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

2. Where is Tessie by the time everyone has their stones?

3. Why are the children running around that morning?

4. What are the women doing before the lottery?

5. In the story, what idea does Shirley Jackson carefully avoid?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is different about this year's lottery?

2. After Mrs. Dunbar has spoken up, what does Mr. Summers ask about the Watsons?

3. According to the rules of the lottery, how long does the stoning go on?

4. What do the villagers begin to do at that point?

5. How is the black spot finally revealed?

6. As Tessie continues to voice her objections, what does her husband do?

7. What do the boys do to prepare for the lottery.

8. What are some other town functions that Mr. Summers presides over?

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

10. How are people dressed for this annual event?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a paper on how well written short stories hold the interest of the reader including the fact that they can be read in one sitting.

Essay Topic 2

Write a paper in which you are one of the villagers at the lottery. Describe your feelings as the lottery takes place. How do you feel when it is not you but Bill Hutchinson who draws the black spot? Carry this on through picking up a rock and throwing it at Tessie.

Essay Topic 3

Write two or three paragraphs about how a tradition was defeated in the USA. [For example, you might write about Women's Suffrage and how they got the right to vote.]

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