The Public Reception of the Lottery

Name ______Date______English 10 Activator- “The Lottery”

“The Public Reception of the Lottery”

Shirley Jackson once wrote that “there was a call from one of the magazine editors; they had had a couple of people phone in about my story, he said, and was there anything I particularly wanted him to say if there were any more calls? No, I said, nothing particular; anything he chose to say was perfectly all right with me; it was just a story.” Why do you think Jackson wouldn’t tell what the story was about? Is it just a story about a small town? What do you think Shirley Jackson’s story is about? Explain your answers.

______Name______Date______Summarizer II

When Do We Say Enough?

You just watched video clips that showed the continuing tradition of human brutality and human injustice. Think about how this relates to Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery.”

One of the themes of the story is human beings inability to initiate change or to question traditions or injustices. The attitude of the characters, and many people, is “We’ve always done it this way. Why change now?” or “What does that have to do with me?”

Now, can you think of some traditions that we have which you don’t understand or can you think of some situations in history which were unfair that people fought to change? Explain your answer and then share it with your partner.

______Name______Date______

Summarizer III ENL-10 What Would You Do?

An overweight man is leading a group of people out of a cave on a coast. Unfortunately, the opening to the cave is tiny and the overweight man is stuck, blocking the exit for all the others. He cannot move backwards or proceed through the exit hole. Soon a tidal wave will flood the part of the cave where the group of people is gathered and all will drown, except for the stuck man, whose head is exposed to the outside of the cave. One of the persons in the group has a stick of dynamite with him and proposes to use it to get the others out alive, but unfortunately the man blocking the exit would die. There is no other way to get the man out of the exit hole. What should they do? Sacrifice him, or wait for the tidal wave to come that will inevitably kill the entire group of cave explorers (except for the stuck man)? Explain your answer.

______

Name______Date______Summarizer I ENL-9

The Overcrowded Lifeboat: The Value of Human Life

In 1842, a ship struck an iceberg and more than 30 survivors were crowded into a lifeboat intended to hold 7. As a storm threatened, it became obvious that the lifeboat would have to be lightened if anyone were to survive. The captain reasoned that the right thing to do in this situation was to force some individuals to go over the side and drown. Such an action, he reasoned, was not unjust to those thrown overboard, for they would have drowned anyway. If he did nothing, however, he would be responsible for the deaths of those whom he could have saved. Some people opposed the captain's decision. They claimed that if nothing were done and everyone died as a result, no one would be responsible for these deaths. On the other hand, if the captain attempted to save some, he could do so only by killing others and their deaths would be his responsibility; this would be worse than doing nothing and letting all die. The captain rejected this reasoning. Since the only possibility for rescue required great efforts of rowing, the captain decided that the weakest would have to be sacrificed. In this situation it would be absurd, he thought, to decide by drawing lots who should be thrown overboard. As it turned out, after days of hard rowing, the survivors were rescued and the captain was tried for his action. If you had been on the jury, how would you have decided? Why?

______Name______Date______Activator VI

Listen to Bruce Springsteen’s rendition of “Chimes of Freedom” by Bob Dylan. What are some words that you hear repeatedly? Pick 3 and then brainstorm words that you associate with them. Name______Date______Listening for Meaning 1. The song begins with the narrator(s) hiding from what? Where do they hide? ______2. What are the chimes of freedom being compared to? ______3. What is an allusion (see your notes)? ______4. Who could the “warrior whose strength is not to fight” be? Could this be an allusion to some figures in history during the Civil Rights movement? ______

Word # 1 5. These flashes of the chimes of freedom represent what for the warriors, refugees, and underdog soldiers? ______

6. “An echo of wedding bells before the blowing rain.” What do wedding bells usually represent? If you hear them in the middle of “blowing rain” is that a good sign? ______7. In the second stanza, who are the chimes of freedom tolling for? What do you think the writer means? ______8. “The rain unraveled tales” is an example of what? ______

9. “Electric light still struck like arrows” is an example of what? ______

10. Why did the lightning keep flashing? Who was it searching for? ______11. What do you think Bob Dylan meant by “An' for each un-harmful, gentle soul misplaced inside a jail?” Why would someone be misplaced inside a jail? What Civil Rights leader was put into jail unjustly? ______12. What does starry-eyed mean? ______13. What does spellbound mean? ______14. Why couldn’t the narrator and his companion leave? ______15. What did you think of the song? What did you think it meant? ______16. Consider that this song was written during the Civil Rights movement what could this song be a metaphor about? ______"Chimes of Freedom" By Bob Dylan

Far between sundown's finish an' midnight's broken toll We ducked inside the doorway, thunder crashing As majestic bells of bolts struck shadows in the sounds Seeming to be the chimes of freedom flashing Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight An' for each an' ev'ry underdog soldier in the night An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.

In the city's melted furnace, unexpectedly we watched With faces hidden as the walls were tightening As the echo of the wedding bells before the blowin' rain Dissolved into the bells of the lightning Tolling for the rebel, tolling for the rake Tolling for the luckless, the abandoned an' forsaked Tolling for the outcast, burnin' constantly at stake An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.

