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English 10
Activator- “The Lottery”
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“The Public Reception of the Lottery”
Shirley Jackson once wrote that “there was a call from one of the magazine editors; they had had a couple of people phone in
about my story, he said, and was there anything I particularly wanted him to say if there were any more calls? No, I said, nothing
particular; anything he chose to say was perfectly all right with me; it was just a story.”
Why do you think Jackson wouldn’t tell what the story was about? Is it just a story about a small town? What do you think
Shirley Jackson’s story is about? Explain your answers.
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Summarizer II
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When Do We Say Enough?
You just watched video clips that showed the continuing tradition of human brutality and human injustice. Think about how this
relates to Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery.”
One of the themes of the story is human beings inability to initiate change or to question traditions or injustices. The attitude of the
characters, and many people, is “We’ve always done it this way. Why change now?” or “What does that have to do with me?”
Now, can you think of some traditions that we have which you don’t understand or can you think of some situations in history which
were unfair that people fought to change? Explain your answer and then share it with your partner.
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Summarizer III
ENL-10
What Would You Do?
An overweight man is leading a group of people out of a cave on a coast. Unfortunately, the opening to the cave is
tiny and the overweight man is stuck, blocking the exit for all the others. He cannot move backwards or proceed
through the exit hole. Soon a tidal wave will flood the part of the cave where the group of people is gathered and
all will drown, except for the stuck man, whose head is exposed to the outside of the cave.
One of the persons in the group has a stick of dynamite with him and proposes to use it to get the others out alive,
but unfortunately the man blocking the exit would die. There is no other way to get the man out of the exit hole.
What should they do? Sacrifice him, or wait for the tidal wave to come that will inevitably kill the entire group of
cave explorers (except for the stuck man)? Explain your answer.
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Summarizer I
ENL-9
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The Overcrowded Lifeboat: The Value of Human Life
In 1842, a ship struck an iceberg and more than 30 survivors were crowded into a lifeboat intended to hold 7. As a storm threatened, it
became obvious that the lifeboat would have to be lightened if anyone were to survive. The captain reasoned that the right thing to do
in this situation was to force some individuals to go over the side and drown. Such an action, he reasoned, was not unjust to those
thrown overboard, for they would have drowned anyway. If he did nothing, however, he would be responsible for the deaths of those
whom he could have saved. Some people opposed the captain's decision. They claimed that if nothing were done and everyone died as
a result, no one would be responsible for these deaths. On the other hand, if the captain attempted to save some, he could do so only by
killing others and their deaths would be his responsibility; this would be worse than doing nothing and letting all die. The captain
rejected this reasoning. Since the only possibility for rescue required great efforts of rowing, the captain decided that the weakest
would have to be sacrificed. In this situation it would be absurd, he thought, to decide by drawing lots who should be thrown
overboard. As it turned out, after days of hard rowing, the survivors were rescued and the captain was tried for his action. If you had
been on the jury, how would you have decided? Why?
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Activator VI
Date____________________________
Listen to Bruce Springsteen’s rendition of “Chimes of Freedom” by Bob Dylan. What are some words that you hear
repeatedly? Pick 3 and then brainstorm words that you associate with them.
Word # 2
Word # 3
Word # 1
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Listening for Meaning
1. The song begins with the narrator(s) hiding from what? Where do they hide?
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2. What are the chimes of freedom being compared to?
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3. What is an allusion (see your notes)?
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4. Who could the “warrior whose strength is not to fight” be? Could this be an allusion to some
figures in history during the Civil Rights movement?
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5. These flashes of the chimes of freedom represent what for the warriors, refugees, and underdog
soldiers?
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6. “An echo of wedding bells before the blowing rain.” What do wedding bells usually represent? If
you hear them in the middle of “blowing rain” is that a good sign?
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7. In the second stanza, who are the chimes of freedom tolling for? What do you think the writer
means?
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8. “The rain unraveled tales” is an example of what?
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9. “Electric light still struck like arrows” is an example of what?
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10. Why did the lightning keep flashing? Who was it searching for?
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11. What do you think Bob Dylan meant by “An' for each un-harmful, gentle soul misplaced inside a
jail?” Why would someone be misplaced inside a jail? What Civil Rights leader was put into jail
unjustly?
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12. What does starry-eyed mean?
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13. What does spellbound mean?
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14. Why couldn’t the narrator and his companion leave?
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15. What did you think of the song? What did you think it meant?
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16. Consider that this song was written during the Civil Rights movement what could this song be a
metaphor about?
