45 pages • 1 hour read
Shirley JacksonThe Lottery
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1948A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Acitivities
Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.
ACTIVITY 1: Two-Sentence Horror Stories
After reading “The Lottery,” consider what makes the short story a staple of the horror genre. What is revealed about human nature, including the thematic motifs of The Scapegoat, Small Towns and Small Minds, and The Cruelty of Friends and Family, through the actions of the characters? Follow these steps to write your own horror story, using only two sentences:
- Read this classic example of the two-sentence horror story from Frederic Brown: “The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door…” Notice what is clearly stated in this example, as well as what is left for the reader to infer. What makes this very short story so terrifying?
- Brainstorm a list of possible scenarios for your two-sentence horror story. These could be common, everyday situations that reveal a surprising twist in the second sentence. Here are a couple of examples:
- Last night, I called an old friend to congratulate her. It was the ten-year anniversary of her death.
- Tom arrived home after his four-day business trip to Chicago.
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By Shirley Jackson
