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

2. What holiday is mentioned in the story that suggests this village is in America?

3. Which man holds the winning paper?

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

5. What is Tessie Hutchinson doing when she realizes Bill has the marked slip?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the men as they assemble for the lottery.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a paper on surprise endings to short stories that are humorous instead of macabre. [If you do not know one, read O'Henry's THE RANSOM OF RED CHIEF for this assignment.]

Essay Topic 2

Write a paper about how children might be affected by the violence of the lottery. What will Davie Hutchinson be like when he is a teenager?

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.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 528 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample