The lottery 3rd

quarter Project
Done by : Abdulaziz Fawzi
Grade 11B
1. Summarisation
The story is about a village where an annual lottery is drawn. However, the fate of the person who draws the ‘winning’ slip is
only revealed at the end of the story in a dark twist.The story takes place one morning between ten o’clock and noon on 27
June, in a village somewhere in (presumably) the USA. The year is not stated. The three hundred villagers are gathering to
undertake the annual ritual of the lottery, which is always drawn on this date every year. Some of the children of the village
are busy making a pile of stones which they closely guard in the corner of the village square.The lottery is led by a Mr
Summers, who has an old black box. Inside the black box, slips of paper have been inserted, all of them blank apart from one.
The head of each household, when called up to the box by Mr Summers, has to remove one slip of paper.

When every household has drawn a slip of paper, the drawn slips are opened. It is discovered that Bill Hutchinson has drawn
the marked slip of paper, and it is explained that, next, one person from within his family must be chosen. His family
comprises five people: himself, his wife Tessie, and their three children, Bill Jr., Nancy, and Dave.

Bill’s wife, Tessie, isn’t happy that her family has been chosen, and calls for the lottery to be redrawn, claiming that her
husband wasn’t given enough time to choose his slip of paper. But the lottery continues: now, each of the five members of the
Hutchinson household must draw one slip from the black box. One slip will be marked while the others are not.

Each of the Hutchinsons draw out a slip of paper, starting with the youngest of the children. When they have all drawn a slip,
they are instructed to open the folded pieces of paper they have drawn. All of them are blank except for Tessie’s, which has a
black mark on it which Mr Summers had made with his pencil the night before.

Now, the significance of the pile of stones the children had been making at the beginning of the story becomes clear. Each of
the villagers picks up a stone and they advance on Tessie, keen to get the business over with. One of the villagers throws a
stone at Tessie’s head. She protests that this isn’t right and isn’t fair, but the villagers proceed to hurl their stones,
presumably stoning her to death.
 2. Setting and scene
The setting of “The Lottery” is in a small town that resembles most
American small towns. The village consists of about three hundred
residents who are both excited and terrified by the idea of an annual
'lottery' ritual. The ritual takes place in a beautiful summer day in
June
3. Characterisation
Tessie Hutchinson:
The unlucky loser of the lottery. Tessie draws the paper with the black mark on it and is stoned to death. She is excited about the lottery and fully willing to
participate every year, but when her family’s name is drawn, she protests that the lottery isn’t fair. Tessie arrives at the village square late because she forgot
what day it was.

Old Man Warner:

The oldest man in the village. Old Man Warner has participated in seventy-seven lotteries. He condemns the young people in other villages who have
stopped holding lotteries, believing that the lottery keeps people from returning to a barbaric state

Mr. Summers:
The man who conducts the lottery. Mr. Summers prepares the slips of paper that go into the black box and calls the names of the people who draw the
papers. The childless owner of a coal company, he is one of the village leaders.

Bill Hutchinson:
Tessie’s husband. Bill first draws the marked paper, but he picks a blank paper during the second drawing. He is fully willing to show everyone that his wife,
Tessie, has drawn the marked paper.

Mr. Harry Graves:

The postmaster. Mr. Graves helps Mr. Summers prepare the papers for the lottery and assists him during the ritual.
 4.Conflict and plot:
The story describes a fictional small American community which observes an annual tradition known as "the
lottery", in which a member of the community is selected by chance and stoned to death to ensure a good
harvest and purge the town of bad omens.
 5. Biography about the Author
Biography of the author
Shirley Hardie Jackson was an American writer known primarily for her works of horror and mystery.
Over the duration of her writing career, which spanned over two decades, she composed six novels,
two memoirs, and more than 200 short stories.
She was Born in December 14, 1916 in San Francisco, California, United States and
Died in August 8, 1965 in North Bennington, Vermont, United States.
She was famous for her :
Show: The Haunting of Hill House
Influenced: Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Richard Matheson, Thomas Ligotti, Jonathan Lethem, Poppy Z.
Brite
Awards: Edgar Award for Best Short Story
Nominations: National Book Award for Fiction, Edgar Award for Best Short Story
Most of Her famous books include:
The Haunting Hill House
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
The Lottery or, The Adventures of the Demon Lover
The Witchcraft of Salem Village
Life among the Savages
Series By Shirley Jackson
Landmark Books