________________

7. gravely (adv) ( (adj) ____________________

8. petulantly (adv) ( (adj) __________________

9. defiantly (adv) ( (adj) ___________________

V. Part V: Writing a Story—Write a story or paragraph where you use these words: profusely, defiantly, gravely, interminably, reluctantly, and boisterously.

Name:_______________ Period:___________Date:____________

Making Connections and Shaping Interpretations

Directions: As soon as you get things straight, I want you to think about the bigger point in this story by answering these questions:

1. What do you think is the purpose of the lottery in the village? Why do you think people continue to participate in it?

2. Why do you think the lottery is such a long-standing tradition in the village?

3. Does this compare to anything you know in real life? Explain.

4. How do you think the village people feel about the lottery? Explain.

5. What would you have done in Tessie Hutchinson's situation? Explain.

6. How did you feel about the lottery at the end of the story? What was your reaction?

7. Do you think this sort of lottery could take place in your own community? Why or why not? Are there any events that have occurred in your community that remind you of the events in "The Lottery?"

8. How did your initial understanding of the term "lottery" compare to the lottery in the story? How did your initial understandings help or confuse your interpretation of the story?

9. Do you think this story has a message for readers? Explain your view.

10. How have other classmates' interpretations of the story impacted your own understanding of it?

Name:______________________Period:__________________Date:______________

Vocabulary Quiz: “The Lottery”--A

Part I: Meaningful sentences. Please write meaningful sentences for the following words:

1. reluctantly:

2. interminably:

3. jovial:

4. gravely:

5. boisterous:

Academic Challenge Words (Extra Credit. Required for A.C. students)

Please write sentences for the following words:

1. paraphernalia:

2. petulantly:

Part II: Short Answer Responses.

1. What is one theme of the lottery? How can you prove it? (Have a claim: In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson…) (Include 2 specific examples from the story to prove the theme.)

2. Why do you think the villagers hold the lottery every year? (Respond with a claim and 1 specific example from the story.)

3. Name an event in the real world (either in history or the present, like we discussed) that is similar to what happened in “The Lottery”. Explain why the event is similar.

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