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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. Old man Warner suggests that discontinuing the lottery would be doing what?

2. What is Jackson's main theme in the story?

3. Why can Clyde Dunbar not draw for his family?

4. Why are the children running around that morning?

5. What is the procedure after Bill reveals that his family is the one?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens as the stoning begins?

2. As Mr. Summers turns to face the gathered villagers, what disturbance occurs?

3. What time of the year is the lottery being held?

4. What does Mr. Summers do when he calls out his own name?

5. In naming the holidays observed by the village, how does Jackson hint at the macabre nature of the lottery?

6. Eventually, how do the people assemble as they wait for the lottery?

7. Have there ever been deviations from tradition in the past? What are they?

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

9. According to the rules of the lottery, how long does the stoning go on?

10. Describe the kind of morning it is on the day of the lottery.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a paper on how well written short stories hold the interest of the reader including the fact that they can be read in one sitting.

Essay Topic 2

Write a paper comparing THE LOTTERY with humiliating and sometimes dangerous club initiations. Discuss such things as humane treatment, anxiety of the initiates, and the moral correctness of the proceedings.

Essay Topic 3

Write two or three paragraphs in which you discuss whether Tessie Hutchinson had a premonition that she would draw the black spot. Decide if you think Shirley Jackson had that idea in mind as she wrote THE LOTTERY.

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