(09/14-09/18/09)

The Lottery Ticket by Shirley Jackson

"The Lottery" is a short story first published in 1948 in the magazine The New Yorker. When first published, it received an incredibly negative response from readers. This controversial story was banned in America and became one of the most banned books in schools and libraries. Over time, it has become a classic American story.

The reader is taken into a narrative journey which finds the traditions and values of small town America twisted into a sort of barbaric violence. You may be surprised to realize that the town's "lottery" is not at all what you imagine it to be…

09/14

Aim: What seems to have been the original purpose of the lottery? What do people believe about it?

Do Now:

Journal #1

Procedure:

  1. What's the setting as described in the 1st paragraph?
  2. What mood is being created? Find details to support your idea.
  3. As the story develops in paragraph 2, 3 & 4, did you find anything strange going on? What are the "strange" details?
  4. In the 5th paragraph, why is the black box described in details? What's the significance of these details?
  5. What seems to have been the original purpose of the lottery? What do people believe about it?

HW#1 Answer the 5 questions above.

09/15

Aim: What is the irony embedded in the story?

Do Now:

Procedures:

Vocabulary from the story-

  1. profusely
  2. boisterous
  3. jovial
  4. paraphernalia
  5. perfunctory
  6. interminably

Discuss and answer the following questions:

  1. Is it important that the original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost? What do you suppose the original ceremony was like? Why have some
    of the villages given up this practice? Why hasn't this one?
  2. Why was the scene described so casually. the way people greeted each other, they ways they were dressed, their manner?
  3. What was the old man, Warner's attitude toward lottery ticket? Why did he call young people who wanted to get rid of the ritual foolish? What does it tell you about people's attitude toward changes in general?
  4. How many hints of the seriousness of the occasion can you find in the early parts of the story? From which characters do you get the best indication of what is to follow?
  5. What is the irony when Mr. Summers said after the lottery result was revealed, "All right, folks." Mr. Summers said. "Let's finish quickly."
  6. What do the child's words "I hope it's not Nancy" reveal about the villagers?
  7. What is the significance of Tessie's final scream, "It isn't fair, it isn't right"? What aspect of the lottery does she explicitly challenge; what aspect goes unquestioned?

HW#2 Answer Questions #2, #3,#4 and #7.

09/16

Aim: Is the lottery a collective act of murder? Is it morally justified?

Do Now:

Procedures:

Discuss in small groups and share-

  1. How do the commonplace details of life and the folksy language contribute to the impact of the story? Why had Jackson chosen common people for her characters? Could she have chosen characters from other levels of sophistication with the same effect? What is the irony of the trite dialogue and casual tone of this story?
  2. Some critics insist that the story has an added symbolic or allegorical dimension. Do you agree? If so, what is Shirley Jackson trying to tell us about ourselves?
  3. Is the lottery a collective act of murder? Is it morally justified? Is tradition sufficient justification for such actions? How would you respond to cultures that are different from ours that perform "strange" rituals?
  4. Does this barbaric act still continue in today's society? Explain what and how.

HW# 3 Letter Assignment “The Lottery”. Due Friday 09/18.

Assignment: Choose ONE of the following to do-

  1. Write a letter to The New Yorker in 1948 objecting to their printing of “The Lottery”,
  2. Write a letter to Kay Haugaard in response to her article, “Suspending Moral Judgment.”(*Read the summary below)
    Be sure to write it in a letter style (see below) and give strong foundations to your opinions. Include text from the story or article. Be sure it is a minimum of 250 words.
  3. * "Suspending Moral Judgment: Students Who Refuse to Condemn the Unthinkable,” underscore this unwillingness to make moral judgments that is prevalent in contemporary society. In the companion article, Kay Haugaard, who teaches at Pasadena City College, recounts a recent experience in her creative writing class.6 The students were required to read Shirley Jackson’s short fictional story titled “The Lottery” that describes an annual ritual in an American country village. The ritual is a grisly one, for the lottery selects a candidate for the yearly human sacrifice. This macabre ritual is seen as ensuring a good harvest. Any villager who questions the ritual is quickly hushed. In the story, a woman named Tess Hutchinson is the hapless victim. When her husband draws the unlucky ticket from a black box, she is set upon and stoned to death by the people of her village, including her own four-year-old son.

