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I can still remember the day my life changed forever. I am a single mother of two children struggling with income. Life has been a constant struggle since my husband left me. I was not only in depression, but I was a gambling addict. I bought a lottery ticket every week in hopes of winning and not having to declare bankruptcy to pay off some loans. I never had any luck until the day I will always remember: December 11th.
December 10th started out as any other day. Before, I went to work as a waitress; I went to the local supermarket to buy a Lotto 649 ticket. The jackpot that week was worth approximately 30 million dollars. The numbers I picked were the same as always: 7, 17, 18, 21, 39 and 44. After buying the lottery ticket, I went to Lucky Fortune, the restaurant where I worked.
The restaurant was full; every table was occupied. As I walked through the door to the kitchen, my colleagues greeted me. I picked up a plate of chow mein and was about to go out the door, when I heard a scream. I looked around and saw a rat scampering towards me. I have musophobia, the fear of rats, so I accidentally dropped the plate of chow mein as I tried to jump onto the counter. The rat dashed outside the kitchen to where all the customers were eating. The customers who saw the rat acted crazy. Someone jumped on the table hollering, others rushed out the door and others started shouting like the rat was a devil. It took us 15 minutes to calm all our customers down after the owner had called an exterminator. After the exterminator trapped the rat in a cage, the government health services ordered Lucky Fortune to be closed for a month because of unsanitary conditions. Not only am I living in poverty, I also was fired because the owner thought it...
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...t connection. I checked out the Lotto 649 site and saw a picture of the clerk, holding up a check for 24.15 million dollars (80.5% of the jackpot since the ticket had 6/6 matches). I researched the winning numbers and my heart sank. The numbers were: 7, 17, 18, 21, 39 and 44. I had been scammed. I called the police but was told that since I did not sign my name on the back of the ticket, I had no proof the winning ticket belonged to me. I did not take the necessary precautions, and it cost me over 21 million dollars. Although I had more money than I ever dreamed of, I knew the scam was preventable. Even though I thought I had no chance in winning, I should have been more cautious. After paying off my loans, I had half a million to spend. I was left wondering what might have happened if I was smart. I guess if something is too good to be true, it probably is.
Everyone can pant a pretty picture of how wonderful their life may be. In fact, doing so may come with a consequences. Reading these three short stories “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell and a short biography by Malcolm X called “My First Conk”, set off many different emotions. I felt as these author’s wanted to me to feel in such way. I believe there is a life lesion in every life story someone has to share, no matter how small or big.
It was the day of April 13, 2000. I woke up at exactly 12 o’clock because my boyfriend was to pick me up at 1 like we planned the night before. The day looked quite nice, but I was in a fowl mood. I got into a car accident the night before and had a huge argument with my parents about the car. I finally dragged myself into the shower and got ready in half an hour. Then I went downstairs, sat on my couch, and repeatedly told myself the day would hopefully turn out better than last night. At around 1:15, my boyfriend came to pick me up. We took the 5 freeway to the 57 since it was the only way I knew how to get there. As we approached the 134 freeway, my girlfriend veered to the right, taking the 210 which was wrong way and got us lost. So, we exited the freeway and got back on the right track. Then finally, before long, we reached Norton Simon.
THE FALL OF MAN AND THE LOSS OF INNOCENCE Thesis Statement: Although the tone and imagery used in “The Lottery” and “Young Goodman Brown” conflict in many ways, both stories began by setting a very bright and hopeful tone which quickly fades into disaster, then proceeded to show insight on the darkness of the story and lastly the death and fall of mankind. 1) In her story “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson begins by setting a very bright and hopeful tone, which quickly fades into disaster a) In the beginning of the story readers are introduced to a lovely picture depicting the setting and the characters of the story. b) As time goes by readers are made aware of the irony of the setting and the dreadful event that follows. 2)
Shirley Jackson wrote many books in her life, but she was well known by people for her story “The Lottery” (Hicks). “The Lottery” was published on June 28, 1948, in the New Yorker magazine (Schilb). The story sets in the morning of June 27th in a small town. The townspeople gather in the square to conduct their annual tradition, the Lottery. The winner of the lottery will stoned to death by the society. Although there is no main character in the story, the story develops within other important elements. There are some important elements of the story that develop the theme of the story: narrator and its point of view, symbolism, and main conflict. The story “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, argues practicing a tradition without understanding the meaning of the practice is meaningless and dangerous.
Jackson, Shelley. “The Lottery.” 1948. Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Ed. [Harold Ross]. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 1990. 738-745.
'The Lottery,'; written by Shirley Jackson is a story that takes place in a small town of approximately three hundred residents. Every year on June 27th the townspeople congregate in a giant mass in the middle of town, where the 'lottery'; takes place. This lottery is a ceremony in which each family throughout the town is represented by a tiny white piece of paper. The family representatives, who are the heads of the household, take turns drawing from a box that contains these three hundred pieces of papers. On one of the pieces of paper there is located a black dot, marked the previous night by Mr. Summers. This black dot indicates the 'winner'; of the lottery.
