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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. What finally happens with Tessie?
(a) She has a heart attack and dies.
(b) She must dodge all the stones.
(c) She has to catch and throw back the stones.
(d) All the villagers stone her to death.

2. What is the tone as the story begins?
(a) Dreary and ominous.
(b) An average day with overcast sky.
(c) Cheerful, bright, and colorful.
(d) Dry like a newspaper article.

3. Why does Tessie try to add her daughter's family to Bill Hutchinson's second drawing?
(a) She is trying to get the whole thing done over.
(b) She wants her daughter to have a chance to win, too.
(c) She feels the need to have all her family with her.
(d) The more people in the drawing, the greater chance she has of not getting the dot.

4. Old man Warner suggests that discontinuing the lottery would be doing what?
(a) Inviting strangers into the village.
(b) Taking the life out of the village.
(c) Shaming the ancestors.
(d) Going back to the Stone Age.

5. Who will participate in the ritual?
(a) All Tessie's friends, neighbors, and family members.
(b) Only the men of the village.
(c) The children only because it is their holiday.
(d) The women because Tessie is a woman.

Short Answer Questions

1. Though they do not remember all the ancient ritual, what do the villagers all remember?

2. Who tells the boys what to do on the morning of the lottery?

3. Who is the last person accounted for before the lottery begins?

4. What does Mrs. Dunbar hold in her hands?

5. How many slips do the Hutchinson's take out of the box?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the first person called for the lists not appear?

2. How does Jackson draw the reader into the spirit of the lottery?

3. What does Mr. Summers do when he calls out his own name?

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

5. What happens as the stoning begins?

6. Why is everything so organized in the village for the lottery?

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

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

9. Who participates in the subsequent activity?

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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