Essays On Books

Interview with Shirley Jackson I still remember the day we were assigned to do a research paper on a piece of literature we had read in my English 198 class. The story I chose to write my paper on was “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, it was one of my favorites. Luckily for me Mrs. […]

What thoughts come to mind when you think of “The Lottery? ” Positive thoughts including money, a new home, excitement, and happiness are all associated with the lottery in most cases. However, this is not the case in Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery”. Here, the characters in the story are not gambling for money, […]

Symbolism in “The Lottery” The definition of the word lottery is a process or happening that is or seems to be determined by chance. In the story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the author takes this to an extreme level. She uses various symbols to portray this grim story. By using symbols such as the […]

question “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day;the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green.” Descriptive language is being used here to help create a mental image that appeals to our senses of vision, feeling, and smell. The following excerpt is an […]

Change can be seen as costive or negative, but those who are set in their own ways can tend to resist change even when it is needed most. In the two short stories “The Possibility of Evil” and “The Lottery’, both written by Shirley Jackson, there are strong rationalizations as to why change should take […]

“The Bedford Reader” offers brilliant collection of insightful, well-developed and thoughtful essays devoted to political, social and cultural issues, but the most appealing for me are the themes of social inequality, hypocrisy, women oppression and subordination presented in the horrific short-story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. The story emerged in 1948 and raised much controversy […]

Any story can be a story about social expectations but Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is one story that points out the fact that it is the people themselves who perpetuate such social expectations and senseless traditions. Nevertheless, this act of perpetuation is a rather unconscious process going on in a person’s mind. Jackson’s “The Lottery” […]

Irony, generally described as expressing something different from or opposite to a literal meaning, is used as an underlying theme in Shirley Jackson’s short story, The Lottery. As an age-old tradition, the lottery is one in which a single person in the town is randomly chosen, by a drawing, to be violently stoned by friends […]

Despite being married for almost a year, Harry and Maggie faced difficulties with their finances. The man resided in a council estate with minimal furnishings, including a table, two chairs, two beds, a basic kitchen and simple bathroom. He held dual employment roles as a newspaper deliveryman during the mornings and evenings while working part-time […]

In “The Lottery” . Shirley Jackson uses boding. symbolism. and sarcasm throughout her narrative to demo that decease is at hand in the terminal. Not merely do clip and topographic point bear of import hints as to the allegorical significance of “The Lottery” but the really names of the characters are loaded with significance. What […]

“The Lottery” by Jackson begins with explicit details that foreshadow the startling conclusion. In the first paragraph, Jackson provides precise information about the day designated for the lottery. The time is approximately 10 A.M. on the 27th of June, according to her. The author vividly portrays the ambiance and temperature (warm). She provides a detailed […]

The setting set forth by Shirley Jackson in the beginning of The Lottery creates a mood of peacefulness and tranquillity. This setting also creates an image in the mind of the reader, the image of a typical town on a normal summer day. Furthermore, Shirley Jackson uses the setting in The Lottery to foreshadow an […]

Were you surprised by the ending of the story? If not, at what point did you know what was going to happen? How does Jackson start to foreshadow the ending in paragraphs 2 and 3? Conversely, how does Jackson lull us into thinking that this is just an ordinary story with an ordinary town? Where […]

Shirley Jackson wrote “The Lottery” in 1948 with a purpose in mind. Upon hearing the title, many readers think about a lottery in people want to win due to the fact that they could win millions of dollars. However, this is not the case in Jackson’s version where the lottery is one in which the […]

Since the dawn of civilization, human beings have participated in acts of sacrifice. In ancient cultures these sacrifices came in a physical form, usually in the form of blood. The fuel behind these acts of hostility and violence performed by these ancient cultures was simply an effort to satisfy their god or gods and gain […]

Evil can be defined as the horror of humanity. This is revealed through terrible actions, through the mentality of a mob, the plotting of murder in a most grotesque fashion or the pressing of asking a young child to open her mouth. In the following essay, each point mentioned above will be examined as elements […]

Shirley Jackson’s short stories “The Lottery” and “The Little House” both open peacefully, if not perfectly, on situations that should be happy ones. The main character of “The Little House” has just unexpectedly inherited a house from her late aunt; the villagers of “The Lottery” are enjoying a day that is “clear and sunny, with […]

Shirley Jackson, the author of the short story “The Lottery” is both a traditional and a non-traditional woman of her time. She is a wife to critic Stanley Edgar Hyman and a mother to four kids (Jackson, 922). She is a typical housewife. She does the house chores, takes care of her children, attends PTA […]

In her short story, “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson employs imagery and symbolism to illustrate that even in seemingly innocent surroundings, evil can pervade and taint society with a sinister facade. This narrative underscores the power of innocence to profoundly influence someone’s existence. Oftentimes, we overlook the fact that ordinary objects possess the ability to represent […]

Many times, people believe that they must achieve a certain social status within a community due to the need of acceptance, or perhaps, simply the fear of being rejected. Communities normally demonstrate a positive atmosphere. They are supposed to be places where everyone knows and is kind to one another; one where people feel comfortable […]

Both Nadine Gordimer’s “Once Upon a Time” and Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” exemplify how the structure and values of society shape and influence individuals and their ideas. The subject of society’s influence on individuals has been extensively analyzed by numerous authors. It is generally accepted that society plays a significant role in driving the thoughts […]

Compare and Contrast: The Hunger Games vs.. “The Lottery The Hunger Games and “The Lottery’ are two different stories that have similarities and differences. Depending on the plots and story lines of both they might have more similarities than differences or more differences than similarities. Breaking it up into three different topics is very helpful […]