Amanda - Week 5; Question 2

Consider the literary device foreshadowing. How does Jackson use foreshadowing to set up the climax and resolution in “The Lottery”?

Throughout the short story “The Lottery” foreshadowing is used to slowly engage the reader in the information that the lottery is not something that one wants to win. At the beginning of the story, all seems well and the people of the town seem excited and happy about the clear and sunny June day. But as the story continues subtle hints are dropped as to the horrid event that will be taking place. As the drawing took place, the people were nervous as they drew their slips of paper, and there is even talk of other places that have stopped doing the lottery. The suspense when the slips of paper were opened was with a hush and when the results were told – the “winners” were frightened and were saying that the drawing was unfair. At the end of the story, the people of the town encircle Mrs. Hutchinson with stones in their hands ready to throw them at her. Even her small little boy is given stones to throw at his mother. At this point the reader is shocked and stunned by what winning the lottery entails.

Amanda - Week 5; Question 9

What is the effect of using a fourteen-year-old girl as the narrator in “In Response to Executive Order 9066”? In terms of impact, how does this differ than in might with her father as the narrative voice?

Using the fourteen-year-old girl as the narrator in “In Response to Executive Order 9066” gave this period in history that is being discussed a quality of innocence. From the tone of the girl’s voice, the reader can hear her confusions as to why her “best friend” of many years has now turned on her for no other reason than that of her heritage. If an adult would have been the narrator the tone would most likely not have been as confused but more of anger at the treatment that they had received.

Week 5 question 1

In Shirley Wilson’s The Lottery, the man with all the power in the story would be Mr. Smith. He has all the power because he is the one who keeps the black box which stores all the slips of paper for the lottery which determines who will be stoned. In the story Mr. Summers is described “as the official of the lottery” (839). He was a local coal miner and had time to collaborate the activity. He was the one who marked the slips of paper for the lottery and declares when the lottery begins. He is in charge of the entire process; therefore, the one with al the power in the story. It is articulated by how he could be resembled as judge in court; holding all the power by making all the important calls throughout the process.

Week 5 question 3

After reading Amy Wilson's under the Guise of Tradition: "The Lottery" and female circumcision, I was able to better understand Shirly Jackson's The Lottery. Wilson explains how in American tradition we celebrate things like fireworks on the Fourth of July and we hunt for easter eggs on Easter. Why? Because it's just what we have done for so many years it's an American tradition. Just like in her story she exlains how in Egypt years back they would circumcise young woman between the ages of seven and thirteen because it was a ritual they practiced. When I first read Jackson's The Lottery, I thought it was obsured and morally wrong to stone someone simply because after drawing a lottery they just happened to pick the slip of paper with an ex marked on it. This was done because just like in Wilson's story it was a ritual they practiced every year just how we celebrate the Fourth of July and Easter although our ritual so to say isn't morally wrong. theirs were just what their culture practiced and Jackson's point was that some people practice certain rituals whether it's considered wrong or right to others.

WEEK QUESTION 10

The poem titled as "In Response To Executive Order 9066" by Dwight Okita talks about a young girl who is very much Americanized but at the same time contains the Japanese decent in her. Throughout the poem she reminds the readers that she characterizes herself as an American. The girl goes on by saying "I will tell you I have always felt funny using chopsticks, and my favorite food is hot dogs." She very much likes America because everything she says and describes would represent a typical American teenager in her. Also, the girl does not seem to know anything about American/Japanese conflict. When her best friend, who is white tells the girl "You're trying to strart a war, giving secrets away to the Enemy." The girs does not know what is really happening and did not know what the response should be, so she just disregarded it without saying much in regards to that.

Week 5 Question 9

9. What is the effect of using a fourteen-year-old girl as the narrator in “In Response to Executive Order 9066”? In terms of impact, how does this differ than it might with her father as the narrative voice?

I think that using a young girl to narrate the story has a lasting impression on the readers. I think that a girl can captivate an audience with her story, one of which is told with an innocence that a child brings. You want to hear the tale that is to be told, because you are unable to truly believe that one so young has experienced these events. If the father were to have told the story, I think that the audience may have been less inclined to really engage in the story, because it is a more likely scenario for him to have undergone.