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?