Essays on The Lottery

The Lottery
Original title The Lottery
Author Shirley Jackson
Genre Short Story ,
Language English
Characters Mr Summers, Mrs Hutchinson, Bill Hutchinson, Tessie Hutchinson, Old Man Warner, Mrs Graves, Mrs Peters, Mr Martin, Delacroix, Warner ...
Published June 26, 1948
ISBN 978-0-14-310490-9
Book Summary
Essay Examples

Table of Contents

About The Lottery Book

It is a short story with the title “The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson and published in June 1948 by the publisher The New Yorker. Undoubtedly, it is an eerie and unforgettable story. The lottery is all about an overly happy life where things are different or seem different.               

The story is all about a village where an annual lottery is drawn. But the fate of the person who draws this lottery is revealed in a dark twist at the end of the story. Book’s title is ironic as the lottery is referred to as a prize or surprise, but in the book, it is different because the winner will be sentenced to death. The winner does not win but loses. There are various unpleasant aspects of human nature, and the story addresses them all.

The lottery was a festival celebrated in the village. But later on, the story reveals that no one wants to win the lottery! The book has gained huge popularity as a short story in the history of American literature. Moreover, the book was also subjected to many sociological and literary analyses.

Book Summary

“The Lottery” hooks the audience by explaining some of the unpleasant aspects of human nature. The story throws light on the willingness of man to get attached to traditions and to obey the higher authorities.

Moreover, you can also read more about the will to do some evil or cringe acts and the beliefs on superstitions in the book! Here is the lottery short story summary, which will help you later on in writing the essay.

The story begins by showing the young boys collecting the stones. The adults greet each other and gather at a square for the lottery. While the kids are enjoying their holidays as it is off from school because of the summer.

Everybody looks anxious, focused, and excited about the event in the town. Mr. Summers appears in charge of the different civic activities and lottery. He brings a black colored wooden box with him. A postmaster named Mr. Graves carries a stool to set the wooden box.

The box was filled with small pieces of paper used for the lottery later. Mr. Summers asks for help, and Mr. Martin and his son step forward to assist Mr. Summers. Tessie Hutchinson is the last lady who arrives on the ground and says she is late because she does not want to leave the dirty dishes in the sink.

That black-colored wooden box is not the original box, but it has a few pieces from the original box. Mr. Summers argues with the villagers to change the box yearly, but they always deny doing so. They are not ready for the new box, which is why that wooden box is stored every year until it is needed for the lottery. It shows that the villagers want to stick strongly with their traditions and don’t want to make minor changes to their traditions.

Fortunately, Mr. Summers has made one change in the tradition. Mr. Summers uses paper to draw instead of using those wooden chips. Moreover, he also makes sure that the lottery proceeds orderly.

All the participants step forward in alphabetical order. Firstly, Mr. Adams comes forward to draw. He mentions that another town is not holding the lottery anymore. Meanwhile, Mr. Warner speaks out and mentions that he has heard that the lottery is linked with the production of corn. So, they have to hold it.

Bill got ticked with a circle marked, indicating that the Hutchinson family had been selected for the lottery. Again Mr. Summers put the papers in the box for the entire Hutchinson family. When all the family members open up the papers, they find that Tessie has been selected for the lottery!

 And, here comes the dark turn. All the villagers surround Tessie and start throwing stones at her. The young boys collected the stones at the start of the story! Tessie claims this lottery is not fair, but no one hears her, and all of her friends and neighbors continuously throw stones until she is stoned! Hopefully, the lottery short story summary will have helped you understand the story.

The Lottery Quotes

Here are the most famous quotes from the story: 

  •     Tessie Hutchinson: “Clean forgot what day it was,”
  •       Mr. Joe Summers: “Guess we better get started, get this over with, so we can go back to work.”
  •       Mr. Joe Summers: “All right, folks. Let’s finish quickly.”
  •       Old Man Warner: ″ People aren’t the way they used to be.”
  •     Mrs. Delacroix: ″There goes my old man.’ Mrs. Delacroix said. She held her breath while her husband went forward.”
  •     Bill Hutchinson: “Bill Hutchinson was standing quiet, staring down at the paper in his hand.”
  •   Mr. Joe Summers: “Although Mr. Summers and everyone else in the village knew the answer perfectly well, it was the business of the lottery officials to ask such questions formally.”
  •       Tessie Hutchinson: “It isn’t fair, it isn’t right,”  
  • Mr. Summers: “No one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box.”

Essay Structure On The Lottery

After getting through the lottery summary, it has become easy for you to write an essay on the lottery. Remember that for writing an engaging essay, an outline is one of the best things a student must have in their hands.

The outline of the essay is half work. After creating the outline, students remain focused and stay at the point. Another thing that is pretty important to consider is the title. The title selection and to make it different is also a necessity.

We will explain how students can write an impressive essay about The Lottery!

  Introduction

The introduction is the most important part. The first few lines of any essay let the audience decide the quality of your writing. These lines are important for the reader’s engagement, and these few lines play a critical role. So these starting paragraphs must have a hook that holds the audience.

When writing the essays about the lottery, make sure to write the thesis statement first. Besides that, you can also put some of the story’s main events, which you will use later on while writing the essay.

  Body

This part of your essay should explain the story in detail. Try to highlight the story’s major events and explain or describe the lottery. Here, you can also discuss people’s beliefs about the lottery.

