The Lottery Essay Examples - Argumentative Topics for Research Papers

The Lottery: Themes and Motifs

Motif is a recurring concept that has significance in literature. In The Lottery, there are two key motifs that support the concept of how dangerous it is to blindly follow tradition. The first motif, family, is significant to the lottery because it later emphasizes the killing’s cruelty since family members turn against each other so easily. The basic structure and execution of the lottery is created from the family ties that the townspeople have. The story setting is in the […]

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson

The author used third person point of view for this story. She described an un-named village that held a lottery every year. Whoever was picked from the black wooden box, was stoned to death. The position the author had, knew the outcome of the story. Therefore, she did not use perceptive on any of the characters. She gave a lot of information on following tradition, customs, society issues, and barbarism was even practiced in this story. If the story was […]

The Lottery: Plot Overview

In the short story, by Shirley Jackson, The Lottery, is about a small town that gathers everyone together each year for a big drawing. The drawing consists of a list, the head of families and heads of households that were usually the husbands, and if they are not present, the next in line, is the oldest son; Once all the heads of households have pulled, with hopes of their slips of paper are blank, one must come forth to let […]

The Lottery through a Different Lens

If one takes any occurrence and tries to make sense of it, there is always a philosophical theory to rationalize with it. Philosophy is all about different theories used to describe the nature of human thoughts, the nature of the universe and the correlation between the two. Regardless of what time period it is, the generation, or the situation at hand, there is always a logical explanation as to why every event takes place. Humans make decisions about every aspect […]

The Lottery Themes

Shirley Jackson, the author of The Lottery, insinuated many methods and mechanisms of writing into her story to build suspense. Two of those methods were setting and imagery. Jackson set the story during the summer and described the sky as bright and clear. The children were playing, and the adults were chatting. The author also used foreshadowing, an example is when the kids stacked a pile of rocks in the beginning. Word choice also proves to be useful in Jackson’s […]

The Lottery Analysis

Human beings are ruled by traditions and rituals. People tend to follow the same pattern of doing their everyday things, it is a ritual. Every culture has rituals that are followed blindly, it is so ingrained in tradition that people don’t question them. The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson is a story of how the people of a village follow the same ritual every year without questioning it. Jackson’s style of writing The Lottery allows the reader to believe in a […]

The Lottery: Summary

People of a small town come together in the square for the lottery. In other places, the lottery takes a long time, but there are approximately 300 people populated in this town, so the lottery takes only a few hours. Children, who have finished schooling for the summer, go to collect stones. They put the stones in their pockets and make a pile in the square. Men gather next, come next the women. Mr. Summers runs the lottery because he […]

The Lottery: Fictional Story about a very Peculiar Village

The villagers have a lottery yearly in which one individual in the village is chosen to be stoned by the rest of the town including friends, family, and foe. Jackson portrays the lottery as a welcomed practice. Jackson uses a black box, Old Man Warner, and Tessie Hutchinson as a symbolic reference to blind humans following meaningless traditions. In The Lottery there is a black box in which they draw a name out each time the lottery takes place. The […]

“The Lottery” Shirley Jackson (foreshadowing)

In the short story “The lottery” Shirley Jackson establishes a theme of following tradition blindly. This story is basically about the people in town refusing to let go a tradition that was called the lottery and, they would sacrifice somebody from their village every summer to keep the numbers down so there would be enough food. Also, the town was caught up in a tradition that was not in their best interest. The villages would gather together and await for […]

A Character Analysis of Old Man Warner in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”

The personality of Old Man Warner is constructed over the community’s unwillingness to abandon traditions at all costs. Shirley Jackson portrays Old Man Warner as an individual who has traditions instilled in him to a fault. Throughout the story, Old Man Warner is constantly at odds with the younger community members who start questioning the point of such a lottery. Jackson reveals through Old Man Warner’s personality that he is deeply traditional, resistant to change, and is at times illogical […]

