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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why is everyone participating, even the Hutchinson children?
(a) Because they will be jailed if they do not.
(b) Because they are all hypnotized.
(c) Because it is a village activity.
(d) Because they have nothing better to do.

2. What is stressed as important to the lottery all through the story?
(a) That everyone knows how the tradition began.
(b) That everyone does not need to be present.
(c) That family is the least important thing in the village.
(d) That it is a tradition that must be continued.

3. What is Jackson's first element of surprise in the story?
(a) Mr. Summers changing the tradition.
(b) The boys gathering stones.
(c) Tessie being late for the lottery.
(d) Mr. Graves forgetting the stool.

4. Who helps hold the box to keep it steady?
(a) Several of the larger boys.
(b) Mr. Graves and Mr. Summers.
(c) Mr. Martin and his son.
(d) The mayor and the chief of police.

5. Is Mr. Summers exempt from the lottery?
(a) Yes. But he makes a pretense of drawing anyway.
(b) Yes. Otherwise they would have to get a new administrator every year.
(c) No. But he is the only one allowed to look into the box while drawing.
(d) No. He calls out his own name, too.

Short Answer Questions

1. How do most of the villagers appear to regard the lottery?

2. Where does Mrs. Hutchinson locate her husband and children?

3. What is revealing about the social order of the village?

4. What is Jackson saying about tradition.

5. How do they list the villagers before the lottery begins?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why have they made the switch to paper slips this year?

2. Why is the lottery held later in the morning in this particular village?

3. Eventually, how do the people assemble as they wait for the lottery?

4. What are the heads of families instructed to do with their slips of paper?

5. What does Mrs. Delacroix do to participate in the stoning?

6. How does the Martin family make the scene appear like a gathering of everyday families?

7. What happens as the stoning begins?

8. What formality occurs before the lottery is officially open?

9. In place of the salute, what is required now of the lottery official?

10. At what point in the story does Jackson raise the question of what's going on with her readers?

(see the answer keys)

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