Today’s Agenda
1) Journal Entry:
a. For the next ten minutes, I want you to write on the following subject: Describe in detail one of your favorite family traditions or routines. Explain why it is your favorite tradition, and how long it has been a part of your life. Why do you think your family has this routine? What is its point? Please be as specific as possible in your answer, and use good sensory details to convey a clear illustration of the routine to your reader.
2) Group Work: Get into groups and come up with a list THREE personal traditions, THREE family traditions, and THREE social traditions. We will list some of these on the board.
Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery
3) What was your GUT reaction to your experience of this story?
1)
2)
3)
Now let’s begin to INTERPRET IT.
a. In your groups, I want you to:
Locate three important SENSORY details. How do these details help us understand the story?
b. Chart out the PLOT. Where is the exposition, rising action, climax, and falling actions?
c. Identify several important characters, and explain why they are important.
Now that we have broken the story down, let’s think about setting? Where and when does this story take place?
Notice that you have many GENERAL, or flat, characters, and that the setting is essentially indeterminate – it could be taking place just about anywhere.
Major lesson for today: Sometimes, a short story will be ALLEGRORICAL.
Allegory: A SYMBOLLIC NARRATIVE
The representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form. Essentially everything in the story can be understood to represent something LARGER than what it is.
What is The Lottery an allegory for?
>>>???<<<
Let’s think about our traditions again. Here’s a journal entry question: How might the traditions we think are GOOD be BAD? Is this possible?
Optional Video Lectures:
I have amasses quite a few videos on The Lottery over the last year or so. The first video I am including here is the one for our class. Each of the following videos come from PREVIOUS classes. You can watch these other videos, if you like, but there is no need to pay attention to the homework I mention at the end of these videos.
Full lecture on The Lottery from Summer 08:
Video One:
Video Two:
Video Three:
Video Four:
Video Five:
Video Six
Video Seven:
This is a shorter re-cap video from Spring 08:
Your homework for next time is as follows:
Read This For Next Class:
Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”
Write a two page paper on the following subject:
Is “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings” an allegory, and, if so, what is it an Allegory for?
[...] Thursday, October 9 [...]
Pingback by Your Syllabus « Approaches to Literature, Fall 2008 — August 13, 2008 @ 1:15 pm |
Gabe Cheney
Adam Crowley
EH 112
9 October 2008
“The Things They Carried” and “The Lottery” Contrast
Comparing two stories is a helpful strategy when trying to understand them. Looking at the differences makes you pay closer attention to the details. “The Things They Carried” and “The Lottery” at first glance don’t have anything in common, especially when it comes to the characters. However, as I looked at them closer, there were a lot more similarities than I thought. There were still a few major differences that really make the two stories different in major ways.
The biggest difference between the characters in the two stories is the setting that they are in. “The Things They Carried” is set in a time of war. What they are going through on a day to day basis is completely different from what the townspeople of “The Lottery” are. LT Cross and his men are constantly in fear for their life. They have an enemy that is always looking for them, and they are always looking out for the enemy. The people in “The Lottery” really don’t have an enemy in a human figure. Their enemy is the lottery itself. The black box of death. The rest of the people are just doing what they think is natural and right by stoning the recipient of the dot.
The aspect of danger is different as well. The soldiers have a pretty constant presence of fear and danger. The enemy could be anywhere and they know that. At the same time there is an element of unpredictability. They might meet a small contingency one day, nothing the the next week, and run into opposing forces for the next month straight. The people in the lottery know exactly when they are going to be going up against this danger. June 27th, every year. The rest of the year their lives are pretty normal. There is just that one day when their lives are in danger.
How they accept their fate is a big difference as well. When Tessie Hutchinson drew the black dot, she protested and complained that it was unfair. She wasn’t very accepting of her fate. The men in “The Things they Carried” pretty much knew from the beginning what their fate is more than likely going to entail so they are more understanding of their fate when it is upon them. Do they like it? Probably no more than Tessie did, but being a member of the armed services, especially during that time period, meant that you were more that likely going to have to face danger, and possibly death at some point.
