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I'll go easy on you for this first reading log entry. Here are a list of questions. Pick two that you can answer well and post them to the website. If you see someone's answer that you disagree with or that you think could use some more support, you can also reply to someone elses post--as long as you answer two questions and demonstrate an understanding of the story, I'll be happy. I know the length question is coming soon. I don't want an entire essay. I do want a good, well-developed paragraph with good, specific examples from the text. Plan to have this done by Monday, October 1, 2007
Here are your questions:
1. Where do you think "The lottery takes place? What purpose do you suppose the writer has in making the setting appear so familiar and ordinary?
2. Take a close look at Jackson's description of the black wooden box and of the black spot on the fatal slip of paper. What do these objects suggest to you? Are there any other symbols in the story?
3. Do you expect the end of the story? What details foreshadow the end?
4. What do you understand to be the writer's own attitude toward the lottery and the stoning? Exactly what in the story makes her attitude clear?
5. What do you make of Old Man Warner's saying, "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon"?
6. What do you think Jacks is driving at? Consider each of the following interpretations and, looking at the story, seel fi you can find any evidence for it:
- Jackson takes a primitive fertility rite and playfully transfers it to a small town in North America
- Jackson, writing her story soon after WWII, indirectly expresses her horror at the Holocaust. She assumes that the massacre of the Jews was carried out by unwitting, obedient people like the villagers.
- Jackson is satirizing our own society in which men are selected for the army by lottery.
- Jackson is just writing a memorable stoy that signifies nothing at all.
7. React to the story--did you love it or hate it? Why?
Happy reading and writing--
Mrs. M
12 comments:
#1 I think the lottery takes place in the town square. I imagened a western theme when i started reading it. I think the reason the writer made the setting the way he/she did was because it made the ending even more suprising and unexpected. I never would have guessed the ending of this story because of that.
#3 Oh my goodness i didn't expect that ending at all. The town just seemed so calm and collected like this was just an ordainary day and just a way of life. The only detail i remember from the story is that the children gathered stones for the event.
1. At first this story seemed to take place in the late 1800s, early 1900s which make more sense since Mr Summers had a white shirt and jeans. The purpose the writer has in making the setting appear so familiar was to give us an idea that this setting was taken place around our time.
3. I certainly did not expect the ending of this story. The fat that the kids had stones in their hands and what Mrs. Hutchinson was mentinong that something wasn't fair after her husband chose a paper from the lottery, and when they threw a rock at her and the villagers were coming close to her. These details show that " The Lottery" was not talking about money, but about someone having to die, from what I understood.
#1 I feel that this story takes place in the country because of the dialogue. The names are pretty country like to like Tessie and Bill. They also lived in a place called the village sop that must mean that it took place a long time ago when they still had death by stoneing.
#7 T did not like this story because it made me feel really sad. I felt that it was wrong to kill Tessie by stone and have the children participate. It was pretty twisted how the whole village acted like it was normal.
1.)I assume that "The Lottery" takes place in an old country town, somewhere out west. The author uses a lot of slang words and many of the descriptions led me to believe it was a small country town. I think the author's purpose in creating a town where everyone knew everyone else was to make us think that there would be a happy ending, you know where someone would actually win something good. I was really shocked at how the story really ended!
7.) This story was okay. I thought it would have had a better ending. For the most part though, it kept me interested. I was interested when each family was introduced and when it was explained that the lottery had been around for many years. It was good, but I really did not like the ending.
#3. I kind of expected that ending only because I had watched a movie similar to this. It would be awful to live like that knowing that you could be next.
#1 I also believe the lottery to take place in an old country town with not many people living there. It seems like it took place in the olden days because of the way everyone got together for town gatherings. I feel the author made this setting to make us think of old times when everyone would get together for happy gatherings.
2. the black box and the blca box represent(since they are dark colors)something bad, to me they symbolize something dark and that the lottery is not something positive even though the villagers all seem very nonchalant, jackson slips in occasionally, gestures that the villagers are also nervous.
7. I liked the story because it had me wondering the whole time what was going to happen and gave me little hints about what the lottery was really about. I liked that the story did not reveal the secret until the very end.
1. I think that the lottery takes place a city maybe a town square. I believe that Shirley Jackson put this story in this type of place because it makes it more dermatic and surprising for the ending. Doing this helps Shirley to keep her readers drawn in.
7. I thought the story was ok. i didn't care for the ending it could have been better, but it did keep me reading and thats one of the key thing an auther needs to do.i didn't think it was right to kill tessi.
#1 The Lottery started out for me as a "little house on the prarie" type town. but as I read the tone of the story grew more black. The ending was a suprise even after reading it i can see the clues that were left to what was going to happen.
#3 I did not expect the ending. I honestly thought it would be the Man who would be stoned. But, when I reread the story, i saw how Tesie was set up to be the one stoned. The hardest part for me was when I read one of the town boys put pebbles in the yougest sons hand. (little davey).
#1. The lottery takes place in the town square. This a small town and everyone knows were the town square is.
#5. "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon"? I though he meant that their would be one less mouth to feed in the winter ahead. The people did not want their town to grow, so they killed one off every year.
#1. The lottery is heald in the town square, this is a small town a everyone knows where to meet for the lottery.
#5. The statement "Lottery in June, Corn be heavy soon"?, To me it means that there will be one less person to feed in the winter. The people of this town want to keep it small, so every year they kill one of their own.
#1I think that “The Lottery” takes place in a town hall or a big courtyard. I believe the writer makes the setting appear so familiar and ordinary because he does not reveal the purpose of the lottery until the very end of the story, I think he is trying to make it seem like they are having a town meeting of some sort so that you don’t really know what is going to happen.
#2The black wooden box and the black paper are probably a sign of death. I do not see any other symbols in the story.
#3At the beginning of the story I did not know what was really going on, but looking back on the story the fact that the town children were gathering smooth stones could have been a sign of foreshadowing what was going to happen
#4I believe that the writer does not like the idea of the lottery and the stoning because towards the end of the story with Mrs. Hutchinson is going up to the black box she yells that its not fair and its not right.
#5Might mean that there is one less mouth to feed so when they bring in the corn it will seem heavier because there is more
#6Maybe our idea of the way we chose things back then were not the way they should have been done. That people did things because that’s the way the were always done. If you appoint someone to do something you follow them no matter what. Maybe she is getting at the system is outdated and it needs to be renewed to a newer more current way.
#7I personally liked the story, not for its hidden meaning, but because it was a good suspense story. Not knowing what the purpose for the lottery was until the end and feeling the tensions and nervousness spreading throughout the crowd when they picked up the sheets of paper and when they turned them over. Feeling how Mrs. Hutchinson felt when she realized that she was the person to be getting stoned and the fear when she said “It’s not fair” and “It’s not right.”
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