You must be clear and should explain the thesis statement logically. Always provide accurate information. The lottery essay questions can play a key role in grabbing the reader’s attention.

The essay body mainly consists of three paragraphs, and each paragraph discusses the different contexts of the essay. Every section has a different opinion and theme. There should be smooth transitions moving from one opinion to another. 

  Conclusion

To conclude your essay, you can sum up everything that you have discussed in your essay. Here you should not add any new points; say it all again what have you discussed in your essay. Try to explain all the major happenings or main points.

For instance, describe how an older man was willing to continue this tradition and how people believed this lottery could bring prosperity to their village. Also, how they killed the lady by throwing stones at her. You must also get some time in the end to revise your essay!

Tips To Consider While Writing An Essay About The Lottery

Literature demands conscious efforts, and for writing an essay on a literary book, there is a need for a particular pattern. The students should clearly understand all the important points to write an essay about this book.

So, you can explain everything clearly in the essay. It is also complex to talk about human nature as it differs from person to person. It is why you need to describe everything with a little care. To write an essay on this book, keep the following tips in mind.

  Read The Book Thoroughly

Every story has some hidden meaning that varies from person to person. There is a need to be an avid reader for writing an essay as every story reveals something new in every line and time. So read the complete book thoroughly, and the analysis must be done first. Also, search the internet and read the reviews of people who think they will clear your thoughts and build your ideas. 

  Find A Compelling Topic

After researching the ideas and crafting the outline of your essay, the other necessary thing is to find a compelling topic. The topic of your essay must be suitable for your writing, as you will have to write the thesis statement and other body parts of your essay accordingly.

For selecting the title:

  •       Brainstorm is the best idea
  •       Keep different options in your mind
  •       Note all the possible titles
  •       Improve them by using your writing abilities and making them crispy.
  •       Check your work

Here is a few of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson essay topics. You can use any of these to craft an excellent quality essay for your college or university test:

  •     What are the different Social classes in The Lottery?
  •     How are different gender roles represented in this story?
  •     How do traditions affect our lives? Take The Lottery as an example!
  •     Investigate the phenomenon of hypocrisy.
  •     What was the psychology of the crowd in the story?
  •     What is the central message of this short story?

  Create The Outline

Planning and arranging the ideas is very important. The outline of the essay makes the essay writing a pretty essay. By creating an outline, the draft of the essay will be in front of you, and you can also divide the estimated number of words under each heading. As a result, students won’t miss any part of the essay. Also, the outline helps the students write everything about the topic without forgetting any important events! 

  Write The Thesis Statement

Throughout The Lottery, traditions are the preference rather than the rituals in the story. There is a massive role of fear than respect in following the tradition even if the prize is death. The story talks about a tradition; the villagers stoned a lady to death for the sake of a tradition.

  Include A Lesson or Moral

The book teaches us a lesson to get change with time. One must change the traditions; also no need to follow anything blindly. As in the book, the village people followed the rituals of an older man who thought the June lottery could bring a favorable crop for them. But, the prize of the lottery is death. 

That older man was against the young people who consider this lottery superstitious. But so many people were in favor of changing this tradition. Tessie Hutchinson doesn’t speak out against the lottery or try to change the status until she is affected.

But now, nothing can happen as she was stoned to death and the sad part is her children were also in the crowd and were passing the stones. So the lottery gives a moral lesson, don’t follow anything blindly. 

  Conclusion: Proofread Your Work

The conclusion should be broad and open-ended, so the maximum audience can interact and engage with the story. Well, this part of your essay must contain a solid and clear moral lesson.  With this, reread the essay to make it free from all the grammatical errors and check the spelling, text errors, and paragraphs’ smooth flow. 

We are always ready to come to the rescue of a student and compose the best quality essay for them before the marked deadlines. If you have an approaching deadline and are interested in getting professional assistance, we can be your helping hand. All our experienced writers are ready to provide you with everything you need!

Also, read the reviews to know the public view on the internet and create a compelling copy of an essay that will make you stand out. If you still have difficulty writing a paper about the lottery, contact us as we can write an essay for you much faster and better.

Frequently Asked Questions

  What Is The Main Message Of The Lottery?

Well, the main theme of ”The Lottery” is the power of tradition and ritual. The tradition continued every year without real reason and meaning. The meaning behind the event has long been lost. The story teaches us don’t believe and get involved in such types of traditions, which will harm us in the end!

  What Is The Lottery Story About?

The lottery story is about blind belief and superstitions. The story is about the lottery where the piece of paper decides who will face death. The people are willing and ready to sentence anyone to death just for the sake of healthy crops!

  What Is The Meaning Of The Lottery By Shirley Jackson?

Shirley Jackson’s meaning of the lottery is to follow the bound things, superstitions, and meaningless traditions. The older man wants everyone to follow these meaningless traditions! 

  Why Is The Lottery By Shirley Jackson Offensive?

As lottery pulls the feeling of surprise and aspiration, Shirley Jackson attached this word with death, bringing offense and controversy among readers. You can also say that the lottery is also a black turn of this story!

Save Time On Research and Writing
Hire a Pro to Write You a 100% Plagiarism-Free Paper.
Get My Paper
We've found 43 essay samples about The Lottery
Prev
1 of 2Next
Live chat  with support 24/7