Summary Of The Play 'Winners'

Figurative language is a strategy that authors have used over the years to give the reader different perspectives on the piece that they are reading about. In her short Story, “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson writes about a small town that has a tradition known as the lottery. The way that the lottery works, is that there is black box with pieces of paper in it. The pieces of paper have the family names of every family in town. The last name standing then has to go into an elimination round with the people within the family. Each family member draws out of the black box, and the family member that pulls the slip of paper with the black dot gets stoned to death. In her short story, Jackson utilizes symbolism in the form of Old Man Warren, the black box and the pile of stones to demonstrate how tradition can be blinding without even knowing it.

The best feeling one can experience is winning a prize. For example, when one wins the lottery, one is excited, however not the lottery in the story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. The lottery in this story represents a certain kind of irony known as situational irony. Now, this is not the only example of irony included in this story there are also examples of verbal irony and dramatic irony. In The story “The Lottery” there are countless instances of situational irony, verbal irony, and dramatic irony that presents readers with the barbaric ways of the town and allows readers to have an insight on the town’s issues.

Dystopian stories works depict a negative view of "the way the world is supposedly going in order to provide urgent propaganda for a change in direction”. Often these stories have many themes that can relate to the real world. In the dystopian story “The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson, many themes such as false hopes,hypocrisy, ritual, and mob mentality are expressed throughout the story. In the story everyone in a small village gather in the town square for the lottery, whoever gets chosen gets stoned to death by everyone in the town including friends and loved ones. The use of different themes throughout the story relate to the literary devices and universal storytelling elements setting, verbal irony, symbolism, and social cohesion.

The white man is also trying to uphold his power and control over the situation by gaining the narrator’s trust. The narrator is naïve in his understanding when he receives a leather brief case and a scholarship after delivering his speech: “My fingers a-tremble, I complied, smelling the fresh leather and finding an official-looking document inside. The document was a scholarship to the state college for Negroes. Although the white men provide the narrator with a scholarship, it is for the black college, which is undoubtedly inferior to any white college. Another instance in which the narrator does not fully understand the intentions of the white men occurs when the black men are ordered to scramble for money on a rug after the battle. It appears that the men are going to receive money for participating in the battle; however, the rug is electrified and the coins are not real. The white men are merely being entertained at the expense of the black men, which the narrator realizes this once he is electrocuted when he tries to pick up a coin. The narrator’s figurative blindness to the intentions of the white men makes the struggle for equality even harder.

Most African-Americans were unable to make economic progress because of de jure and de facto social barriers during that period. In a flashback from the play, the fictional Lymon Jackson was about to earn money by hauling wood, but was ruined when “the sheriff got [him],” “[said he] was stealing wood,” and “fined [him] a

In the novel, the Duke and the King pretend to be family relatives of a grieving family in order to steal thousands of dollars in gold. However, after successfully stealing the gold, the Duke then suggests that Jim, who happens to know about it, might try to steal the money because the Duke believes an African American would try to steal it. Through the image of a white criminal in the process of stealing money who fears that a black man would steal the money from him, the novel ironically portrays the hypocrisy of racial

The electrified rug is another important piece in this story. The boys are given the opportunity to take bills and coins off of a rug, after the battle royal has been completed. As they grab for the money they receive jolts of electricity from the rug. The boys find it extremely hard not to reach for the money even though they will go through much pain in doing so. These activities again represent the African American's struggle for equality. Even though segregation became an eventual realization the blacks had to suffer much. Blacks attending schools with whites still had to endure racial prejudices and misjudgments by much of the population. The boys in "Battle Royal" were given the opportunity to get money, but they had to endure the physical pain of being electrocuted in the process. The white men again are amused by these activities just as men throughout the years were amused by the activities of African American's. The blacks were given things but with a price attached to it just as the boys were.

