The document summarizes Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery". It takes place in a small village where the villagers gather annually for a lottery drawing where one person is stoned to death, preserving a tradition whose origins have been forgotten. The summary outlines the main characters and events, including Tessie Hutchinson being the unlucky recipient and her claim that the drawing was unfair, before being stoned to death by the villagers upholding the tradition.

1. The Lottery
Shirley Jackson

2. Main Idea
● The horror of following tradition blindly.
● The random persecution by the people of
the village.
● Cruelty in the name of tradition.
● A clash between tradition and new ideas.
● The vulnerability of the individual.
● The importance of questioning tradition
● The relationship between civilization and
violence

3. Significant Characters
● Tessie Hutchinson
● Old Man Warner
● Mr. Summers
● Bill Hutchinson
● Mr. Harry Graves

4. Tessie Hutchinson
● Victim of the lottery & killed by the villagers.
Old Man Warner
● Symbol of tradition & always denies the new
ideas.
Mr. Summers
● Conducts the lottery.

5. Study
Questions

6. MCQ

7. How many people live in the village?
● 200
● 300
● 400
● 500

8. Why people are gathering in the town
square?
● There is a band concert in
the village.
● There is a voting whether to
discontinue the lottery
● The mayor is making a
speech.
● It is the annual lottery day.

9. Which stones are the most preferable for
the use in the lottery?
● Shiny, decorative one
● Hard, jagged ones
● Smooth, round ones
● Heavy, flat ones

10. What is the date of the lottery?
● 25th June
● 26th June
● 27th June
● 28th June

11. What are the men doing before the
beginning of the lottery?
● Standing together and
talking about politics
● Standing together and
talking about crops
● Standing in a group talking
about tractors and rain
● Standing in a group but not
talking

12. How do they assemble when it is the
time to begin the ceremony?
● In a double file lines
● Together in family groups
● Making a huge circle
● Moving forward to try to be
the first to draw

13. What is being used for the first time in
this year?
● Slips of paper instead of
wood chips
● A new black box
● Ping pong balls
● A bigger stool

14. Who needs help from Mr. Graves to open
his slip?
● Tessie Hutchinson
● Little Dave Hutchinson
● All of the children
● The youngest daughter

15. What is the first element of surprise in
the story?
● Mr. Summers is changing
the rituals
● Tessie being late in the
ceremony
● Mr. Graves has forgotten
the stools
● Boys are gathering stones

16. Questions

17. ● Describe the setting of the story "the Lottery" by Shirley Jackson.
● What is the main theme of the story? Do you support the main theme of the story
"the Lottery"? Give your reason based on your reading of the story.
● Who is Old Man Warner? What does he symbolize in the story " the Lottery"?
● How is the lottery conducted in the story? What are the steps? What is the
ultimate prize of the lottery?
● Describe the faith of Tessie Hutchinson.
● Why does Tessie think that the draw is not a fair one? How do the others react on
her claim?

18. Important
Quotes

19. ● Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still
remembered to use stones.
● Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon
followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones[.]
● Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one
liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box.
● Although Mr. Summers and everyone else in the village knew the answer perfectly
well, it was the business of the official of the lottery to ask such questions formally.
● The children had stones already, and someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few
pebbles.

20. The End