The Lottery...working with Theme

The Lottery Activity: Chew on This

You probably know this already, but English class is not math class. In your math classes, you get to circle the answer at the end of the problem. And it feels so good, right? Well, unfortunately, in literary works you don’t get a definitive answer to circle. You get a bunch of conflicting arguments. Welcome to the world of literature.

Now that you've read and studied your literary work, it's time to develop your own opinion. Pick a theme from Shmoop's The Lottery themes section http://www.shmoop.com/lottery-shirley-jackson/themes.html, and read the Chew on This statements for that theme. Notice how each statement is an opinion and not necessarily a fact? That's the beauty of building an argument – you can start a debate and argue either for or against it.

So, now it's your turn to contribute to the literary discussion. Write your own Chew on This statement for the theme that you've chosen. Support your statement with three quotations from the text.

To make sure that you could really get a good debate going on your Chew on This statement, also play the "devil's advocate" position and find three more quotations from the text that could be used to argue against your statement. Come to class prepared to argue for either side of your statement.

Place your Chew on This statement and six quotations in the same comment box...be sure to label which are in support and which are against.

Thinking About Plot...using "The Lady, or the Tiger?"

The plot is the one of the most important elements of the story; however, the characters decide what happens, when it happens, and how it happens. This occurs when the external or internal plot plays a major role. In The Lady or the Tiger?, the external conflict causes the princess to have tremendous internal conflict. Because the plot line ends at the climax, many readers are not satisfied with the author's falling action and resolution. Think about the princess' character (background, upbringing, feelings, thoughts, actions) to determine what you think happens next.

Write a new ending (falling action and resolution) for the story in which you reveal the princess’s decision (falling action) and show the effects of the decision on all the characters (resolution).

Think about questions like...

1. What happens to the young man?
2. How does she feel about it?
3. What does the king do next?
4. What does the princess do next?