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"Chimes of Freedom" By Bob Dylan
Far between sundown's finish an' midnight's broken toll
We ducked inside the doorway, thunder crashing
As majestic bells of bolts struck shadows in the sounds
Seeming to be the chimes of freedom flashing
Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight
Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight
An' for each an' ev'ry underdog soldier in the night
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
In the city's melted furnace, unexpectedly we watched
With faces hidden as the walls were tightening
As the echo of the wedding bells before the blowin' rain
Dissolved into the bells of the lightning
Tolling for the rebel, tolling for the rake
Tolling for the luckless, the abandoned an' forsaked
Tolling for the outcast, burnin' constantly at stake
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
Through the mad mystic hammering of the wild ripping hail
The sky cracked its poems in naked wonder
That the clinging of the church bells blew far into the breeze
Leaving only bells of lightning and its thunder
Striking for the gentle, striking for the kind
Striking for the guardians and protectors of the mind
An' the poet an the painter far behind his rightful time
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
In the wild cathedral evening the rain unraveled tales
For the disrobed faceless forms of no position
Tolling for the tongues with no place to bring their thoughts
All down in taken-for granted situations
Tolling for the deaf an' blind, tolling for the mute
For the mistreated, mateless mother, the mistitled prostitute
For the misdemeanor outlaw, chased an' cheated by pursuit
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
Even though a cloud's white curtain in a far-off corner flashed
An' the hypnotic splattered mist was slowly lifting
Electric light still struck like arrows, fired but for the ones
Condemned to drift or else be kept from drifting
Tolling for the searching ones, on their speechless, seeking trail
For the lonesome-hearted lovers with too personal a tale
An' for each un-harmful, gentle soul misplaced inside a jail
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
Starry-eyed an' laughing as I recall when we were caught
Trapped by no track of hours for they hanged suspended
As we listened one last time an' we watched with one last look
Spellbound an' swallowed 'til the tolling ended
Tolling for the aching whose wounds cannot be nursed
For the countless confused, accused, misused, strung-out ones an' worse
An' for every hung-up person in the whole wide universe
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
Name___________________________________
Date________________
Summarizer VI
During the video clip, one of the images that appears is a wall with this written message on
it “oppression can only survive through silence.” What does that mean? Do you agree?
Explain your answer.
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Who was Woodrow Wilson?
1) What was women’s suffrage?
2) What was the 19th Amendment?
Alice Paul
Workhouse- A prison in which limited sentences are served at manual labor.
19th Amendment- prohibited any state from denying anyone the right to vote based on their sex
(1920).
Over time, tension between the NWP and NAWSA grows as NAWSA leaders criticize NWP
tactics such as direct protesting of a wartime President and picketing directly outside the White
House with their Silent Sentinels.
Name______________________________________
Activator V
Date___________________
Who Has the Power?
In “The Lottery,” who had the most power in the village? Do you think this reflected the
society that Shirley Jackson (the author) grew up in? Why or why not?
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Guided Viewing
Date______________
“Iron Jawed Angels”
Directions: Please answer the following questions as you watch the movie.
1) Does the female prison guard seem to care about the other women? Will she help them?
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2) Why won’t Alice Paul (Hilary Swank) eat?
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3) Why do they force feed her? Do you think that they had a right?
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4) Listen to the lyrics the lyrics that the women are singing. What does this line mean: “can
the circles be unbroken?”
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After the Movie
1) When asked if she blamed President Wilson, Alice Paul replied “it’s the law that
treats women badly.” So, who does she blame?
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2) Old Man Warner said, “We have always had a lottery as far back as I can remember.”
Do you think this is what President Wilson and others said about women’s suffrage?
Why do you think that they didn’t want women’s suffrage to end?
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3) Do you think if others had joined Tessie in protesting it would have changed
anything?
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Name______________________________________
English 10R
Summarizer V- Teacher’s Copy
Date_________________
Hanging on to Traditions
As we have seen from “The Lottery,” where the village is unwilling to give up its traditions, and
with other events in our history, people seem to be reluctant give up outdated traditions and
ideas. Why do you think people are unwilling to let go of these traditions or ideas?
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“The Lottery” Creative Projects
Select one of the following activities. Your final project will count as one test grade.
Builders
Build a black box and fill it with items that are examples of symbols, characters,
and other ideas related to the story.
Artists
Create a PowerPoint or cartoon flip book that tells the story of “The Lottery”
without words—using music, pictures, symbols, etc.
Directors
Create a dramatic adaptation to “The Lottery.” You can modernize it or make it
reflect a past event, whatever your group decides, BUT it has to relate to the
central themes and ideas from “The Lottery.” I will need a copy of your
performance.
Journalists
Write a newspaper article discussing the events of June 27th. Be sure to include,
who, what, where, when, and why in the column.
Game Developers
Make a board game (or video game) in which some sort of lottery is involved. Be
sure to include the rules, directions, and objectives of the game.
Authors
Write a story that reflects either prompt A or B:
A) When we look at the lottery, it seems like an evil, barbarous practice from
the outside. Choose a practice/tradition 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 i.e. Hiroshima & Nagasaki,
death penalty, etc.) Write a story about this practice from the perspective
of an outsider who is appalled.
B) Think about traditions, practices, celebrations, and situations in the world or
in your community
that you do not understand. Many cultures have unique traditions that we do
not understand. For instance, why do people in India revere cows? We have a
whole industry based on butchering these animals? Why do females in the
Middle East have to wear Burkas? If you choose this writing prompt, your
assignment will be to create a short story from the perspective of a person
from that culture and demonstrate why that practice is acceptable and
understandable. There are many traditions and actions in this world that we
do not understand, which is perfectly normal, but we must try to see the
other side.
Name ___________________________________________________
Summarizer III
Date____________________
Think about events or situations in history or from today that are examples of a belief, tradition, or ritual that do not make
sense to you or seem unjust. Pick 2 and brainstorm what you know about these events and how they relate to “The
Lottery.
Idea # 1
Idea # 2