Lesson 43
Today’s Agenda
• Discuss “The Lottery”
• Literary Devices
Today’s Objective: Students
will be able to apply short
story unit skills to Shirley
Jackson’s “The Lottery”
QUIZ
CIRCLE ANY UNANSWERED
QUESTIONS (1-22)
SO, THIS KIND OF STUFF
DOESN’T HAPPEN
ANYMORE, RIGHT?
WRONG!
Ash Eating
• Located in Venezuela and Brazil, the Yanomamo tribe forbids
keeping any part of the body of a deceased person. When a
person dies, the body is cremated and the crushed bones are
added to the ashes. The ashes are then given to the
family and must be eaten
Ant Initiation
• On the Amazon, the boys of this tribe must wear gloves
containing bullet ants (Paraponera clavata) for ten minutes at
a time and repeat it nineteen times. They must endure many
stings, the pain of which is near unbearable, to prove
themselves. The ants are so called because the pain their bites
inflict are supposedly of the same intensity as a bullet wound.
The Schmidt Sting Pain Index rates it as a 4+ and describes it
as ‘waves of burning, throbbing, all-consuming pain that
continues unabated for up to 24 hours’
Baby Throwing Ritual
• A civil rights campaigner, Ranjana Kumari, in New Delhi
continues to protest about a centuries old tradition best
described as “baby throwing.” This ritual is performed at
various shrines in West India such as Solapur. The toddlers are
blessed and dropped up to fifty feet from the roof down to a
sheet, held taut by people, below. The ritual supposedly
brings good health and prosperity to the child’s families.
• This activity is practiced by Hindus and Muslims alike and has
been a tradition for the last 700 years.
Yanshui Beehive Rockets Festival
• In Taiwan, the largest Lantern Festival known as the Beehive
Rocket Festival will run for two days. During the festival,
800,000 firecrackers are fired at and into the crowds’ like angry
bees. 2011 marks the centenary of the Republic of China and
this is their way of celebrating the event. There is certainly risk
involved by being in the crowd as flames and burning debris
explode towards you at high speed.
Foreshadowing
Symbolism
Irony
Plot
Conflict
Point of View
LITERARY DEVICES
Foreshadowing
• What does FORESHADOWING mean?
• Author hints at or alludes to something that will happen later in the
story.
• What are some examples of FORESHADOWING in the story?
• “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones.”
• Foreshadows the stoning
• “…and the stool was put in the center of the square and Mr.
Summers set the black box down on it. The villagers kept their
distance, leaving a space between themselves and the stool…”
• “A sudden hush fell on the crowd as Mr. Summers cleared his throat
and looked at the list.”
• They grinned at each other humorously and nervously.”
• “…went hastily back to this place in the crowd where he stood a little
apart from his family, not looking down at his hand.”
• “…greeted Mr. Summers gravely…”
• Foreshadows the townpeople’s nervousness
Symbolism
• What do you think these things represent?
• The Black Box
• Evil/Death
• Outdated Tradition
• "The black box grew shabbier each year: by now it was no longer
completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original
wood color, and in some places faded or stained."
• The Lottery
• Foolhardy tradition that is passed down from generation to
generation
• Characters’ names: Do you think Shirley Jackson selected some
of the names purposefully? If so, which ones and what do they
reveal?
Character Names/Symbols
• Summers:
• The Lottery takes place during the summer
• Summer usually feels warm, happy, enjoyable
• Irony
• Graves:
• Man who brings out the box… gives reader a hint of what will be
coming next
• Foreshadowing
• Dellacroix:
• In French means: “Of the Cross”
• Biblical reference to Martyrdom/Sacrifice
• Allusion
• Tess is sacrificed to the ritual “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon”
• Notice!!! Dellacroix picks up the biggest rock at the end of the story
• Davey Hutchinson (youngest son):
• Symbol of lost innocence and cruelty of the ritual
Irony
• What is an example of IRONY in the story?
• The day is pleasant, “clear and sunny, with
the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the
flowers were blossoming profusely and the
grass was richly green.”
• How is this ironic?
• Reader expects the story to be happy and it
is far from it.
• What type of IRONY is this?
• Situational
• Identify additional examples of IRONY.
Plot Diagram
Climax
Rising Action
Exposition
Inciting
Incident
Falling Action
Resolution/
Conclusion
Plot Diagram - Structure
How is this story organized?
• Exposition
• Learn about the tradition of the lottery in this small village sometime
around 1950-1960
• Inciting Incident
• Mr. Summers starts the lottery process
• Rising Action
• Names are called and slips are drawn
• Climax
• Tessie Hutchinson draws the “winning” ticket.
• Falling Action
• Tessie Hutchinson pleads for mercy
• Resolution
• Tessie Hutchison is stoned to death.
TURN IN HANDOUTS