...Everyone follows tradition, whether it's good or bad. Shirley Jacksons short story " The Lottery" shows how a village participates in a horrendous tradition that nobody can't seem to forget. The lottery is an old tradition in where each member of every family must draw a paper to determine who will be stoned to death that year. Jackson is sure to use literary devices throughout the short story to describe the village, the people, and the tradition itself which ends with taking someone's life. One of the literary devices that Jackson uses is foreshadowing. The first example takes place in the second paragraph where it reads, "Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting...
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...Possibility of Evil, Shirley Jackson writes about two female protagonists that get betrayed by their fellow townspeople. Shirley Jackson wrote about these events by using various literary terms such as imagery, irony, and tone. Shirley Jackson uses these literary terms in her story to make her readers understand how these two women felt after being turned on. In The Lottery and The possibility of evil both have different types of irony that occurs throughout these stories. In The Lottery Shirley Jackson used situational irony. When people hear the title The Lottery most people would assume that it would be a positive thing but in this story it is the exact opposite. In this lottery you are being picked to be stoned to death in hopes of a good season for your crops. In The possibility of evil Jackson used dramatic irony. The readers knew that Miss.Strangeworth was the one behind all of the anonymous letters, but known of the other characters were aware.For example when Miss.Strangeworth wrote “DIDN’T YOU EVER SEE AN IDIOT CHILD BEFORE? SOME PEOPLE SHOULDN’T HAVE...
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...The Irony of It “Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor” (Collins). One of the many ways that irony can be presented is through hypocritical statements like this quote. This is true for the short story, “The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson in 1948 which can easily be compared to the modern film, The Hunger Games, originally a book authored by Suzanne Collins. Both of these pieces encase many different literary devices; irony was the most evident. “The great thing about irony is that it splits things apart, gets up above them so we can see the flaws and hypocrisies and duplicates” (“Irony Quotes”). These literary and commercial works feature the literary device irony to showcase a woman protagonist who happened to experience an unlucky moment which lead to their own death and near death experiences. The Hunger Games features irony chronologically placed throughout the...
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...No Harmful Intentions Doing the right thing in life can be harmful, even if it is the right thing to do, many people can be affected by these decisions. By doing the right thing it is always harmful to someone. Harm can be collected in multiple ways not only physically, but neglect and psychological harm can also be intended to be the right thing to do. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” both use their stories to represent how doing the right thing can be harmful by neglect, psychological and physical harm. The two stories are both written about the way people inside a community live and their rituals and routines ruin and affect peoples’ lives by doing what they believe is the right thing to do, but in other peoples eyes it is not the right thing to do. Both stories use many literary devices in their stories to show their true meanings. The literary devices known as character and setting explain important meaning on how the stories are structured and organized to make the organization feel as if they believe it is the right thing to do but is harmful to others. In Shirley Jacksons “The Lottery” shows a great amount of physical and psychological harm. A setting like many towns, there are banks, schools, Town Square, and homes of the villagers. Every year the small town gathers in the square for the lottery day. Groups of children run around gathering pockets and small mounds of stones for their families and village members. A traditional...
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...Imagine living a life without any type of tradition, no birthdays, no holidays, no anniversaries and no expectations for anything. Everyone has tradition in their life, whether it be good or bad, important or unnecessary, every one celebrates some sort of tradition. In the short story “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson shows us how some people blindly follow tradition just simply because it's tradition. Shirley expresses how extreme people can go to practice tradition or how blindly they can be followed and uses characterization and symbolism to prove it. Shirley uses characterization in her short story to convey her theme of blindly followed tradition. One character she uses for this is old man warner, which is the oldest man in the town and therefore has dealt with most lotteries. While everyone is gathering together he says . “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.' First thing you know, we'd all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns. There's always been a lottery”(Warner 33). When old man warner says...
