Analyze at the end of the story, mrs. delacroix selects a huge stone and urges mrs. dunbar to hurry. explain why this is ironic or unexpected. what important idea is brought out by this instance of irony?

The act/ behavior of Mrs. Delacroix is ironic for she seemed to have more respect and interest in preserving the tradition than her friend's life.

This instance of irony shows that the villagers hold the power of tradition more important than the barbaric tradition of putting someone to death just for a "good harvest".

Explanation:

Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" set in an unnamed village in an unspecified time/year tells of a village's annual ritual of stoning one person to death as a way of 'offering' for a goof harvest. This ritual is barbaric and the people in the village also knows it but they wouldn't change it anyway.

The present year's lot fell on the Hutchinsons, where another lot drew Tessie out as the year's 'winner'. Mrs. Delacroix seemed to be a close friend of Tessie, for we see them standing together and talking while the lottery was about to start. But once the "winner" had been chosen and Tessie "won", Mrs. Delacroix began to take the biggest stone, "so large she had to pick it up with both hands" and urged Mrs. Dunbar to hurry so that she can get back to her house chores. This is ironic, considering she seemed to be close to Tessie just few minutes back. But now, she doesn't seem to have any remorse or pity for her friend.

The ironic or unexpected behavior of Mrs. Delacroix in wanting to get the "ritual" over with, shows not only her but also the whole village's ingrained practice of the annual ritual. They seem to keep more importance on tradition, even if it seemed barbaric, than saving a friend's life. So accustomed are they to the long standing tradition of the "lottery" that they seemed to know nothing better but observe it and be done with.

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what: when quoting a source, use the author’s words verbatim, or word-for-word. this means you shouldn’t change any grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc. put quotations around the words to tell your reader where the quote begins and where it ends.

you also need to acknowledge the author. for example, if using mla format for your research paper, you should have in-text citations with the author’s name and page number listed at the end of each quote.

when: use quotations to provide concrete examples to support your claims. using direct quotations is a great way to build your credibility on the subject. it’s also a good idea to quote your source when the author states things in a powerful way. if you think he or she said it best, then use the exact words to share the ideas.

example: in the short story “a jury of her peers”, mrs. hale compares mrs. wright to her caged bird, saying “she—come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself. real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and—fluttery. how—she—did—change” (glaspell).

paraphrasing

what: paraphrasing differs from quoting because you restate the passage in your own words. since you don’t use the author’s words, you don’t need to use quotation marks. however, you still need to acknowledge the author for his or her ideas.

when paraphrasing a text, you should communicate the full meaning of the text; don’t change the meaning. it can be a condensed version of the text, or it could end up being longer than the source it’s paraphrasing.

when: you use paraphrasing when you take notes, or explain a chart or diagram to someone. paraphrasing highlight the important parts of a larger text. it also allows you to simplify the ideas for your readers.

example:

original: “it was no ordinary thing that called her away–it was probably further from ordinary than anything that had ever happened in dickson county. but what her eye took in was that her kitchen was in no shape for leaving: her bread all ready for mixing, half the flour sifted and half unsifted” (glaspell).

paraphrase: as mrs. hales walks around mrs. wright’s home, she notices that the kitchen is in disarray as if she was in the middle of baking bread (glaspell).