Comment by Gabe Cheney — October 9, 2008 @ 2:41 pm |
Megan Clement
Adam Crowley
eh112
oct. 9, 2008
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is about a small town and the people in this small town gathering for there annual lottery drawing. There is something kinda weird in the story that grabs my attention. The attitude of the people in the town and mood of the people is kind of somber and very strange. The way they did this was each head of the family was to draw a piece of paper and one slip had a black dot on it is the chosen family. The family all draws one piece of paper and they family member that draws the piece of paper with the dot gets stoned to death. To me this is not my definition of the lottery but to this small town that’s what they know it as.
In the story the “lottery” by Shirley Jackson the characters are a lot different than those in the story “The things they Carried” by Tim O’ Brien. They are different because the characters in this story are people of a community and also family members. They all have there separate jobs to keep the community up and running successfully and to keep there families intact. The characters in “The things they carried” were military men and were forced into these groups and have to follow orders and work together and have there own separate jobs that need to be completed in order to survive during the war.
There is also a difference in the way that the characters are described in the story by the author. In the “lottery” Jackson doesn’t go into as much detail describing what there wearing or how they look she describes more about what is going on in the story and how things are happing through out the story. As for in the story “The things they carried” O’Brien describes what they look like and what they are wearing. He also describes what is happing in the story but he doesn’t a wonderful job sharing with the reader the sensory details in the story, not to say that Jackson doesn’t do that but there is more detail in O’Brien’s writing.
The characters in “the lottery” also talks a lot more than the one in “the things they carried” that is probably because of the setting and the event taking place. The characters attitudes and emotions are also different. In “The things they carried” Jimmy Cross feels guilty for having one off his men die and he can’t let it go. In “the lottery” the community members don’t feel guilty that they are harming this person and killing them, to them it is a sacrifice made by members of the community. At the end of the story Tessie screams it isn’t fair and he father yells the same thing, this shows that not everyone in the community agrees with this sort of lottery.
This story was very surprising for me because when I looked at the title I though it was going to be a happy story about someone winning the lottery and living happily ever after and using there money for good things. So when the story ended I was in shock and kind of disappointed with the fact that they were inflicting pain and killing someone by throwing stones at her.
Comment by megan clement — October 9, 2008 @ 2:50 pm |
Jennifer Campbell
EH112
October 9, 2008
The characters in the Lottery are different than the ones in The Things They Carried because they play very different roles. The characters in the Lottery are townsfolk that are picked at random to be killed by having rocks thrown at them. Whereas The Things They Carried is put into a position where they are protecting our country, and if they do indeed die, they died while serving and protecting our country.
In this particular story, The Things They Carried, the men died because of someone’s cowardice acts for not paying attention to their duty that they withhold. Characters died even when their platoon members fought to protect their lives. In The Lottery the members of the town do nothing to protect the one who is chosen to be killed, they help kill her and show to have no remorse to what they are about to do to someone they know.
The characters in The Lottery know the outcome they are getting when that day, the 27th, approaches, and are aware that one person out of about 300 in the town are going to die that day. They have mentally prepared themselves and their families for the upcoming result. For soldiers, such as in The Things They Carried, they have no idea what day they are going to die. They could die the first day they step foot out onto the battle field, or they could indeed survive the whole mission and return safely back home to their families, retelling the stories of what happened during the time they served their country.
Another way in which the two stories, The Lottery, and The Things They Carried are different is an obvious clue from one of the titles. The difference is in the things they carried. In one story we have soldiers who are prepared for death and carry things that mean something to them and comfort them. They carry things that will protect them and things that they will have them when they die. Whereas the town folks are aware they could die on the 27th and they bring nothing to comfort them when they are dying the slow death, and they bring nothing to shield them. That’s a odd difference that the two stories have a I think. If I was dying in a lottery I would be prepared and have sacred items in my pockets that could be with my soul when I passed. Like the characters in The Things They Carried, I would carry something that has memories of special loved ones.