Through the mad mystic hammering of the wild ripping hail The sky cracked its poems in naked wonder That the clinging of the church bells blew far into the breeze Leaving only bells of lightning and its thunder Striking for the gentle, striking for the kind Striking for the guardians and protectors of the mind An' the poet an the painter far behind his rightful time An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.

In the wild cathedral evening the rain unraveled tales For the disrobed faceless forms of no position Tolling for the tongues with no place to bring their thoughts All down in taken-for granted situations Tolling for the deaf an' blind, tolling for the mute For the mistreated, mateless mother, the mistitled prostitute For the misdemeanor outlaw, chased an' cheated by pursuit An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.

Even though a cloud's white curtain in a far-off corner flashed An' the hypnotic splattered mist was slowly lifting Electric light still struck like arrows, fired but for the ones Condemned to drift or else be kept from drifting Tolling for the searching ones, on their speechless, seeking trail For the lonesome-hearted lovers with too personal a tale An' for each un-harmful, gentle soul misplaced inside a jail An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.

Starry-eyed an' laughing as I recall when we were caught Trapped by no track of hours for they hanged suspended As we listened one last time an' we watched with one last look Spellbound an' swallowed 'til the tolling ended Tolling for the aching whose wounds cannot be nursed For the countless confused, accused, misused, strung-out ones an' worse An' for every hung-up person in the whole wide universe An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing. Name______Date______

Summarizer VI During the video clip, one of the images that appears is a wall with this written message on it “oppression can only survive through silence.” What does that mean? Do you agree? Explain your answer.

______Who was Woodrow Wilson?

1) What was women’s suffrage? 2) What was the 19th Amendment?

Alice Paul Workhouse- A prison in which limited sentences are served at manual labor. 19th Amendment- prohibited any state from denying anyone the right to vote based on their sex (1920).

Over time, tension between the NWP and NAWSA grows as NAWSA leaders criticize NWP tactics such as direct protesting of a wartime President and picketing directly outside the White House with their Silent Sentinels. Name______Date______Activator V

Who Has the Power?

In “The Lottery,” who had the most power in the village? Do you think this reflected the society that Shirley Jackson (the author) grew up in? Why or why not?

______

Name______Date______Guided Viewing

“Iron Jawed Angels”

Directions: Please answer the following questions as you watch the movie.

1) Does the female prison guard seem to care about the other women? Will she help them? ______

2) Why won’t Alice Paul (Hilary Swank) eat? ______

3) Why do they force feed her? Do you think that they had a right? ______

4) Listen to the lyrics the lyrics that the women are singing. What does this line mean: “can the circles be unbroken?” ______

After the Movie 1) When asked if she blamed President Wilson, Alice Paul replied “it’s the law that treats women badly.” So, who does she blame? ______

2) Old Man Warner said, “We have always had a lottery as far back as I can remember.” Do you think this is what President Wilson and others said about women’s suffrage? Why do you think that they didn’t want women’s suffrage to end? ______

3) Do you think if others had joined Tessie in protesting it would have changed anything? ______Name______Date______English 10R Summarizer V- Teacher’s Copy

Hanging on to Traditions

As we have seen from “The Lottery,” where the village is unwilling to give up its traditions, and with other events in our history, people seem to be reluctant give up outdated traditions and ideas. Why do you think people are unwilling to let go of these traditions or ideas?

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“The Lottery” Creative Projects Select one of the following activities. Your final project will count as one test grade.

Builders Build a black box and fill it with items that are examples of symbols, characters, and other ideas related to the story.

Artists Create a PowerPoint or cartoon flip book that tells the story of “The Lottery” without words—using music, pictures, symbols, etc.

Directors Create a dramatic adaptation to “The Lottery.” You can modernize it or make it reflect a past event, whatever your group decides, BUT it has to relate to the central themes and ideas from “The Lottery.” I will need a copy of your performance.

Journalists Write a newspaper article discussing the events of June 27th. Be sure to include, who, what, where, when, and why in the column.

Game Developers Make a board game (or video game) in which some sort of lottery is involved. Be sure to include the rules, directions, and objectives of the game.

Authors Write a story that reflects either prompt A or B: A) When we look at the lottery, it seems like an evil, barbarous practice from the outside. Choose a practice/tradition that we think is normal but that might seem very strange or even immoral from someone who is not from our society. (Examples might include hazing in fraternities, ignoring homeless people on the streets, bombing other countries i.e. Hiroshima & Nagasaki, death penalty, etc.) Write a story about this practice from the perspective of an outsider who is appalled. B) Think about traditions, practices, celebrations, and situations in the world or in your community that you do not understand. Many cultures have unique traditions that we do not understand. For instance, why do people in India revere cows? We have a whole industry based on butchering these animals? Why do females in the Middle East have to wear Burkas? If you choose this writing prompt, your assignment will be to create a short story from the perspective of a person from that culture and demonstrate why that practice is acceptable and understandable. There are many traditions and actions in this world that we do not understand, which is perfectly normal, but we must try to see the other side.

Name ______Date______Summarizer III

Think about events or situations in history or from today that are examples of a belief, tradition, or ritual that do not make sense to you or seem unjust. Pick 2 and brainstorm what you know about these events and how they relate to “The Lottery.