Exploring Traditions, Setting, Symbolism, and Foreshadowing in 'The Lottery'

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 4

Exploring Symbolism, Foreshadowing and Setting in 'The Lottery'

Learning Objective

Learning Goals:

-I can share my own interaction with traditions

-I can understand and identify the use of symbolism, the importance of setting, 

and the existence of foreshadowing in 'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson.

Success Criteria:

-I can readily participate in class discussions

-I can complete the Booklet activities with understanding and insight

TRADITION: What is a tradition?
Without sharing first, write down three traditions
that you practice in your family.

Tradition

EXAMPLES

• MAJOR: In Canada children celebrate Hallowe’en by dressing up in costumes and going door to door asking “trick or treat.” Adults also dress up to hand out candy and pride themselves on having the most creatively decorated front lawn (a full cemetery, fog machine, animatronic Grim Reaper, etc).
• MAJOR: Christmas Eve (24th) singing at church. Christmas Day (25th of December) morning stalkings, afternoon gifts, and evening family dinner where there is almost always a turkey. 
• MINOR: For birthdays in Germany, you are expected to bring in lunch for all of your colleagues.
• MINOR: After eating chicken, my father would always dry out the wishbone and we’d have a special thumb war to get a wish.

Now, expand your answer. Be sure you have written down at least one major (ex: a holiday) and one minor tradition (ex: an activity you do on special occasions, such as for a birthday). 

Three detailed traditions (at least one Major & one Minor)
that you practice in your family.

Tradition

• Share: Which traditions are the same as your classmates? Which are different?
• Discuss: what are some positive and negative aspects of continuing to uphold traditions?

Introduction to 'The Lottery'

A brief overview of the short story 'The Lottery' and its cultural significance.
WHY was there such a heavy cancel culture around her story? Share your ideas!

Importance of Setting

How does the SETTING (time of day, time period, physical space) of the story contribute to its overall impact and themes?

What do you already know about the purpose of SYMBOLISM in literature?
Think: Harry Potter's scar,
the ivory statues in We Were Liars, etc.

Symbolism in 'The Lottery'

Symbolism is the use of words, people, actions, objects or locations to represent an abstract idea outside of its literal meaning. 

Ex: Harry Potter’s scar symbolizes his bravery and survival against evil.

Ex: The ivory statues - the opulent lifestyles of the Sinclair sisters and the
       ultimate punishment of losing what they most dearly loved (the Liars)

PARTICIPATION POINT: While reading The Lottery, write down and explain the symbolism of at least one person's name and one item (the box, the black dot, etc.).

Foreshadowing in 'The Lottery'

Foreshadowing is a literary device where the writer gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story.

Once you have finished reading the story, go back and HIGHLIGHT any sentences that hinted at the ultimate ending of the story.

Reader Assignments

1. While reading the story, complete The Lottery questions from Short Stories Booklet, pg. 13

2. PARTICIPATION POINT: While reading The Lottery, write down and explain the symbolism of at least one person's name and one item (the box, the black dot, etc.).

3. Once finished reading, go back and HIGHLIGHT any sentences that hinted at the ultimate ending of the story.

4. Update Part 2 of Booklet to include examples of your understanding of the discussed literary elements.

Class Discussion

Share your insights and interpretations of the story as a class.

Reflection and Summary

Summarize some key takeaways about (the dangers of) tradition, symbolism, setting, and foreshadowing in 'The Lottery.'

Write down 3 things you learned in this lesson.

Have students enter three things they learned in this lesson. With this they can indicate their own learning efficiency of this lesson.

Write down 2 things you want to know more about.

Here, students enter two things they would like to know more about. This not only increases involvement, but also gives them more ownership.

Ask 1 question about something you haven't quite understood yet.

The students indicate here (in question form) with which part of the material they still have difficulty. For the teacher, this not only provides insight into the extent to which the students understand/master the material, but also a good starting point for the next lesson.