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Suspenseful Tone In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

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Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” uses specific word choice to convey a suspenseful tone. One of her specific word choices Jackson chose is ¨nervously¨ to interpret how the lottery has affected everybody in the community, both emotionally and physically. An example of this would be the the interaction between Adams and Mr.Summers; Then Mr. Summers raised one hand high and said, “Adams.” A man disengaged himself from the crowd and came forward. “Hi Steve,” Mr. Summers said, and Adams said “Hi Joe.” They grinned at one another humorlessly and nervously(29, Jackson). . The type of language used in this scene is formal because the way Mr. Summers greets each character is with great profession and with proper stand. From this we can also interpret what …show more content…

To empathize, the tone given from this scenario is through Shirley Jackson’s diction in which she uses to describe the atmosphere in the interaction between Adams, and Mr. Summers. Now, to furthermore explain, how “nervously”: gives a suspenseful tone/atmosphere and has affected the people in the lottery is by taking a look where Jackson describes the people within the lottery; The people had done it so many times that only half listened to the directions; most of them were quiet, wetting their lips, not looking around. From this info we can infer that the lottery has been going on for so long that it is slowly affecting the people. Jackson’s diction of “nervously” gives us an insight of how the people in the lottery have slowly been affected, it shows how the people within don’t want to be in the lottery, it shows how tense it gets, and how it changes people like Tessie when she found out she got the paper.An example of this would be watching a movie over and over again, it’ll slowly affect, and change

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Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery”, uses pessimistic word choice to convey an ominous tone. In particular when Jackson articulates it in line “They stood together, away from the pile of stones in the corner, and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed. ”(26-28). This portrays how the author discreetly showed an ominous tone by emphasizing “jokes” and “smiled rather than laughed” to promote an ominous tone. Another example of how an ominous tone was shown when the author The villagers kept their distance, leaving a space between themselves and the stool…there was a hesitation before two men,.. came forward to hold the box steady on stool while Mr.Summers stirred up the papers inside it.

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Reading Level (Lexile): 1230. , Database: MasterFILE Premier This source is incredible for its incredible recognition of the irony and symbolism that is represented in “The Lottery”. The source really states that the “The Lottery” is the underpinning definition of post-World War 2. The date of the lottery and irony of the characters names that Shirley Jackson presents, all convey a meaning that is even more shocking than the conclusion of the story.

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Usually there’s a winner in a lottery, but not in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”. This story intrigued me by it's suspenseful nature and it's chaotic events. In small town America, they come together once a year to perform an annual tradition. Mrs. Jackson demonstrates literary devices such as foreshadowing, mood, and conflict in “The Lottery”. Foreshadowing is used quite a few times in “The Lottery”.

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Can an author blind the audience from the ability to predict the outcome of a story by using the power of tone? In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” the author starts with a tone of anticipation, changes the tone to one of hesitation, and completes the piece of literature in a subtly depressing tone. By using this literary tactic, the author confuses the audience, and at the same time draws more attention and interest to the piece. Starting when, “The people of the village began to gather in the square,” the tone of anticipation presents itself in the text. This phrase appears in the first paragraph of the article.

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The short stories by Shirley Jackson, “The Lottery” and “Charles”, have notable similarities in building your curiosity but vastly different endings. “The Lottery”, is a story about a tradition of lottery selection passed on from generation to generation in a town and currently run by Mr. Summers. “Charles” is about a young boy named Laurie, who is starting kindergarten and wants attention from his parents. In both short stories, the author describes the characters, the themes, and the situations to create an illustration for the reader. Laurie and Mr. Summers are both portrayed as characters who want to push the boundaries of the community.

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In 1948, when the New Yorker published Shirley Jacksons piece, “The Lottery,” it sparked outrage among readers, but could arguably be known as one of her most famous pieces of writing. In this short story, Shirley Jackson used literally elements such as imagery, diction, and symbolism to foreshadow the negative and harsh ending of the story; the harsh ending that sparked such outrage by society in the 1940’s. One of the main ways Jackson foreshadows the ending and true meaning of her short story, “The Lottery,” is through symbolism. Jackson uses the color black throughout the story.

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The short story “The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson, the plot in the story that it only gives people an account of drawing lots to determine the winner who shall be stoned to death for harvest. However, we get a deep impression of the characters and their fate after reading the story. Jackson indicated a prevalent theme, the indirect of characterization and using symbolism and irony to modify this horror story. The Allegorical story of “ The Lottery” is often regarded as a satire of human behavior and social institutions, and exemplifies some of the central themes of Jackson’s fiction, including the victimization of the individual by society, the tendency of people to be cruel, and the presence of evil in everyday life.

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“The Lottery’s” opening lines read: “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green. ”(Jackson 309). From this line, one can conclude that Jackson is trying to portray the village as a quaint and nice place where townsfolk gather, and no harm occurs. However, this strays far from the truth. As the story continues, the gathering abruptly changes and ultimately leads the townspeople to commit violence and murder.

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“The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson is a very suspenseful, yet very shocking short story. This story is set in a small village, on a hot summers day in June. Flowers are blooming, and the towns people are gathering for the lottery, which is a tradition the town does every year. As the reader reads the first paragraph they think this is a happy story. The title also says, “The Lottery” which is a word often used for winning something or receiving a prize.

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also it seemed like she was trying to avoid showing up to the lottery .Therefore it is obvious that she doesn’t even want to be there which hints that there is something dark behind the Lottery. Jackson’s use of foreshadowing in “The Lottery” contributed to the story by hinting that there is something much darker and eerier than we expect about this village and its tradition of the

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3/8/2017 The lottery essay Anan Istetieh Anticipation mingled with uncertainty, better known, as suspense, is an inevitable quality of human nature. Suspense is occasionally a great mechanism. It allows the author to keep the readers alert and leads up to the element of surprise, which is a successful writing tool that makes a story more enjoyable. The story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson builds up suspense through the foreshadowing of a horrible moment, creating a character that stands out from the crowd all while withholding the true nature of the story. The author of “The Lottery” foreshadowed the horrible climax of the story by explaining how the children were recently released from school for the summer, but they felt discomfort, “and

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The short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the characters have different feelings about “the lottery”. In the story when Mrs. Hutchinson said “It isn’t fair, it isn’t right” is an example of one of the characters and how they feel about the lottery. This example is important because we know that there are people who don’t want the draft to happen anymore. This connects to the topic sentence because it shows the feelings people have about the lottery. Even though there are people that don’t like the lottery, there are people who do like it.

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871 Words | 4 Pages

While real life traditions are rarely so extreme, Jackson’s exaggerated fictional example emphasizes her point to great effect. By the end of the story, the audience is convinced that the town is wrong to uphold the lottery tradition, but Jackson is not really writing about a lottery; she is writing about how damaging it can

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1333 Words | 6 Pages

Full of plot twists, and turns, “The Lottery” relies on its characters to convey a sense of normalcy throughout a majority of the story. The villagers’ acceptance of rituals allows them to act normal while knowingly partaking in a deadly tradition. Jackson’s brilliant use of deceptiveness leaves readers blind sighted as one could never predict this story’s outcome. Jackson’s work is renowned because of its unpredictable shift in tone. June 27, may appear to be a pleasant summer day, but this prediction could not be further from the truth.

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By incorporating dramatic irony into “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson is able to convey a sense of understanding and compassion towards the character. This first instance of dramatic irony is where Tessie is pleading to the town’s people that they were unfair to her husband. “People began to look around to see the Hutchinsons. Bill Hutchinson was standing quiet, staring down at the paper in his hand. Suddenly.

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