1. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
Setting:
The story takes place in a small village (300 people.)
It is June 27th.
The village is never named nor do we have an idea what part of the country it is.
What mood or atmosphere does Jackson create in the first few paragraphs of the story? Provide textual evidence.
What do the names Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves imply?

2. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
How to find a symbol:
Authors either repeat objects that are symbols or take the time to describe them in great detail.
What does the black box symbolize?
Tradition
Ironically, what parts of the lottery have been changed over the years?
Chips of wood
A chant
A salute

3. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
Simple plot: A lottery is held in an unknown small village every year. Ultimately, the winner of the lottery is stoned to death.
The big question is why must a random person be put to death every year?
What is Jackson implying?
She is pointing some flaw(s) in society.

4. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
Society’s need to find a scapegoat.
A scapegoat is a person or a group of people who are made to bear blame for others.
The idea of a scapegoat has its roots is Judaism, where a goat was set free on Yom Kippur. The goat was believed to carry the sins of all people away.
Why does society have a need to find a scapegoat?
It’s easier to blame a person or a group of people rather than examine the entire situation.

5. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
1986 World Series
Boston is up, 3-2, by a score of 5-3 in the bottom of the 10th.
3 straight singles make the score 5-4
A wild pitch makes it 5-5.
Buckner’s error makes it 6-5.
Mets win game 7 and the World Series.

6. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
Other than SPORTS figures, can you think of any scapegoats in today’s society?
Remember, it does NOT have to be a single person. It can be a group of people.
Example:
Donald Trump has made illegal immigrants the scapegoats of American society. He has blamed them for crimes and for unemployment amongst American citizens.

7. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
Your term paper will be due Monday, December 12th.
Again, it will be a 5 paragraph essay (An introduction, 3 body paragraphs, and a conclusion) that is to be TYPED using MLA format only.
Your topic will be twofold, like the previous term paper.
You will be asked to analyze Jackson’s use of literary elements (Symbolism, Irony, Foreshadowing, Juxtaposition) in the first TWO body paragraphs.
In your 3rd body paragraph, you will be asked to show how Jackson’s short story is still applicable in today’s society.
You will have to do a little bit of research for your third body paragraph.

8. Example of Body Paragraph 3
The idea of society finding a scapegoat to some of its problems is still extremely prevalent today. Teachers are often made the scapegoats for the U.S.’ spiraling performance in education. The U.S. ranks 17th in educational performance ( Further, as of 2015, 24% of 12th graders in the U.S. were recorded as having a reading level that was “below basic” ( Clearly, these facts and figures suggest that there is more to this problem than teachers simply not doing their job. Studies show that the U.S. ranks 8th in money spent on education, and 28th in students who are in pre-primary education ( Perhaps if the U.S. spend more funds on education, our literacy proficiency and world ranking would increase.

9. “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson
Do Now:
Brainstorm at LEAST 5 people or groups of people who are made to be scapegoats in our society.
List them.
For homework, pick ONE scapegoat in today’s society.
Be sure to identify EXACTLY what the scapegoat is being blamed for. (Research at least one fact or figure that backs up this blame.)
Then research at least one fact or figure that proves that blaming your scapegoat is wrong.

10. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
Other possible central ideas:
Society as a whole conforms to certain conventions or traditions without questioning or standing up against them. Society may follow these conventions or traditions out of fear or complacency.
Can you think of any conventions or traditions that our society as a whole still follows out of fear or complacency? Try to come up with 3.
Civilized society still finds means in which it can exhibit its cruel, inhumane, and often violent nature.
Can you think of 3 acceptable ways that society finds to exhibit the darker side of humanity?

11. “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson
Literary Techniques:
Irony – a state of affairs or an event that seems completely contradictory to what is expected.
Find an example of irony in the first paragraph. Underline it or highlight it. Annotate it with the word, “irony.”
“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.”
Why is the first sentence of the story ironic?
The reader expects a pleasant outcome of the lottery.

12. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
Find an example of irony in the 4th paragraph.
Be sure to give context or introduce the quote first.
Be sure to use quotes properly.
Be sure to analyze the quote.
Example:
As the story opens, Jackson writes, “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 begins her story by creating a jovial atmosphere. Summer has just begun, and she vividly describes the growth of the flowers and grass, which suggests life. Ironically, “the morning of June 27th” will be a violent day for the entire village which will end in a gruesome display of public execution.

13. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
Hopefully, the example you found was the characterization of Mr. Summers.
Hopefully you analyzed it in terms that such a “jovial” man with such as name (Mr. Summers), is given the dark duty of running the lottery.
Find one more example of irony. Analyze it.

14. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
Foreshadowing – a literary device in which an author gives hints of future events.
Classwork:
Find examples of foreshadowing in the following paragraphs. Be sure to indicate what your example precisely foreshadows. Be sure to underline your examples and annotate them as well:
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 16

17. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
You should pick a central idea you are going to argue:
Scapegoat
Tradition
The nature of humanity

18. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
Juxtaposition – a literary technique in which the author places two things close together with the effect of contrast.
The children assembled first, of course. School was recently over for the summer, and the feeling of liberty sat uneasily on most of them; they tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play, and their talk was still of the classroom and the teacher, of books and reprimands. Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones; Bobby and Harry Jones and Dickie Delacroix– the villagers pronounced this name "Dellacroy"--eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against the raids of the other boys. The girls stood aside, talking among themselves, looking over their shoulders at rolled in the dust or clung to the hands of their older brothers or sisters.

19. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
There was a great deal of fussing to be done before Mr. Summers declared the lottery open. There were the lists to make up of heads of families, heads of households in each family, members of each household in each family. There was the proper swearing-in of Mr. Summers by the postmaster, as the official of the lottery; at one time, some people remembered, there had been a recital of some sort, performed by the official of the lottery, a perfunctory. tuneless chant that had been rattled off duly each year; some people believed that the official of the lottery used to stand just so when he said or sang it, others believed that he was supposed to walk among the people, but years and years ago this part of the ritual had been allowed to lapse. There had been, also, a ritual salute, which the official of the lottery had to use in addressing each person who came up to draw from the box, but this also had changed with time, until now it was felt necessary only for the official to speak to each person approaching. Mr. Summers was very good at all this; in his clean white shirt and blue jeans. with one hand resting carelessly on the black box. he seemed very proper and important as he talked interminably to Mr. Graves and the Martins.

20. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
Mr. Graves opened the slip of paper and there was a general sigh through the crowd as he held it up and everyone could see that it was blank. Nancy and Bill. Jr. opened theirs at the same time and both beamed and laughed, turning around to the crowd and holding their slips of paper above their heads.

21. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
Symbol – an object that represents a larger idea
The Black Box:
The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born. Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box. There was a story that the present box had been made with some pieces of the box that had preceded it, the one that had been constructed when the first people settled down to make a village here. Every year, after the lottery, Mr. Summers began talking again about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything's being done. The black box grew shabbier each year: by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained.

22. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
Symbols – the stones
The children assembled first, of course. School was recently over for the summer, and the feeling of liberty sat uneasily on most of them; they tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play, and their talk was still of the classroom and the teacher, of books and reprimands. Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones; Bobby and Harry Jones and Dickie Delacroix – the villagers pronounced this name "Dellacroy"-eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against the raids of the other boys. The girls stood aside, talking among themselves, looking over their shoulders at rolled in the dust or clung to the hands of their older brothers or sisters.

23. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones. The pile of stones the boys had made earlier was ready; there were stones on the ground with the blowing scraps of paper that had come out of the box. Delacroix selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands and turned to Mrs. Dunbar. "Come on," she said. "Hurry up."

24. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her. "It isn't fair," she said. A stone hit her on the side of the head. Old Man Warner was saying, "Come on, come on, everyone." Steve Adams was in the front of the crowd of villagers, with Mrs. Graves beside him.

25. Introduction Write an introduction to your term papers. Guidelines:
Write a 2-3 sentence plot summary. (Your audience is everyone. This means you must assume most people have NOT read the story.)
Be sure to include title and author.
End your introduction with your central idea.

26. Sample Introduction
“The Lottery” is a short story written by Shirley Jackson that follows a village of 300 people that conducts a lottery every year on June 27th. The lottery has a very darker reward: the winner gets brutally stoned to death by the rest of the village. Unfortunately, in this story, the character Tessie Hutchinson is this year’s winner and is sacrificed. The central idea Jackson gets across in her story is the nature of humanity and how society justifies extreme violence.

27. Body Paragraphs 1 & 2
Body Paragraphs 1 and 2 Should Answer the Following Question:
How does Jackson develop her central idea? (Irony, Symbolism, Juxtaposition, Foreshadowing)
Guidelines:
Start off with a clear topic sentence.
Be sure to move to your textual evidence efficiently.
Use quotes properly.
Give CONTEXT to your quotes.
Keep your quotes short.
Analyze your textual evidence (THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR ESSAY).
Be sure to use your textual evidence in CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER (Beginning, Middle, and End).
Remember, you have TWO body paragraphs to answer how Jackson develops her central idea, so use 3 examples per body paragraph. That is a total of 6 examples! Be sure, once again, that your examples are in chronological order.
The following slide is an example of how to follow these guidelines. However, it is incomplete because it has only 2 examples. Remember, you need THREE examples per body paragraph.

28. Body Sample with 2 Examples
As the story opens, Jackson writes, “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 begins her story by creating a happy atmosphere. Summer has just begun, and she vividly describes the growth of the flowers and grass, which suggests life. Ironically, “the morning of June 27th” will be a violent day for the entire village because it will end in a gruesome display of public execution. When the crowd gathers for the lottery, Jackson describes Mr. Summers, who is the official of the lottery, as “a round-faced jovial man.” Mr. Summers’ name suggests that he is indeed a cheerful person, yet he is the one who conducts the deadly lottery. This juxtaposition reinforces the idea of how civilized society is capable of performing brutal acts of violence.

29. Body Paragraph 3
Your 3rd body paragraph should address the following question:
How does Jackson’s short story apply to today’s world/society?
Remember, you will have to present some research in this body.

30. Example of Body Paragraph 3
The idea of society finding a scapegoat to some of its problems is still extremely prevalent today. Teachers are often made the scapegoats for the U.S.’ spiraling performance in education. The U.S. ranks 17th in educational performance ( Further, as of 2015, 24% of 12th graders in the U.S. were recorded as having a reading level that was “below basic” ( Clearly, these facts and figures suggest that there is more to this problem than teachers simply not doing their job. Studies show that the U.S. ranks 8th in money spent on education, and 28th in students who are in pre-primary education ( Perhaps if the U.S. spend more funds on education, our literacy proficiency and world ranking would increase.