Prewriting: “The Lottery” 1
Prewriting on “The Lottery”
Assignment: write an illustration/ example analysis of the story.
Incremental writing:
Find a
key word
key idea
pose a question
“tradition”
superstition
What does the story tell us
about tradition?
authority
Tradition is a part of a culture’s belief system.
What kind of tradition is this? --a sacrifice to guarantee a good harvest
How useful is the tradition? Is there any evidence that it works?
--the tradition is actually harmful
Tradition resists change; but change is finally inevitable.
The people are afraid to change, but they don’t understand the basis of their tradtion.
Question: Do the people understand their tradition? Do they know why they hold this
lottery every year?
If the lottery is part of their belief system, and they do not understand why they have it,
perhaps they should examine their belief system.
More prewriting prompts:
Why do they have a lottery?
Why is the black box so shabby?
How has the tradition altered over the years?
What do they understand about their tradtion?
Why do they persist with such a tradition?
What does the story say about the power of authority?
How many of us hold our beliefs without challenging them? How many of us
have unexamined beliefs?
Theme question:
What does “The Lottery” tell us about unexamined belief?
Another theme:
What picture of human nature is revealed in the story?
Prewriting: “The Lottery” 2
Statement about superstition: Their minds are trapped by superstition. (apt metaphor).
React to a quote: look at paragraph 32. What hint does it give you about why they are
having lottery?
What other issues does the story reveal about human nature?
--the story reveals the hidden cruelty of people
--the story reveals how little some people value human life
React to an important quote:
“Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still
remembered to use stones.”
Write a list of important ideas that are reflected in the quote.
--forgotten ritual—unexamined belief
--black box—represents the persistence of the tradition, yet also the inevitability
of change
--use of stones—the hidden cruelty of humans—the dark side of human nature
The above quote may also be used in the introduction as a springboard for discussion.
Other key ideas: ignorance, superstition, cruelty—together these form a useful
association that may be developed into a thesis or a theme.
At some point you may want to evaluate what you have, and list the key ideas you might
develop in your paper.
Or, if you are at the point that you have lots of good ideas about the story, you could try
coming up with a working thesis:
“The Lottery is a story about unexamined belief.”
With illustration/ example in mind, list the topics that support the thesis and could be
developed into paragraphs:
--belief/ tradition: examine and define their belief—give examples from the text
ex. The black box; the quote of old man Warner (“Lottery in June, corn be heavy
soon.”)
--their belief is unexamined: analyze and give examples from the text
--it is dangerous—anyone could be the next victim
ex. Explore the human cruelty portrayed; discuss how it institutionalizes murder,
and being institutionalized, it becomes hard to change