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Life: 1919 --1965 Shirley Jackson was born in San Francisco, U. S.A. She studied at the University of Rochester (1934--36), and Syracuse University (B.A. 1940). Based in North Bennington, Vt., she wrote novels, short stories, and radio and television scripts. Works: She became famous for her haunting fiction after the publication of her disturbing short story, "The Lottery" (1948). She was known for her ability to write humorous domestic works as well as horror novels, such as The Haunting of Hill House (1959).   Read The Lottery Unlocking Passages Total possible=30 points Answer the questions about these quotes taken from the story. Go back to the story if you need more clues. Please write in full sentences with thorough discussion for each. 1. Where do you think "The Lottery" takes place? What purpose do you suppose the writer has in making this setting appear so familiar and ordinary? 2. In paragraphs 2 and 3, what details foreshadow the ending of the story? "The children had stones already, and someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles." 3. What is ironic in this statement? 4. What else did you notice in the story that strikes you as ironical? 5. What particular details lend vividness to the story? Take a close look at Jackson's description of the black wooden box and of the black spot on the fatal slip of paper. 6. From what point of view is the story told? Why does Jackson's choice of this point of view seem effective? 7. What do you understand to be the writer's own attitude toward the lottery and the stoning? Exactly what in the story makes her attitude clear to us? 8. What do you make of Old Man Warner's saying, "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon."? What does this statement have to do with stereotyping? 9. What is the paradox of this story? 10. Consider each of the following interpretations from noted scholars regarding this story. What point or theme do you think Shirley Jackson is trying to convey? (It does not have to be any of these below, but you might consider them.) a) Jackson takes a primitive fertility rite and playfully transfers it to a small town in North America. b) Jackson, writing her story soon after World War II, indirectly expresses her horror at the Holocaust. She assumes that the massacre of the Jews was carried out by unwitting, obedient people, like these villagers. c) Jackson is satirizing our own society, in which men are selected for the army by lottery. d) Jackson is writing a memorable, entertaining story that signifies nothing at all. Due: midnight, 12/3