The Lottery Rhetorical Analysis

Shirley Jackson is often regarded as one of the most brilliant authors of the twentieth century. Born in San Francisco in 1916, she spent the majority of her adolescence writing short stories and poetry (Allen). While she is known best for her supernatural stories, one of her most popular works is a short story called “The Lottery”. The lottery takes place in a small village in which once a year on June 24th, the town population is gathered. After the gathering, there is a drawing to see which family is chosen, after the family is chosen, another drawing takes place to see who is stoned to death. In the New Yorker's magazine book review hailed “The Lottery” as “one of the most haunting and shocking short stories of modern America and is one of the most frequently anthologized” (Jackson). This review stems heavily from Jackson’s brilliant use of irony, symbolism, and foreshadowing. However, perhaps what truly stands out is how Jackson is able to wrap all of those elements together as a way to show an overarching theme of the corruption that exists in human nature. While the real source of “The Lottery’s” inspiration is unclear, there has been heavy speculation that the roots lie heavily in the actions of the holocaust and the actions that took place during World War II. Regardless of the source material, a general consensus can be made that the plot of the lottery is a dark reflection of human actions.

    "The Lottery," a short story written by Shirley Jackson, is a tale about a disturbing social practice.  The setting takes place in a small village consisting of about three hundred denizens.  On June twenty-seventh of every year, the members of this traditional community hold a village-wide lottery in which everyone is expected to participate.  Throughout the story, the reader gets an odd feeling regarding the residents and their annual practice.  Not until the end does he or she gets to know what the lottery is about.  Thus, from the beginning of the story until almost the end, there is an overwhelming sense that something terrible is about to happen due to the Jackson's effective

The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson, is a compelling story about the human race and how it is affected by its surrounding traditions. When the 27th of June arrives, a village is overtaken by a two hour lottery, which includes the picking of stones, a black box and ends in a fight for the “winners” life.

Accordingly the reader has had ample time to form whatever interpretations they may have about the lottery, even given the sparse information that the story provides. What is certain about the story leading up to the very end, is that everyone in the town takes place in the lottery regardless of age, that there’s been a lottery for as long as anyone can remember, that this village is not the only one that keeps this practice, and that it is a declining practice (Jackson 239). Despite whatever conceptions the reader may draw about the mystery of the lottery, the truth is so unexpected that it perfectly demonstrates how something can possess immense and startling power (May 48). The reader discovers that the lottery is actually a public stoning. The exact process is that everyone draws a piece of paper from a box, and whoever draws the paper marked with a black spot, is stoned to death. An important thing to note is that in the beginning of the story, the villagers “made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square” (Jackson 235). These stones are not mentioned until the very end, where the villagers proceed to bludgeon the unlucky winner of the lottery. This brutal image is enough to shatter any preconceived notions the reader may have formed, thus raising another mystery: what is the purpose of the lottery?

“The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, was written in 1948, which was just a few years following World War II. Everyone was still on edge from the revelation of the mass killings at the concentration camps and the copious amounts of death that ensued in the war. The obedience of the villagers, the tradition of the lottery, and the perception of human nature play large roles in the telling of “The Lottery”.

The Lottery” is a short story written by Shirley Jackson in 1948. Immediately after its publication, there ensued a strong debate on the main book’s main agenda. This is because many people never comprehended the main theme behind this story. The setup of this story was in a small town located in the US. This town normally practiced some form of rituals.

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson made its first appearance in the New Yorker in 1948. Many people classify this short story as a horror story, even though there is not anything actually scary about it. “The Lottery” tells a story of a village that holds a yearly lottery to find a winner; however, the winner of this lottery does not win money like the title would insinuate. The winner of the lottery wins the right to be stoned to death by everybody in the village. Nobody in the village knows why they still participate in this lottery, but it has become a tradition to them. The theme of this short story is tradition, and it is displayed through three literary devices used throughout the story: foreshadowing, symbolism, and irony.

The lottery is a short story written by Shirley Jackson in 1948 and was published in the New Yorker.This is not a true story. The short story took place in the square in the village. The village has a lottery every year. Villagers would say “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.” The man of each household had to pick a piece of paper out of a black box. The “winner” got a black dot on the paper; the “winning” family would have to draw out of the box. Someone in the family would get the black dot, if they did they would be stoned to death. The central theme to The Lottery is the power of tradition. Somebody mentioned people are changing the tradition but he got “shot down”. They have been doing the tradition for so long they have never stopped

For over 2 hours the villagers gathered around the town’s square awaiting the results to the annual lottery. “The Lottery” was written by Shirley Jackson in 1948 and became one of America’s best and most controversial short stories. In “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson expressed her opinion on society’s resistance to change and how people uphold traditions passed down through generations.

“A stone hit her on the side of the head. "It isn't fair, it isn't right," Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her” (34). “The Lottery” is a short story written by Shirley Jackson which, sparked controversy when published in the June 26, 1948 issue of the New Yorker. Jackson used several different literary devices to support her theme that people who don’t question tradition get what they deserve. The literary devices Jackson uses to support the theme of ‘The Lottery’ are irony, foreshadowing, and pacing.

The Lottery, a short story by author Shirley Jackson, is a representation of our somewhat conformist society as a whole, within communities, not only in America, but around the world. Jackson, utilizes small town settings and symbolism through her creative writing style. The Lottery, was written in 1948, approximately three years after the liberation of the World War II concentration camp Auschwitz. Not surprisingly, some people still deny that the Holocaust ever happened. Jackson illustrates that even a small towns, tight knit population, can discount evil, and evil is still prevailing in our current society (for example: the terrorist attacks on September 11; the massacres in France.).

I chose to do my essay on the short story “The Lottery”. It was written by Shirley Jackson in 1948. It is a very interesting short story. I really enjoyed reading and watching this short story. This story brings a whole different meaning to the word lottery. A drawing, known as the lottery, took place in villages each year. The winner of this drawing got stoned to death by all the villagers. I am going to talk about the setting, symbolism, and themes of this short story.

“The Lottery” is a short story written by Shirley Jackson and published in 1948. The title of the story initially leads readers to believe the story is going to be about someone winning some kind of prize. Even the opening of the story seems to protest any foul play or cruel behavior. What the reader is introduced to is a seemingly friendly gathering of a small village community, members all gathered around anxiously awaiting their drawing for the lottery. The village members all chatter amongst one another in a tone that kind neighbors would take with one another. To the surprise of the reader, the story provides a shocking twist. The story is not about someone winning a prize. Instead the story reveals

“The Lottery”, a short story by Shirley Jackson, is about a lottery that takes place in a small village. The story starts off with the whole village gathering in the village square, where Mr. Summers holds the lottery. Once everyone gathers, each family draws a slip of paper out of an old black box, and the family with the black mark on their paper does it again. This time though, each individual family member older than 3 years of age re-draws a slip of paper and the person with the black mark on their paper gets picked as the “lucky winner” of the lottery. In this short story, when Tessie Hutchinson is declared “winner” of the lottery, her reward is certainly not a million dollars, but instead, being stoned to death. The whole village

Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” is about a bizarre ritual performed in a town in which the townspeople proceed to follow every year. In a black, worn box they place all the names of the community. Once all the names are placed inside, Mr. Summers draws a name. After the name is chosen, this member will be stoned to death by the others in the community. Tessie Hutchinson in the story tries to reject the repetitive tradition of the lottery.