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...Passage analysis from The Lottery by Shirley Jackson (355 words) The opening paragraphs of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson establish a scene of peaceful normality in a small village where the inhabitants are gathering on a summer’s morning to complete a traditional ritual. The selected passage describes the preparations for the lottery that is held every year in the square, organized by two respected men from the village. The relaxed informal mood of the opening paragraphs is maintained, however a sense of foreboding continues to grow as the reader is confronted with some unsettling questions. Jackson creates a scene where the characters are familiar with each other and are ostensibly relaxed and peaceful people. The adjectives used to describe Mr Summers – even his name suggests a cheerful man – are “round-faced” and “jovial” and the informal, friendly tone developed through gesture and dialogue when he “waved and called “Little late today, folks” clearly convey that this is not a man to be feared. The activities with which he is associated, “the square dances, the teen club, the Halloween program” characterize him as a man to be trusted, one who is interested in community affairs. The other villagers even feel sympathy for him because he has “no children and his wife (is) a scold”. Elements of disquiet, however, are subtly introduced into this seemingly calm and casual scene. A second character is introduced, Mr Graves – again, the name is telling – who brings forth a “black...
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...Foreshadowing is indicating something that is going to happen in the future. In the story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson there is a lot of foreshadowing to the horrific ending. She talks about stones and Mrs. Hutchinson “forgetting the day”. Foreshadowing is used by the author to add suspense to the story and to suggest that the villager will die. One example of foreshadowing is in the beginning of the story when the kids gather in the square and collect the stones. It stated “Bobby Martinson had already stuffed his pockets and the other boys soon followed”. In other words all the where preparing us for the horrible ending. They kill their own kind even their family. Foreshadowing is also seen when Mrs. Hutchinson didn't show up to the...
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...Persecution is the hostility and ill treatment, especially because of race, political, or religious beliefs. In the story "The Lottery" the author Shirley Jackson created a Gothic Ficttion story to represent randomness of persecution. In "The Lottery" every townsmen in the village gathered together to pull random names out of an old black box. The random names were the names of people who lived in the small town. If their names happened to be drawed, it was mandatory that they were killed by whoever pulled their name. This story shows the randomness of persecution through the literary devices of characterization, symbolism, irony, and startle factor. In the small village of townsmen, including children, their names went inside the chipped...
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...Following traditions are not always good and can become dangerous and blindly. Many do not know any better because traditions go on for many years. In the gothic short story “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson creates a town like no other. The literary devices utilized in “The Lottery” helped to manifest and develop the story are setting, characterization, symbolism and irony. “The Lottery” opens up with a calm setting of a sunny summer June 27th. From the outside, the town seems normal and quiet. Then the town starts to have a creepy, secret feeling, as if everyone has something to hide. The setting of “The Lottery” helps the reader understand the mood of the town and helps you understand the truth behind the tradition. Each character is different, but they all have one thing in common, they all follow tradition. The lottery is run by Mr. Summers. Mr.Summers is the leader of the town who is friendly to everyone and everyone respects him....
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...There are many symbols that help portray the overall meaning of the “The Lottery.” The black box is probably the most important symbol in the story. It is the main symbol depicting the theme of how people blindly follow tradition. Inside the black box, the fate of everyone in the village is at stake. The slip of paper with the black box is somebody’s death sentence. It is unclear, at first, what the importance of the black box is. Jackson does not say what the nature of the lottery is so we do not know what the “winner” gets. The purpose of the box, much like the tradition of the lottery, has been lost with the passage of time. It is well worn, but the villagers are reluctant to let it go for the sake of keeping with tradition. The villagers' treatment of the box represents their view of the lottery as a whole. They're terrified by both the box and the lottery, but they're too scared to drop either one. The black box is symbolic of how the villagers refuse to part ways with ancient traditions even if they lead to horrifying results. Another symbol that ties into the theme of the story is the stones. The purpose of gathering the stones was unclear it first, but their purpose...
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...creativity and imagination through the unique yet queer character of Anne Shirley whom is present in a series of her novels. Montgomery develops this character in her written work by making many connections and similarities relative to significant memories of her own childhood. As a Canadian author, Montgomery uses a variety of Canadian landmarks in her writing which contributed greatly to Canadian literature. It has also been recognized that a wide collection of writing devices are used within the author’s work to enhance the development of the novel. The theme of this novel presents significance to the character of Anne whom continuously struggles to subside her unique imagination and submit to social expectations. There are endless examples within Anne of Green Gables that demonstrate the similarities between herself and the beloved character of Anne. To conclude, the character of Anne Shirley is merely a reflection of Montgomery herself. A Canadian with roots in Scotland, Lucy M. Montgomery was a regional romantic novelist best known for Anne of Green Gables (1908)( Castriota, Lucy). Montgomery was born in 1874 in PEI where she was raised by her maternal grandparents after her mother passed away due to illness (Castriota). She began to keep a diary and discovered at the age of 10 that she could write poetry. After college, Montgomery became a teacher but continued to write in her spare time (Jackson, Sarah). In 1908 her first novel, Anne of Green Gables, was published after...
