COMMENTS

  1. "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson

    The Lottery, a 1948 short story by Shirley Jackson, developed the themes of adherence to meaningless traditions, parenting and scapegoating.The broad aftermath and the negative responses of the readers who did not see the line between fiction and reality prove that the plot of the short story The Lottery by Jackson reflects the real problems of the modern community.

  2. A Summary and Analysis of Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery'

    By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) 'The Lottery' is the best-known story of the American writer Shirley Jackson. Published in the New Yorker in 1948 and collected in The Lottery and Other Stories, the story is about a village where an annual lottery is drawn.However, the fate of the person who draws the 'winning' slip is only revealed at the end of the story in a dark twist.

  3. The Lottery Summary & Analysis

    Analysis. The morning of June 27th is a sunny, summer day with blooming flowers and green grass. In an unnamed village, the inhabitants gather in the town square at ten o'clock for an event called "the lottery.". In other towns there are so many people that the lottery must be conducted over two days, but in this village there are only ...

  4. Analysis of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    As were many of Shirley Jackson's stories, "The Lottery" was first published in the New Yorker and, subsequently, as the title story of The Lottery: or, The Adventures of James Harris in 1949. It may well be the world's most frequently anthologized short story. A modern horror story, it derives its effect from a reversal of….

  5. The Lottery Jackson, Shirley

    SOURCE: "Shirley Jackson, 'The Lottery': Comment," in Modern Short Stories: A Critical Anthology, edited by Robert B. Heilman, Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich, 1950, pp. 384-85. [Heilman is an English ...

  6. "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson: A Critical Analysis

    Literary Devices in "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson. Allusion: The names of some of the characters in the story have symbolic significance, such as Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves, which allude to the nature of the event they oversee.; Hyperbole: Jackson uses hyperbole to emphasize the villagers' excitement about the lottery, describing it as "the one day of the year that was desirable."

  7. PDF by Shirley Jackson

    The Lottery--Shirley Jackson "The Lottery" (1948) by Shirley Jackson The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers ... box steady on the stool while Mr. Summers stirred up the papers inside it. The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting ...

  8. Literary Analysis: "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson

    The short story "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson discusses several issues affecting people in modern society. The story examines a small village of about three hundred people who gather in a town to participate in a lottery exercise — of being sacrificed to bring good to the community. Residents in some towns already abandoned this ...

  9. Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery": a Rhetorical Analysis

    Published: Dec 3, 2020. 'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson is an account of an irregular town trapped in a snare of continually following custom, in any event, when it isn't to their greatest advantage. Jackson utilizes images all through the story that identify with the general topic.

  10. Analysis of 'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson

    Analysis of 'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson. Taking Tradition to Task. When Shirley Jackson's chilling story "The Lottery" was first published in 1948 in The New Yorker, it generated more letters than any work of fiction the magazine had ever published. Readers were furious, disgusted, occasionally curious, and almost uniformly bewildered.

  11. "The Lottery," by Shirley Jackson

    The Lottery. By Shirley Jackson. June 18, 1948. Photograph by Garrett Grove. Listen to this story. Audio: The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day ...

  12. Analysis and Themes of "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson

    Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" is one of the most famous short stories ever. It's a perfect candidate for anthologies, having a manageable length of about 3,400 words, and a shocking twist ending. It's told by a third-person objective narrator. "The Lottery" Summary. It's June 27th in the village, at about 10 AM.

  13. Shirley Jackson's The Lottery: Essay Topics & Samples

    The Lottery as an example. In this analysis essay on The Lottery, you are asked to elaborate on the central theme of the story. Shirley Jackson shows tradition to be so strong and powerful in this society that the rational mind can't even bring others to reason. Social classes in The Lottery.

  14. Essay on The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson

    Decent Essays. 1490 Words. 6 Pages. Open Document. Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" is a story littered with warnings and subtext about the dangers a submissive society can pose. While the opening is deceptively cheery and light Jackson uses an array of symbols and ominous syntax to help create the apprehensive and grim tone the story ends ...

  15. The Lottery Themes

    Jackson's "The Lottery" was published in the years following World War II, when the world was presented with the full truth about Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. In creating the dystopian society of her story, Jackson was clearly responding to the fact that "dystopia" is not only something of the imagination—it can exist in the real ...

  16. The Lottery

    Publication date. June 26, 1948. " The Lottery " is a short story by Shirley Jackson that was first published in The New Yorker on June 26, 1948. [a] The story describes a fictional small American community that observes an annual tradition known as "the lottery", which is intended to ensure a good harvest and purge the town of bad omens.

  17. "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson: [Essay Example], 1133 words

    Published: Sep 19, 2019. In the short story, The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, the most prominent literary concept exemplified is imagery, which is the use of visually descriptive and symbolic language. When imagery is used correctly, it allows the reader to paint a vivid picture of the literary work. It also captures the reader's subconscious ...

  18. Opinion

    Guest Essay. 75 Years Ago, 'The Lottery' Went Viral. ... Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery," which first appeared in The New Yorker in the issue of June 26, 1948, is now so ...