The Lottery has been craftily shown in both the movie and the text in a suspenseful and dark manner, telling the same story, they show it with many similarities but also with many differences, in the showing and typing of the setting, characters, and the plot setting. In the Lottery text, the lottery took place in the morning, probably some time between the beginning of work and lunch, in a square, where they all met up. I can come to the conclusion that the lottery was in between lunch and the start of work because it says “‘Well, now.’ Mr. Summers said soberly, ‘guess we better get started, get this over with, so’s we can go back to work. Anybody ain’t here?’” which means that it must be sometime in work. The Lottery text also explained how the children stacked a pile of stones before the lottery started. In the text it says, “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting his smoothest and roundest stones; Bobby and Harry Jones and Dickie Delacroix-- the villagers pronounced his name ‘Dellacroy’-- eventually ma...
Many authors use mood shifts in their stories to leave a greater impact on the reader and make it easier to understand. The particular state of mind or feelings of a person is one’s mood. Various aspects of one’s surroundings can alter a mood. A story often creates a specific mood or even causes a number of different moods to arise in a short period of time. Shirley Jackson’s short story, "The Lottery" does just that, by forcing different moods to surface in various sections of the story. The peaceful mood at the story’s beginning, the anxiety that gradually builds, and the eventual horror at the story’s conclusion demonstrate mood shifts in this story.
It’s July 27th and everybody from a small community of around 300 people have gathered for its annual lottery. The leader of the community Mr. Summers leads the lottery. After going over the rules he has each of the head of households come and select a small folded white card from the inside of a box. These heads of the households include the fathers of the families, except in two cases where the father is deceased which leads to the oldest son being the head of the household, and a wife being the lottery participant because of her husband’s broken leg. After everyone has selected their cards Mr. Summers instructs them to open their cards. All of the cards are blank except one with a large black dot. Bill Hutchinson was the man who had the
“The Lottery” was quite disturbing to read. It is an very unusual story that has an ending that will have you baffled. You will want to reread certain parts to see if there is anything thing that you could have missed. The title of the short story is also misleading. In most cases the lottery is a good thing. People don’t win punishment and lotteries don’t hurt them. But in this story it does just that. The author did a great job of telling how anyone and everyone can follow tradition blindly. It is dangerous not to have a mind of your own and to just follow the crowd even if you don’t understand on agree on why something is happening.
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is a shocking tale of a town with a tradition that would be considered unorthodox in today’s society. Meanwhile, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce, like The Lottery is a thrilling story in which the reader is taken through different levels of consciousness in a man's execution. Both The Lottery and An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge are stories that use situational irony to displace a theme or motif.
of paper, enough for the entire town. On one slip of paper is a black
Can you single out just one day from your past that you can honestly say changed your life forever? I know I can. It was a typical January day, with one exception; it was the day the Pope came to St. Louis. My brother and I had tickets to the youth rally, and we were both very excited. It was destined to be an awesome day- or so we thought. The glory and euphoria of the Papal visit quickly faded into a time of incredible pain and sorrow, a time from which I am still emerging.
What thoughts come to mind when you think of "The Lottery?" Positive thoughts including money, a new home, excitement, and happiness are all associated with the lottery in most cases. However, this is not the case in Shirley Jackson’s short story, "The Lottery." Here, the characters in the story are not gambling for money, instead they are gambling for their life. A shock that surprises the reader as she unveils this horrifying tradition in the village on this beautiful summer day. This gamble for their life is a result of tradition, a tradition that is cruel and inhumane, yet upheld in this town. Shirley Jackson provides the reader’s with a graphic description of violence, cruelty, and inhumane treatment which leads to the unexpected meaning of "The Lottery." Born in San Francisco, Jackson began writing early in her life. She won a poetry prize at age twelve and continued writing through high school. In 1937 she entered Syracuse University, where she published stories in the student literary magazine. After marriage to Stanley Edgar Hyman, a notable literary critic, she continued to write. Her first national publication “My Life with R.H. Macy” was published in The New Republic in 1941but her best-known work is “The Lottery.”(Lit Links or Reagan). Jackson uses characterization and symbolism to portray a story with rising action that surprises the reader with the unexpected odd ritual in the village. While one would expect “The Lottery” to be a positive event, the reader’s are surprised with a ritual that has been around for seventy-seven years , demonstrating how unwilling people are to make changes in their everyday life despite the unjust and cruel treatment that is associated with this tradi...
In many peoples minds winning the lottery would be a dream come true. It's something that everyone wishes they would win; But what happens when the prize you get once you win the lottery isn't a blessing but instead a nightmare. In the short story, " The Lottery " by Shirley Jackson, it portrays a beautiful small village full of happy people in New England. By the use of symbolism and foreshadowing, Jackson uses the setting of the town, certain objects, and the characters in her story to indicate the true meaning behind "winning" the lottery.