The Lottery Vs. the Destructors

The purpose of fiction is to entertain and sometimes educate. Occasionally, one may read a fictional story based around actual events or ideas. The author may write this type of fiction with the purpose to educate the reader. In The Lottery, the purpose of author Shirley Jackson is to place focus on tradition and raise the question of following it. Just because something is done based on tradition, does it necessarily mean it is positive, beneficial, or even safe? This […]

The Lottery and the most Dangerous Game

The lottery and the most dangerous game are stories about killing people in inhumane ways. Both storys have hints that they have done it more then one time like a ritual or tradition. They shor no remorse for the person that is going to die. Also they are set in times that are more modern. Not in times where thinsg like that were more common as. Some think that scaraficing animals or even hunting animals for sport or as a […]

Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” through Psychoanalysis

George Bernard Shaw once said, progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. In Shirley Jackson’s short story The Lottery, a town participates in a lottery that determines the victim of the town’s ritual stoning. Through her portrayal of the town’s residents, Jackson presents the idea that the societal pressures that stem from tradition impede progress when tradition becomes such a force of nature that rebelling against it seems unimaginable. The villagers’ responses […]

What does “The Lottery” Symbolize?

All our lives, we’ve been told stories of far off places and princesses. Stories of heartbreak and superheroes saving cities. Many of these stories have been written to teach us important lessons and morals that many carry with them throughout their whole life. The Lottery, set in a small, isolated town, tells a story where villagers gather to conduct their annual lottery. When Tessie Hutchinson name is drawn it becomes clear what the prize of the lottery really is, a […]

The Lottery Unfair Fate to the One who Draws

A society brainwashed in its traditions. Having lost the ability to recognize the traditions for what they are. The community follows their traditions blindly. Even when the traditions hurt their own citizens. In this paper, I will argue the symbolism of this treacherous event. The event where a marked paper is pulled by a person with an unfair fate. The story is started out like any normal story. We are lead to believe the children are happy and the community […]

The Lottery and Lamb to the Slaughter

What makes a short story different from one another? What makes them similar and, at the same time, well written? These questions may seem unlike. However, the key lies in the factors these short stories share. The quality of a coherent short fiction should have five basic elements, character, setting, conflict, plot and theme. Though there may be other more advanced factors, such as irony, foreshadowing, symbolism, and et cetera that can make them uncommon and more appealing to readers. […]

Controversial Short Story “The Lottery” by Shirly Jackson

Shirly Jackson was an American author whose stories took on horror and mystery. She wrote of her childhood and experiences that included memoirs, short stories and novels. One controversial short story she wrote was published in the New Yorker on June 26, 1948 called The Lottery. It depicted a rural community shackled by tradition with origins that time has erased. Jackson foreshadows the conclusion but confuses and even tricks the reader with characters who lack normal emotion that brings irony […]

My Analysis of “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson

The story begins in a small village location unknown with a population of just over 300 civilians. The people of this town prepare themselves for an annually on June 27th for a Lottery. This is one lottery that will certainly leave you stoned in the end. In what seems to be a typical small town the locals gather together for an annual Lottery. Initially when reading through the first few lines I immediately noticed several grammatical errors and found that […]

Central Idea of “The Lottery”

Most of the time people follow and adhere to tradition mainly because it is expected of them; rather than practicing the tradition because one understands and accepts the concept behind it. ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson, depicts the story of a town which has a yearly custom of holding a lottery wherein they pick one resident of the town to murder. Jackson utilizes irony and symbolism to convey how individuals must not follow rituals without an explanation. Conventions frequently have […]

Symbolism in Shirley Jackson’s the Lottery

A tradition is an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior (tradition) that some continue for generations without realizing the potential detrimental effects. In 1948, Shirley Jackson published a short story titled, The Lottery and this story depicts how a small, civilized town can harbor a very uncivilized tradition. Every year the town gathers in the square to draw a piece of paper that will in turn identify if they have won the lottery. The lottery was […]

Short Story Analysis of “The Lottery”