There are so many differences in the two stories, yet it’s hard to distinguish them because of the different plots, times, and events taking place. You have men in battle fields, and you have town folk in the center of town with the rest of the town looking at you.
Comment by Jen Campbell — October 9, 2008 @ 4:24 pm |
My family only really has traditions around Christmas time. On Christmas Eve, we always go down town and look at all the Christmas lights that are on the houses and all the luminaries that people put up. After we get done that, we pick up Chinese food, rent a couple of movies, and go home. We used to go caroling with my grandparents, aunt and cousins to one house on our road, but they have passed away a while ago putting an end to that tradition. Christmas day has varied a little bit over the years. It used to be that we would wake up around 3 or 4 in the morning. My parents had a rule that we could get our stockings when we woke up, but not to come down into their room until at least 6. Now that we are all getting older, we sleep in later and don’t get down stairs opening presents until 6 or 7 anyways. After the presents are all opened we have my mothers side of the family up for a Christmas brunch. That evening we go down to my fathers parents and open gifts there and have a huge meal there. One of the problems with getting older is that family separate, physically. My brother is now married so he isn’t with us on Christmas morning anymore, and usually my sisters and I are going over to our significant other’s house to exchange gifts and holiday well wishes. So it’s not what it used to be and I don’t like that very much. If I could, I would turn back time every Christmas and enjoy it the way we used to.
Comment by Gabe Cheney — October 9, 2008 @ 4:40 pm |
One of my favorite family traditions is something my family does every Saturday. Every Saturday my family, including my Aunts, Uncles, cousin, and even family friends all gather and have baked beans. It is always held where my grandmother is living, so when she moved from her big house to mine, the tradition started again in my home. Beans are always cooked and served Sat night for supper, along with homemade rolls, coleslaw, red hot dogs, and of course my grandmothers wonderful relish. This is my favorite tradition because it allows me to stay in touch with my family members even with my busy schedule. It is always eventful because I have some pretty funny family members, there is never a dull moment at the table. This tradition as been takin place since I can remember back. I have always attended the traditional bean dinner, yet I never have ate beans, I am the only one, besides the little kids, that doesn’t eat beans Sat night, I eat everything else but! I never have understood why my family does have this tradition and why we only have beans, because even if we go to another function, the beans are always brought with us! I would have to guess it’s just that traditional family gathering that has been passed down from generations and we are just keeping it going.
Comment by Jen Campbell — October 9, 2008 @ 4:40 pm |
The hazing of new guys on sports teams has been something that has always happened. For me personally, not really to the extreme extent that it caused harm to someone, but maybe a little humiliation. We always made the Freshman carry the bags, medical kits, and jerseys on my basketball and soccer teams. While I was one of the newbies, I thought of it as, I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing. At the same time, I felt a little embarrassed because I was forced to do the dirty work. After that one year, when I was an upperclassmen, I thought of it as, I had to do it, why shouldn’t they. So it kind of puts a sense of power and superiority in the minds of the older kids. The positive aspect of it is that it promotes a sense of belonging once your duties are fulfilled, you are really part of the team because you did what was expected of you.
Comment by Gabe Cheney — October 9, 2008 @ 5:37 pm |
A tradition that I think can be positive and negative, is marriage. Marriage is something that most people do when they are in love with someone and it is positive be it is soemthing that they are committed to, and are willing to put forth the effort to be in that relationship. Yet a negative side to that is the fact that so many couples now-a-days get divorced. What happens when during your marriage you buy a house, car, boat, and also have kids? What happens to your children? You are forcing them to live a split life with the parents and msot of the time listen to one parent and their family bag on the other parent. Its the downfall and negative side to marriage. It is known that divorce is becoming more and more common and the years progress. You have the positive moments in the begging, and only a handful continue to have them, others simply look towards the negative side, divorce.
