Reading and discussion questions on shirley jackson's "the lottery"
directions:
respond to each question with at least 3-4 academic sentences, meaning complete, grammatically correct and thoughtful responses to the questions. be sure to address the word/term in bold in the question. if you are unsure of the bolded word/term’s definition, use the resources around you to define it (merriam webster definition search, the “goldfish” story 1-pager, ask a friend, etc.)
1. were you surprised by the ending of the story? if not, at what point did you know what was going to happen?
2. how does jackson foreshadow the ending? conversely, how does jackson lull us into thinking that this is just an ordinary story with an ordinary town?
3. in what way does the setting affect the story? does it make you more or less likely to anticipate the ending?
4. in what ways are the characters differentiated from one another? looking back at the story, can you see why tessie hutchinson is singled out as a "winner"?
5. are there any symbols in the story? why is the "black box" battered, for example?
6. describe the point of view of the story. how does the point of view affect what we know about the situation? how does it preserve the story's suspense?

Ineed . read this textbook passage. select the five (5) statements which are most logically supported by the given information. what would you do if you won ten million dollars in a lottery? your first reaction might be, “i’d spend the rest of my life on the beach (or skiing or traveling).” but in all likelihood you, like most other people who receive financial windfalls, would seek some kind of work eventually. a variety of motives keeps people working, even when they don’t need a paycheck to survive. if you’ve ever worked as a volunteer, you know that someone can be more satisfying than receiving pay. work also provides a sense of identity. one man aged 81 said, “i’ve been in the fabric business since i was a kid, and i still get a kick out of it." studies suggest that rats, pigeons, and children sometimes work to gain rewards, even if they can get the same rewards without working. one researcher wrote the following on the subject: rats will run down an alley tripping over hundreds of food pellets to obtain a single, identical pellet in the goal box, . . and pigeons will peck a key . . to get exactly the same food that is freely available in a nearby cup. given the choice of receiving marbles merely by waiting a certain amount of time for their delivery, children tend to prefer to press a lever . . to get the same marbles. 1. serving a purpose is satisfying. 2. it is not so lucky to win a large amount of money in a lottery. 3. endless “vacationing” eventually becomes dissatisfying. 4. the pay we receive is unimportant. 5. most people try to work as little as possible. 6. people, rats, and pigeons enjoy the challenges and interaction that work offers. 7. it generally feels better to achieve something than to be given something. 8. people who don’t retire continue to work only because they need the money. 9. most people who work as volunteers resent the fact that they are not paid for their work. 10. work can be its own reward.