Reader Response the Lottery - 700 Words

Reader Response #2: The Lottery â€Å"The Lottery† is a short story written by Shirley Jackson and published in 1948. The title of the story initially leads readers to believe the story is going to be about someone winning some kind of prize. Even the opening of the story seems to protest any foul play or cruel behavior. What the reader is introduced to is a seemingly friendly gathering of a small village community, members all gathered around anxiously awaiting their drawing for the lottery. The village members all chatter amongst one another in a tone that kind neighbors would take with one another. To the surprise of the reader, the story provides a shocking twist. The story is not about someone winning a prize. Instead the story reveals†¦show more content†¦She certainly succeeded in shocking her audiences with the unforeseeable twist that arose at the end of the story. I did not expect the ending that I read. Even when I realized that the woman of the family who drew the winning ticket was arguing against the winnings, I had not ever thought that perhaps someone would die as a result. The fact that children were also allowed to participate in the drawing is what really made my stomach churn. Jackson certainly provided a detailed enough picture in such a few short pages to pull a physical reaction from me. I cannot rightfully say that the story was a good one, but it definitely was brilliant. It still amazes me that an author can write so descriptively and so intelligently that he or she can pull physical, mental, and emotional reactions from the person reading the story. In this case, I had several reactions to the story. Not only did I feel disgusted at how the community members were so eager to stone the woman to death, I also felt a mind-numbing sensation at the fact that such violence and cruelty closely mirrors our own modern society without the archaic practices. As a modern society, we cut down the individual members of society in ne w ways. While we may not string them up to hang them, we do string them up publicly for the purpose of cruelty and humiliation. Just look at cyberbullying or massShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Book The Lottery 961 Words   |  4 Pagesname. Why has Jackson left out these seemingly significant details? The time and place in The Lottery are purposely dubious as a result of the focuses Jackson wished to make. Anyplace, at whatever time, individuals can be convinced to be supporters, to indiscriminately hold fast to custom, and to make substitutes. Notice that in the story, is the setting ambiguous, as well as the purpose behind the lottery is misty. Individuals in the town don t know why they are doing what they are doing, thus theyRead MoreInstitutionalized Ritual in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson1625 Words   |  6 PagesShirley Jackson’s The Lottery, is a terrifying, tension filled masterpiece of an ancient human practice set present day America, 1948. Jackson’s dark, short story is about a rural farming village on the east coast, who, like other villages around them, conduct a yearly â€Å"lottery.† It begins in the town square in the month of June, where the schoolchildren are gathering stones while awaiting the arrival of their respective families. When th e lottery is formally started, roll call is initiated followedRead MoreTone is The Foundation for â€Å"The Lottery†800 Words   |  4 PagesTone is The Foundation for â€Å"The Lottery† In literature, tone is often described as the attitude of the story. It is the method used by the author to add personality or emotion. Without tone, even the best-rounded characters can easily come across as flat. Tone is not simply style, diction, or setting, but instead is the tool that holds all of these pieces together. In, â€Å"The Lottery†, author Shirley Jackson’s use of tone not only leads the reader down a familiar easy path to follow, but also setsRead MoreSimilarities Between The Lottery And The Story Of The Hour1337 Words   |  6 PagesThe Lottery by Shirley Jackson, and The Story of the Hour by Kate Chopin, both have resemblances and appears differently in relation to the elements of writing. Especially, when the authors use foreshadowing to control the demeanors of the stories and add irony to intentionally lie to the reader. Both stories have comparable qualities and stands out from respects to their parts of the story, especially the writers usage o f irony and mood. Irony is the major theme in â€Å"The Lottery†. This storyRead MoreThe Possibility Of Evil, And The Lottery, By Shirley Jackson1102 Words   |  5 Pagesstories the author composes a compelling plot, with an ending that in someway either teaches the main character a lesson, or the reader themselves. Jackson acts as a master of literary devices, as she navigates the reader through intense scenes that evoke an emotional response to the experiences of the main character. In the short stories, â€Å"The Possibility of Evil† and â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson, she used the same three literary devices to grasp the reader’s attention from beginning to end. In â€Å"TheRead MoreThe Lottery By Shirley Jackson854 Words   |  4 Pages Shirley Jackson’s â€Å"The Lottery† is a story about a ritualistic ceremony performed by a village every year around June 26. The meaning of conformity is to do something because everyone else is doing it and this story is conformity at it’s best. The townspeople continue this event year after year simply because it has always been done and because they believe they will have bad crops if it is not done. At the beginning of the story, the reader is led to believe it is a normal sunny day. ChildrenRead MoreThe Lottery : Symbolism And Symbolism973 Words   |  4 PagesAfter reading The Lottery you might think about what you are actually winning in a lottery type setting. In the story which is enriched with irony and symbolism. As a reader interpreting the uses of each of these is crucial on discovering the full story. The shabby black box represents both the tradition of the lottery and the illogic of the villagers’ loyalty to it. The black box is nearly falling apart, hardly even black anymore after years of use and storage, but the villagers are unwillingRead MoreDeliberate Authorial Choices By Shirley Jackson1668 Words   |  7 Pagesgetting the readers attention in a said literary work. Authors spend their whole career developing techniques to create a style that is their own. Shirley Jackson shows the reader her talent in writing a pessimistic short story that she is most famous for. Her famous short story â€Å"The Lottery† is one to keep the reader interested not only in the content but in the way she presents it and the emotional toll that it has on the readers. The story follows a town which partakes in a ritualistic lottery. EachRead MoreThe Lottery, By Shirley Jackson Essay1117 Words   |  5 PagesIn Shirley Jackson’s â€Å"The Lottery†, the small village, at first, seems to be lovely, full of tradition, with the townspeople fulfilling their civic duties, but instead this story is bursting with contrast. The expectations that the reader has are increasingly altered. The title of this short story raises hope, for in our society the term â€Å"lottery† typically is associated with winning money or other perceived â€Å"good† things. Most people associate winning a lottery with luck, yet Jackson twists thisRead More Foreshadowing in Shirley Jacksons The Lottery Essays1152 Words   |  5 PagesForeshadowing in Shirley Jacksons The Lottery      Ã‚  Ã‚   The Lottery, a short story written by Shirley Jackson, is a tale about a disturbing social practice.   The setting takes place in a small village consisting of about three hundred denizens.   On June twenty-seventh of every year, the members of this traditional community hold a village-wide lottery in which everyone is expected to participate.   Throughout the story, the reader gets an odd feeling regarding the residents and their annual practice