On the Imagination Frontier
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Narratives
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
By the Waters of Babylon
A Wrinkle in Time
The Hunger Games
Beauty and the Beast
Anne of Green Gables
The Tell-Tale Heart
The Rule of Names
Cinderella
The Lottery
Snow-White
Rumpelstiltskin
Hansel and Gretel
Dracula's Guest
Once Upon a Time
The Hobbit
Alladin and the Wonderful Lamp
The Storyteller
Bridge to Terabithia
Research
Narratives
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
By the Waters of Babylon
A Wrinkle in Time
The Hunger Games
Beauty and the Beast
Anne of Green Gables
The Tell-Tale Heart
The Rule of Names
Cinderella
The Lottery
Snow-White
Rumpelstiltskin
Hansel and Gretel
Dracula's Guest
Once Upon a Time
The Hobbit
Alladin and the Wonderful Lamp
The Storyteller
Bridge to Terabithia
The Lottery
The Lottery opens up in an ordinary scene -- Anytown, TX. This could occurr in most any downtown area -- even Lubbock or Plainview. It's the beginning of summer; the grass is green. School is out for the summer; kids are just hanging out. The boys are gathering stones, which is an important detail.
The men talk about taxes and tractors -- modern 20th century. The women are talking amongst themselves. Everyone has gathered for the lottery. Everything seems normal -- expected.
Mr. Graves -- symbolic of death -- and Mr. Summers -- good-natured, "sunny" disposition -- bring out the black box -- notice the box is black. Black, many times, is symbolic of death or evil.
The story goes into the history of the lottery, of the black box, etc.
Then Mr. Graves begins the lottery. Everybody knows what he is going to say -- especially Old Man Warner. He's done this about 70 times. He is proud of that fact.
Tessie joins the group. Notice that no one else is singled out. She seems happy -- she clean forgot what day it was -- she comes a-runnin'!
The lottery begins with each head of household, who take a slip of paper from the black box. This is a patriarchal system. Notice, too, that the lottery includes everyone -- from Allen to Zanini -- A to Z.
Bill Hutchinson drew the black dot. His family is the "chosen" one. Each family member takes a slip of paper -- including little Davy.
During this whole situation, Tessie is complaining about how unfair it is. She makes a really big deal about -- she also draw a lot of attention to herself.
Guess who will get the black dot?
Tessie becomes the "chosen." Notice how Mr. Graves responds -- Let's get this over with so we can get back to work! He seems rather careless about it.
Everybody grabs some stones -- including little Davy. Everybody seems "excited" about this event. They can't wait!
" ... then they were upon her."
What happens to Tessie? How do we know?
So ... what is The Lottery? What makes this story so memorable while it has such a horrbile ending?
What was the expectation?
The Lottery opens up in an ordinary scene -- Anytown, TX. This could occurr in most any downtown area -- even Lubbock or Plainview. It's the beginning of summer; the grass is green. School is out for the summer; kids are just hanging out. The boys are gathering stones, which is an important detail.
The men talk about taxes and tractors -- modern 20th century. The women are talking amongst themselves. Everyone has gathered for the lottery. Everything seems normal -- expected.
Mr. Graves -- symbolic of death -- and Mr. Summers -- good-natured, "sunny" disposition -- bring out the black box -- notice the box is black. Black, many times, is symbolic of death or evil.
The story goes into the history of the lottery, of the black box, etc.
Then Mr. Graves begins the lottery. Everybody knows what he is going to say -- especially Old Man Warner. He's done this about 70 times. He is proud of that fact.
Tessie joins the group. Notice that no one else is singled out. She seems happy -- she clean forgot what day it was -- she comes a-runnin'!
The lottery begins with each head of household, who take a slip of paper from the black box. This is a patriarchal system. Notice, too, that the lottery includes everyone -- from Allen to Zanini -- A to Z.
Bill Hutchinson drew the black dot. His family is the "chosen" one. Each family member takes a slip of paper -- including little Davy.
During this whole situation, Tessie is complaining about how unfair it is. She makes a really big deal about -- she also draw a lot of attention to herself.
Guess who will get the black dot?
Tessie becomes the "chosen." Notice how Mr. Graves responds -- Let's get this over with so we can get back to work! He seems rather careless about it.
Everybody grabs some stones -- including little Davy. Everybody seems "excited" about this event. They can't wait!
" ... then they were upon her."
What happens to Tessie? How do we know?
So ... what is The Lottery? What makes this story so memorable while it has such a horrbile ending?
What was the expectation?