Tradition is very necessary because it introduce our own culture. It is a strong believe what we would like to maintain and would like to follow in our society. Each and every society would like to follow some of their cultural rituals. According to the short stories, the lottery byShirley Jackson describes in her stories, how rituals affect whole village and can cause of loosing people life. In the stories, villagers believe following rituals is more important than their own […]

Individuality and Community in “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson

“The Lottery” a short story was written by Shirley Jackson, is a fiction story about disorganizing norm. The setting takes place in a small community consisting of about 300 citizens. Each year, head of the family of this community hold a community-wide lottery in which everyone is to participate. Throughout the video, the viewer gets a gutful feeling regarding the residents and their practice each year. Towards the ending of the video both male or female get to know more […]

A Literary Analysis of “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson

The main idea of this story was the lottery, how they decided on who got chosen and what would happen to that person. From this paper I am expecting to fully understand the short story and why the things happened for. I will be researching different websites over the story and stating the reasons on why The Lottery was doing those things. By the end of this paper I hope to accomplish more research and helpful statements to understand the […]

Analysis of Comparing “The Lottery” and “The most Dangerous Game”

Analysis of Comparing “The Lottery” and “The Most Dangerous Game” In comparing and contrasting Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game” at a view they appear to talk about two different subjects. “The Lottery” focuses on tradition, while “The Most Dangerous Game” focuses on hunting. The tradition in the short story “ The Lottery” is a small community that continues to follow their cruel ways , where each person has to draw a slip of paper, […]

Dark Sides of Human Nature in the Lottery

Shirley Jackson was an American writer, who was born in San Francisco,1916. Jackson was acclaimed for many well-known novels and short stories she wrote such as: “”The Lottery, The Haunting of Hill House, We Have Always Lived in the Castles, and Charles. This research is about The Lottery and Charles; two of Jackson’s well-known short stories. The Lottery starts as a seemingly benign annual event in small village on a beautiful day and nice weather, and children are playing very […]

The Side Effects of Casual Indifference a Critical Analysis of Shirley Jackson’s the Lottery

The Lottery In her short story, The Lottery, Shirley Jackson demonstrates the hypocrisy of a person through the development of the character of Tessie Hutchinson. The publication of The Lottery in The New Yorker on June 26, 1948 resulted in many cancelled subscriptions due to its gruesome plot (Franklin par. 1). The short story follows a village of people participating in an annual tradition, the drawing of the lottery, which is later revealed to be a sacrifice to an unknown […]

The Village: the Lottery

Fear is something we can encounter and which we can experience in different ways. In the movie The Village we come across many characters who all live in the woods isolated from the community. Those in the village are not permitted to step out of the woods because they believe they are surrounded by mysterious creatures. Another text I was able to read that is similar to the movie The Village is the text The Lottery. This text demonstrates a […]

The Setting in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”

What is the Importance of the Setting in “The Lottery”? When you think of striking gold in the lottery, you dream that you get lucky and win a tremendous amount of cash! However, The Lottery written by Shirley Jackson (Jackson) surprises the audience with a reverse effect because if you win; the rest of the village will stone you to death. In The Lottery, the author uses symbols to foreshadow and develop the setting that results in an ironic story […]

Criticle Lense, the Crucible and the Lottery

The quote, “In literature as in life, human beings may find themselves in conflict when they live in a society that outwardly seems civilized and yet practices prejudice and injustice within,” means that even when a civilization is viewed as good or peaceful, many people in the society are treated unfairly. This theme is often expressed in works of literature. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller and Shirley Jackson’s, “The Lottery” both show how the quote is true. The Crucible […]

What does the Black Box Symbolize in “The Lottery”

The Black Box In the short story The Lottery the black box represents the longevity of the tradition and death. The tradition of the lottery had been around even before the oldest man in the village was born, even though some feared the box, they did not dare to do anything to it since it was the exact representation of the tradition and that would upset it (Walker 1). This implies that the citizens of this village have been too […]

About The Lottery
Originally published :	June 26, 1948
Author :	Shirley Jackson
Genre(s) :	Short story, Dystopian

Essays on The Lottery