The Lottery, By Shirley Jackson

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, is a suspenseful story that begins on a pleasant morning in June, but it quickly shifts into a morbid display of tradition. The characters display a sudden change in loyalty to each other once one of the town member’s names is drawn from the “black box”. Through this action, along with several other vivid examples from the text, Jackson cultivates an underlying theme of hypocrisy and the evil of human nature.

In the short story, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson the change in tone shifts over time starting with a gleeful and sunny beginning turning to a ghastly and horrifying story towards the resolution. The author shifts her tone in order to make a more dramatic ending that will stick with the reader, the ending transforms the short story from realism to symbolism so that the readers can further use this story in a real world context.

How does setting affect the mood of this short story? Use evidence in support of your claim.

Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." New Yorker 26 June. 1948: 25-28. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2

Or when Mrs. Dunbar conversed about Mr. Dunbar and how he was “terrible mad to have to stay home and miss the excitement. ” These statements all build onto a positive meaning to lottery. This confuses the reader too once the true nature of the lottery slowly becomes revealed. The major indication that aids in conflicting the reader’s thoughts on the lottery is Belva and Joe Summer’s confrontation just before the event.

In the beginning of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” June 27th is as normal as any other summer day in the small village. The morning was described as “clear and sunny” with “flowers blossoming profusely and the grass richly green” (Jackson, 1). The attitudes of the children are rather happy and normal as they begin to gather playing “boisterous[ly]” (Jackson, 1). By the end of the story, the beautiful, normal summer day as described in the beginning is a day that every member, including the children, of the town partakes in a public stoning of a member of their village. In this dark and unpredictable short story, Shirley Jackson uses tone and objects to convey a message of tradition and murder.

The literary device “mood” was the first of the several devices used in “The Lottery”. “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the

What would happen if a deadly fever passes through your city killing your friend and getting your grandpa sick.How will Matilda deal with all this loss This sets the mood for this story .Even thouugh people may say that you can’t tell the mood and the setting of this story, but i know that the mood and setting of this story is aparent.While you read this book the bescriptive imagery help reavel the mood and setting makeing you feel like you are a part of the story.

In “The Lottery,” Jackson begins with a straightforward report of a normal day: “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green” (Jackson). The audience is lulled into a sense of security by the rather pleasant imagery. Yet there is something wrong with the picture – the villagers are uneasy, the children gather a pile of rocks, and there is a mysterious lottery that is going to take place. Like conformity, the setting paints a picture of normalcy and hides the dreadful reality of people being repressed by the rules they set for themselves. Despite the fact that it is summer break, the “feeling of liberty sat uneasily” on most of the children, and the men “smiled rather than laughed” (Jackson).

Everyone loves tradition, right? Nothing feels better than participating in an activity that the whole family or even community can enjoy. Now, what if I told you that activity meant randomly selecting a person, from your beloved community via a lottery, and then stoning them to death. In the short story, “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson uses imagery, setting, and irony to portray the theme of animistic savagery and hypocrisy

The lottery is a short story that is certainly one of the best American writings of the last century. First published in 1948 in The New Yorker, his reception by the public could not be worse: many readers canceled their subscriptions to the magazine and the author received letters for months in which he was heavily criticised and insulted because of the hardness of the story. It was also a called a spooky story, where the tension and anticipation increased without disclosing the reason for things, not until the last words. The question is what exactly tells this story?

When Ellie arrived the other day it was dark and she was unable to appreciate the beautiful countryside surrounding her. However today, it was spectacular. The imposing mountains in the distance were stunning and the open fields bordered by lofty trees were delightful. Since she isn’t in any hurry to reach town, Ellie pulls over and simply sits and takes it all in. It is relaxing, drawing the tension from her.

of romantic and realistic diction, detail, and imagery foreshadows the story’s theme that, in the final

When one thinks of a lottery, they imagine winning a large sum of money. Shirley Jackson uses the setting in The Lottery to foreshadow an ironic ending. The peaceful and tranquil town described in this story has an annual lottery, and you can’t possibly guess what the “prize” is…

The intent of this class is to give the student a well-rounded overview of the basic parts of a short story or novel. These include plot, character, point of view, strong openings to a story, dialogue and writing enhancement. It is intended to help writers. It is not intended to be a literary criticism class.