Language Activities

Comprehension

1. When and where does the action of the story take place?

2. Why did the people of the village gather in the square?

3. How many people were there in the village?

4. Who gathered in the square first? What were they doing?

5. What were the men who assembled in the square talking about?

6. What were the women dressed in?

7. Who conducted the lottery?

8. Who assisted Mr. Summers?

9. Why were slips of paper used for the lottery instead of chips of wood?

10. Why was Mrs. Hutchinson the last to come to the square?

11. What were the rules of the lottery?

12. What were the people talking about while waiting their turn to draw?

13. Who had the marked paper? Why did Tessie say it wasn’t fair?

14. Why did the Hutchinsons draw for a second time?

15. Who finally turned out to be the “winner” in the lottery?

Vocabulary

Word List

boisterous

reprimand

to exchange gossip

to join smb.

to call to smb.

reluctantly

to speak up

to keep one’s distance

to talk away

to hold one’s breath

to take one’s time

to be a good sport

to catch up with smb.

1. Reproduce the passages from the text in which the vocabulary is used.

2. Paraphrase the following using the vocabulary:

1. She unwillingly accepted the money.

2. Do the task carefully, don’t hurry.

3. You walk on and I’ll overtake you later.

4. Her sons are nice boys, but rather noisy and energetic.

5. She received a severe admonition.

3. Translate the following using the vocabulary:

   1. Не забудь задержать дыхание, когда будешь нырять.

   2. Не вешай нос, Билли, всё будет хорошо.

   3. Ты иди домой, а я присоединюсь к тебе позже.

   4. Учитель сделал мальчику замечание за невыученный урок.

   5. Джейн и Лин сидели на кухне, обмениваясь сплетнями о своих друзьях.

   6. Филипп окликнул её, когда она уже выходила из дома.

4. Paraphrase or explain the following:

   1. “Some of you fellows want to give me a hand?”

   2. … but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything being done.

   3. “Clean forgot what day it was,” she said to Mrs. Delacroix…

   4. A sudden hush fell on the crowd as Mr. Summers cleared his throat and looked at the list.

   5. A man disengaged himself from the crowd and came forward.

   6. … Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her.

5. Translate the following sentences into Russian:

   1. School was recently over for the summer, and the feeling of liberty sat uneasily on most of them; they tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play.

   2. Bobby Martin ducked under his mother's grasping hand and ran, laughing, back to the pile of stones.

   3. The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born.

   4. There was the proper swearing-in of Mr. Summers by the postmaster, as the official of the lottery; at one time, some people remembered, there had been a recital of some sort, performed by the official of the lottery, a perfunctory tuneless chant that had been rattled off duly each year; some people believed that the official of the lottery used to stand just so when he said or sang it, others believed that he was supposed to walk among the people, but years and years ago this part of the ritual had been allowed to lapse.

Discussion points

1. Describe the social arrangement of the village. What social and business institutions are there? What kind of work are the villagers involved in?

2. What position do the women have in the socio-economic arrangement of the village? How are they treated by men?

3. Who is the most powerful man in the village? Give evidence from the text to prove it. Name the two other influential people in the village. What do the names of the three men suggest?

4. Is it a coincidence that the lottery is conducted in the village square “between the post-office and the bank”? What do the two buildings represent?

5. Why do you think the lottery was conducted every year? Was it just an irrational tradition or did it serve certain purposes?

6. What do you think is the actual function of the lottery rules of participation? What are the rules based on?

7. Why are the children introduced in the story? What part do they take in the lottery?

8. What do the village girls do while the boys are collecting stones for the lottery? What role is given to the girls since childhood?

9. Does the phrase “the children assembled first, of course” imply that they take a natural and primitive joy in stoning people to death? Who did they learn this play from?

10. When Tessie is finally to be stoned someone gives “little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles” to stone his mother. Comment on the episode.

11. Why do you think Tessie Hutchinson becomes the victim in the lottery?

12. Recall the episode when Bill Hutchinson forces his wife Tessie to open her lottery slip to the crowd. “It had a black spot on it, the black spot Mr. Summers had made the night before with the heavy pencil in the coal company office.” Comment on the connection of Mr. Summers’ coal business and the black spot on the lottery slip.

13. What is the role of Old Man Warner in the story? What implications are there in his words: “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon”? Observe Mr. Summers’ remark: “Well, now … guess we better get started, get this over with, so's we can go back to work.

14. Analyze the behaviour of the villagers. Is there at least a vague sense of guilt that they have about what they do? Are they entirely hopeless?

15. What is the purpose of the author in showing the pointless violence and inhumanity of the lottery?