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...Amanda Karski Professor Kipple English 1202 CD 2 November 2015 Literary devices in “The Lottery” Literary devices are specific language techniques that are used in a text to make it clearer. Shirley Jackson author of infamous horror story, “The Lottery”, uses five literary devices such as symbolism, allegory, foreshadowing, theme and irony. Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. This literary device is used most often throughout the short story to keep the suspenseful ending a surprise rather than a shock. Three main symbols are used in this story, the title “The Lottery”, the black box, and stones. The reader can look at the “The Lottery” title itself to see it exemplifies symbolism. A lottery typically represents...
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...Velma Johnson English 200-E81 July 5, 2014 “The Lottery” foreshadows and settings Shirley Jackson's “The Lottery”, this story filled with symbolism. The author uses symbolism to help her represent human nature as tainted, no matter how pure one thinks of himself or herself, or how pure their environment may seem to be. The story is very real in raising many questions about the pointless nature of humanity regarding tradition and violence. “The Lottery” clearly couriers Jackson's feelings concerning mankind’s evil nature hiding behind traditions and rituals. She shows how coldness and lack of compassion in people can exhibit in situations regarding tradition and values. Jackson presents the theme of this short story with a major use of symbolism. Symbolism shows throughout the setting of “The Lottery”, the objects, the people’s actions, and even in the time and the names of the lucky contestants. The setting of the story helps to magnify its impact on the reader because it is set in a small town similar to the one many of us may know of, and that is symbolic of everything that we consider to be right in America. The story begins on a magnificent summer day in a small town. The author describes the day as very joyful but strikes a contrast between the surroundings of the town and the atmosphere of the people gathered in the square. The atmosphere is sober, where the adults, stood together, away from the stones in the corner, and their “jokes were quiet and they smiled rather...
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...Victoria O’Neill Sept. / 27th. /11 English/ Charles The definition of foreshadowing is to show or indicate beforehand; prefigure. The author, Shirley Jackson, did a fantastic job using this literary device in this short story Charles. There are many instances in the story where the author gives small indications that Laurie might be the bad boy in the story, not Charles. For a kindergarten boy, Laurie knows how to cheat the system. Laurie is a loud, rambunctious, naughty kindergartener blind to his parent’s eyes. When his behavior becomes a problem in class Laurie blames it on Charles…a figure of his imagination. Laurie proceeds to home, telling his parents how Charles was disruptive in class, not even mentioning his own bad behavior. Once his parents hear bout Charles he becomes and institution in the household. Laurie seems to know too much about Charles to only know him from school. In the text it stated, “Did Charles tell the little girl to say that?’ he asked respectfully. ‘She said it twice,’ Laurie said. ‘Charles told her to say it twice.” When I was reading the story the first time, I didn’t recognize there was more importance to that passage. When I read it the first time, I thought it was just another conversation between Laurie and his father. However, Laurie couldn’t have known that Charles told the little girl to say the appalling word twice. Another example of how Laurie seems to know a lot about Charles is when he said, “Because she tried to make him...
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...[pic] JPPSS ELA COURSE GUIDE 2011-2012 ENGLISH I The JPPSS Instructional Sequence Guides are aligned with the LA Comprehensive Curriculum. JPPSS Implementation of Activities in the Classroom Incorporation of activities into lesson plans is critical to the successful implementation of the Louisiana Comprehensive Curriculum. The Comprehensive Curriculum indicates one way to align instruction with Louisiana standards, benchmarks, and grade-level expectations. The curriculum is aligned with state content standards, as defined by grade-level expectations (GLEs), and organized into coherent, time-bound units with sample activities and classroom assessments to guide teaching and learning. The units in the curriculum have been arranged so that the content to be assessed will be taught before the state testing dates. While teachers may substitute equivalent activities and assessments based on the instructional needs, learning styles, and interests of their students, the Comprehensive Curriculum should be a primary resource when planning instruction. Grade level expectations—not the textbook—should determine the content to be taught. Textbooks and other instructional materials should be used as resource in teaching the grade level expectations...
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