    According to Professor Haugaard, classes in previous years had always gained the insights and lessons the author intended in this fictional story. They had typically pointed out the dangers inherent in an unthinking approach to rituals and habits, without carefully examining their rationale. Also, students had regularly recognized the power of public pressure and the peril of succumbing to it. The story had never failed to speak to their sense of right and wrong.

    But this time, the discussion about the story veered in a different direction. One student commented, “Well, I teach a course for our hospital personnel in multicultural understanding, and if it is a part of a person’s culture, we are taught not to judge, if it has worked for them” and so forth. Another student suggested that perhaps human sacrifice was not to be condemned if it was a ritual that was part of a religion of long standing. Professor Haugaard wrote, “I was stunned: This was the woman who wrote so passionately of saving the whales, of concern for the rain forests, of her rescue and tender care of a stray dog.”7

    Haugaard concludes her article by saying, “I gave up. No one in the whole class of more than 20 ostensibly intelligent individuals would go out on a limb and take a stand against human sacrifice.…I was shaken, and I thought that the author, whose story had shocked so many, would have been shaken as well. The class finally ended. It was a warm night when I walked to my car after class that evening, but I felt shivery, chilled to the bone.”


    Sample Letter

To: Kay Haugaard
From: John Dole
Re: Is there too much tolerance?

I was dismayed to read your assessment of tolerance in America today. You seem to give broad, sweeping strokes of opinion that lack substantial evidence. For example, you cited a few students in your class and made it appear that all college students believe that an atrocious event like the ritualistic murder in “The Lottery” could occur unprotested today. Do you really believe that is the case? If you want to make such statements, more evidence is required. Where do you research this? Why haven’t you included any other sources besides your own senses?

No matter what that group of quoted students presented to you, I doubt that even they would accept the tradition of “The Lottery.” For example, doesn’t it seem evident that college students are perhaps the most socially outspoken group of people in our society? Do you really believe that tolerance has taught us to sit and be silent? Perhaps this is true in a classroom where differing ideas are present, but it would not be the case when it involves human life.


You quoted a student if it is acceptable for a religion to practice a human sacrifice. Beth responded, “I really don’t know. If it was a religion of long standing...” This is an example of a poor sampling of public opinion. Americans simply do not believe this way. Take a look around. Read the papers. Watch what is accepted in prime-time television. People are not friendly toward religions that DO NOT practice human sacrifices; how do you think they would respond to those that do? I hope that you will consider doing more research before making such outlandish and unproven claims.

09/17

Aim: Why should or should not Jackson's story "The Lottery Ticket" be published?

Do Now:

Procedures:

Discuss and debate why the story should or should not be read in schools or by the public.

HW# 3 Write a persuasive essay to argue why you believe Shirley Jackson's story should or should not be read by the public.

09/18

Aim: To learn techniques to revise essays.

Do Now:

Activities:

Exchange your writing with one your classmates for peer-editing following the rubrics.

HW# 4 Complete editing your persuasive paper, due Monday 09/21.

09/21

Aim: Why should or should not Jackson's story "The Lottery Ticket" be published?

Quiz#1 Based on the short story "The Lottert Ticket" by Shirley Jackson

Student Name_______________
E5
09/21/09

Answer the following questions briefly. Each questions is worth 20%. Print neatly.

  1. Why was the scene described so casually. the way people greeted each other, they ways they were dressed, their manner?
  2. What was the old man, Warner's attitude toward lottery ticket? Why did he call young people who wanted to get rid of the ritual foolish? What does it tell you about people's attitude toward changes in general?
  3. What is the irony when Mr. Summers said after the lottery result was revealed, "All right, folks." Mr. Summers said. "Let's finish quickly."
  4. Some critics insist that the story has an added symbolic or allegorical dimension. Do you agree? If so, what is Shirley Jackson trying to tell us about ourselves?
  5. Does this barbaric act still continue in today's society? Explain what and how.

Do Now:

Procedures:

  1. Make a list of Pros and Cons if the story is permitted to be published.
  2. Read an editorial from the NYTIMES.COM
  3. Discuss and debate why the story should or should not be read in schools or by the public.

HW# 4 Read an editorial from any newspaper (New York Times is recommended) and analyze the structure and characteristics of such a persuasive writing. Then write a persuasive essay(editorial) to argue why you believe Shirley Jackson's story should or should not be read by the public.