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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 explanation does the late comer give for being late?

2. What is Jackson satirizing by having the children participate so willingly in the stoning?

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

4. Why are the children running around that morning?

5. What is the atmosphere of the village as the lottery gets under way?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is the second citizen of the village and what is his function in the lottery?

2. How do the villagers know that Bill Hutchinson is holding the slip of paper with the black dot?

3. Have there ever been deviations from tradition in the past? What are they?

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

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

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

7. What kind of lists are required for the conduct of the lottery?

8. What excuse does Tessie make for being late?

9. Until she is knocked unconscious, what does Tessie keep trying to do?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Do some research and write a paper that briefly describes cultures that have held human sacrifices. Identify, if possible, their reasons for doing so.

Essay Topic 2

Write a paper where the towns people hold a meeting to decide if they will do away with the lottery. Use the characters from Shirley Jackson's story. Who, besides Old man Warner, will oppose the idea of doing away with it?

Essay Topic 3

Write a paper comparing THE LOTTERY with humiliating and sometimes dangerous club initiations. Discuss such things as humane treatment, anxiety of the initiates, and the moral correctness of the proceedings.

(see the answer keys)

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