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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. Who is to draw for the Watson family?
(a) Mr. Summers.
(b) Mrs. Watson.
(c) Mr. Watson's brother.
(d) The tall Watson boy.

2. What does Tessie try to do before Bill draws for the family?
(a) Include her daughter's family in the drawing.
(b) Find her three children to stand with their father.
(c) Stand where the newspaper photographer can get her photo.
(d) Run home to change clothes.

3. What is in the black box?
(a) Beans.
(b) Wood chips.
(c) Slips of paper.
(d) Stones.

4. In general, what type of village is the setting of the story?
(a) A manufacturing village.
(b) A farming village.
(c) A mining village.
(d) A retirement village.

5. When is the lottery held each year?
(a) At Thanksgiving.
(b) During the full moon.
(c) At the beginning of spring.
(d) Before the corn harvest.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the village look like on the morning of the lottery?

2. What type of story is THE LOTTERY?

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

4. Who gets to go first in the second drawing?

5. How does Jackson suggest that tradition may be questioned?

Short Essay Questions

1. What request do Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves make of the villagers and who volunteers?

2. Who is called after Mrs. Dunbar, showing that no one is left out of the lottery?

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

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

5. What does Tessie Hutchinson do when she realizes that Bill has the paper?

6. Whose name was the first to be called up for the lottery?

7. How is the black spot finally revealed?

8. In naming the holidays observed by the village, how does Jackson hint at the macabre nature of the lottery?

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

10. Mostly the townspeople seem to look forward to the lottery. What comment is Jackson making on human nature at this point?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 630 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample