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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How do they assemble when it is time to begin the ceremony?

2. What does Mr. Graves carry onto the village square?

3. What serious formality occurs before the lottery begins?

4. What happens to Tessie first?

5. What are some villages rumored to be doing with their lottery?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Mr. Summers always in charge of the lottery every year?

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

3. What does Mr. Graves do at the Hutchinson family drawing?

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

5. What happens as the stoning begins?

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

7. What is Jackson saying about children in this story?

8. Where are the women and what are they doing?

9. What time of the year is the lottery being held?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a paper comparing THE LOTTERY with the infamous Salem witch trials. What is the common psychological thread that runs through the people of the village and the citizens of Salem intent on removing witches?

Essay Topic 2

Write two or three paragraphs in which you discuss whether Tessie Hutchinson had a premonition that she would draw the black spot. Decide if you think Shirley Jackson had that idea in mind as she wrote THE LOTTERY.

Essay Topic 3

Write a paper on what you believe Shirley Jackson is satirizing in THE LOTTERY. Explain whether you think there is a religious undertone to the story.

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