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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Mrs. Hutchinson's behavior as she makes her way to her family?

2. What is Jackson saying about tradition.

3. Who gets to go first in the second drawing?

4. What trouble does Bobby Martin get into?

5. What does Mrs. Delacroix have in her hands?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Tessie try to widen the odds of her drawing the black dot?

2. Who is called after Mrs. Dunbar, showing that no one is left out of the lottery?

3. How does Jackson make the scene seem like a normal village fair?

4. Who is the second citizen of the village and what is his function in the lottery?

5. What is Tessie doing as the rest of her family open their slips?

6. What does Tessie Hutchinson do when she realizes that Bill has the paper?

7. What do the boys do to prepare for the lottery.

8. Where are the women and what are they doing?

9. How does Jackson draw the reader into the spirit of the lottery?

10. Why is everything so organized in the village for the lottery?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a paper in which you are one of the villagers at the lottery. Describe your feelings as the lottery takes place. How do you feel when it is not you but Bill Hutchinson who draws the black spot? Carry this on through picking up a rock and throwing it at Tessie.

Essay Topic 2

Expand on the character of Mr. Summers in THE LOTTERY. Describe how you imagine his business dealings in detail and his political control over the village.

Essay Topic 3

Write a paper where the towns people hold a meeting to decide if they will do away with the lottery. Use the characters from Shirley Jackson's story. Who, besides Old man Warner, will oppose the idea of doing away with it?

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This section contains 595 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample