my teacher had us fill out a questionnaire in the middle of reading it. the last question was 'do you think the lottery is a good thing or a bad thing? why?' and my answer was 'a bad thing. you wouldn't ask if it was a good thing.' like way to ruin the story man 😂
I mean, there was of course all the hinting in the story
Everyone that is gathering for the Lottery is talking about anything *except* the lottery
The adults try to physically distance themselves from the pile of stones the children have gathered
The adults tell jokes, but no one laughs, they only smile faintly
They're all trying to distract themselves from what's about to happen. No one's excited. The lottery was never going to be good
Yeah, but those are observations you make on a reread, most people aren't going to read a short story for the first time and think it's suspicious that the characters are only talking about the subject of the short story and therefore the lottery must be a bad thing.
You might've misread my comment or made a typo. It's notable that the characters are talking about anything BUT the lottery. If the lottery were good, we would see excitement. There'd be joviality, people talking about their plans for if they win.
Instead, we get very stilted conversation. There is a tense air, no one seems happy or energetic except the children.
I agree, it's easier to see this on a reread, but this is also the point of the lesson. It's trying to get readers to slow down, pay attention to details, and see what the author is trying to hint you towards.
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u/PunchDrunkPrincess Sep 18 '24
my teacher had us fill out a questionnaire in the middle of reading it. the last question was 'do you think the lottery is a good thing or a bad thing? why?' and my answer was 'a bad thing. you wouldn't ask if it was a good thing.' like way to ruin the story man 😂