The origin of this novel stems from a time with great attitude changes within the African-American way of life. Tensions between gender specifically had begun to emerge, women, who were thought of as subservient, belonging to the house as well as to their husbands. During the timeframe of this story, women had been beginning to emerge with dignity, grace, and authority. The play takes place in Pittsburgh, during the 1950’s when the gap between genders had been shrinking, as women had been introduced further into society as more than just mothers. To most, this diminishing gap, to most would be a seamless concept, however, to the characters of this play would be a deciding factor for many conflicting scenes. The main characters of this play

The electrified rug is another important piece in this story. The boys are given the opportunity to take bills and coins off of a rug, after the battle royal has been completed. As they grab for the money they receive jolts of electricity from the rug. The boys find it extremely hard not to reach for the money even though they will go through much pain in doing so. These activities again represent the African American’s struggle for equality. Even though segregation became an eventual realization the blacks had to suffer much. Blacks attending schools with whites still had to endure racial prejudices and misjudgments by much of the population. The boys in "Battle Royal" were given the

Ultimately, the narrator realizes because of racial stereotypes, people see him for how they want to see him; he decides to be invisible. During the battle royal scene, the black men, including the narrator, transform into the racial stereotype of a violent animal, “The boys groped about like blind cautious crabs crouching to protect their mid-sections, their heads pulled in short against their shoulders…” (23). The men don’t realize they are acting like servile savages because they are wearing blindfolds; they are blinded by the truth. In addition, when the African-Americans try to collect the fake coins on the electrified ground, again they

the play are ―rich symbol[s]‖ that convey the barriers of a ―racist society‖ (Kenny par. 18). The

The Victory Season: The End of World War II and the Birth of Baseball’s Golden Age written by Robert Weintraub is focused on the 1946 Major League Baseball season after World War II when “America was ready to heal.” During the war, parks were empty, the balls were made with fake rubber, and all of America’s favorite players were serving in the war. When players returned, they exchanged their military uniforms for baseball uniforms and the sport of baseball quickly became a key tool which helped many American’s return to their normal, everyday lives. Parks began to fill up again and a new era of baseball was born. Although so many soldiers returning at once did cause some issues, the National League was very competitive and many thrived on it. Weintraub discusses many events considered to be baseball’s best times including: the difficult, yet rewarding transition of baseball players from military service to the major leagues, The Brooklyn Dodgers breaking the racial segregation in the league by signing a black man, Jackie Robinson, the introduction of the Mexican League, in which American players signed with to receive higher salaries, and the 1946 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals, where the Cardinals defeated the Sox in the seven game series. Weintraub strongly focuses

No matter how hard they try, there are some people who cannot get ahead in life. Walter Lee Younger is a man who is frustrated with his current position in life, and every disappointment he has encountered thus far. Although he tries to be a loving man, sometimes he does not know how to show the idea of love, 'Sometimes...sometimes...I don't even know how to try' (Hansberry 89). His position in life can be regarded as symbolic of every black male struggling to provide for his family by any means necessary. Although Walter has a job, it seems inadequate for his survival. As a result, he has become frustrated and lacks good judgement. Throughout this play Walter searches

The entertainment not only came from the black men fighting over coins, but little did the blacks know, the rug was electrified. The narrator tells us “I lunged for a yellow coin lying on the blue design of the carpet, touching it and sending a surprised shriek to join the rising around me. I tried to frantically to remove my hand but could not let go. A hot, violent force tore though my body, shaking me like wet rat. The rug was electrified.” (27). The white men make the narrator feel inferior to them by making him the course of their entertainment. They make him feel ashamed and worthless. His feeling of invisibility not only comes from the belittling remarks they make, and what he has to do, but also the thought that the whites have that much control over what he is doing.

“The themes of the play are Two Trains Running is a political play that makes extended reference to the black power movement and its impact on poor urban communities like the Hill District of Pittsburgh. The issue of continued white oppression of African Americans and the response of the black community during the 1960s is at the foreground of the characters ' experience. The community surrounding the restaurant is undergoing a major redevelopment, probably one which has been precipitated by the social initiatives that came in the wake of the civil rights movement. However, the legal rights and privileges that the African American community won during the 1950s and 1960s do not seem necessarily to extend to impoverished city-dwellers. An underlying sense of tragedy and hopelessness pervades even short-term victories such as the city awarding Memphis thirty-five thousand dollars, since Memphis remains estranged from his wife and has the foreboding..”