Comment by Jen Campbell — October 9, 2008 @ 5:38 pm |
10/09/08
I think one of the greatest family traditions that my family has is to go hunting on Thanksgiving Day. Every year seems I could remember I was rolled out of bed at 5:00 in the morning the smell of freshly brewed coffee in the air along with the smell of a country breakfast. We would get ready to go have a bite to eat and out the door. By the time that we were on our way out into the brisk morning air my mom would be getting the turkey ready to cook. We would get to the place where we hunt unload the wheelers and drive in to the spot. The smell of the exhaust in the air and freshly cleaned guns. I would get to the spot where I was going to sit, sneak in my dad would say. With soft footsteps all the way in I would zig and zag through the Maine woods climb the metal ladder to the stand. Sit in the cool morning sun as the sounds of the woods would come alive. The only thing that was running through my head was the thought of the food when I got home and the excitement of the kill. After a few hours of sitting I would get a call on the radio form my dad to come out of the woods. We would get back to the house for some lunch and then it was back to the same thing of sneaking back into the stand. After the sun went down we go home to fantastic thanksgiving meal that my mother had been working on all day. And this is one of my strongest family traditions.
Comment by Michael Austin — October 9, 2008 @ 5:40 pm |
The tradition that I’m thinking about is Halloween and the fact that it has more down falls then just the vandalism parts. Yeah the vandalism hurts some people but I think the other part is in schools, what if you have dress up day in school and your family can’t afford a costume for you. That would hurt the student it might be a hurtful thing for them. Just think about that, you walk into a class room and everyone is dressed up and you couldn’t afford the costume that was all the rage this year. How that student would feel is defiantly not good. Then another part what if the parents work the night shift and weren’t able to take their kids out trick or treating that person would feel excluded. And I think this happens around the world it’s not just in my little town I think this happens all around the United States. So that’s how I think that tradition could be bad. Another one is Christmas people normally see it as a good thing but what about the family that can’t afford the gifts.
Comment by Michael Austin — October 9, 2008 @ 5:41 pm |
Michael Austin
10/08/08
The Lottery
By Shirley Jackson
The short story The lottery is about a small town that has this lottery to see who is stoned to death. They do this every year at the same time every year. How I think the characters are different in this story compared to the story the things they carried is simple. Compassion to other people!
Even though the in the story the things they carried was about a war it seemed like the key players of the story had some compassion for what was going on around them. In the story the Lottery I get the feeling that the town’s people don’t care who is up in front of the crowed getting stoned just as long as it’s not someone out of their own family. It seemed like most of the towns people loved to do this and it just seemed like some kind of sick joke to them all.
In the story the things they carried the characters were more humble to the other people around them it just seemed like they carried more about what was going on in the war. This little town just made me sick when they said that they have a lottery to see who is going to die. The other question that arises for me when I was reading this story is how did this get started? How sick and twisted can someone be to say let’s throw rocks at someone till they are dead. Who in their right mind would be like lets live in this town. It just seems to me like this town has no compassion to the others around them, its more like a “dog eat dog” world.
So in conclusion the things that popped into my mind is why would a town be like that and the differences between the things they carried and the lottery comes down to compassion to other people. Even though the little town might love their families they don’t seem to care about their Nabors
Comment by Michael Austin — October 16, 2008 @ 2:13 pm |
Gabe Cheney
Adam Crowley
EH 112
16 September 2008
“A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings”
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Most times when a story is written, it is written with a specific time, date, and location in mind. All of those aspects will also play a role in our understanding of the meaning of the story. But what happens when those three aspects aren’t present in a story? When those setting landmarks aren’t there to help with the meaning, typically the story becomes and allegory. The story doesn’t have one exact meaning. Instead it is a symbol that the author wants you to think about. Many times there are a couple symbols and it might vary from person to person. This narrative by Marquez is no different. What I think the allegory is might be completely different from someone else and I can think of a couple right off the top of my head.
The first allegory I can think of is the comparison of the “angel” to a fad or fashion. At first, everyone thought that it was the angel coming to this town was the strangest, most intriguing thing ever. People came from all over just to see the “angel”. They threw food at it, poked it with a branding iron, and hoped that it would heal their ailments and diseases. After a long time of them just watching this creature lay there, not doing anything they got bored with it. It just so happened that a human/spider came to town which became the new fad or fashion. Nobody paid any attention to the “angel” after that, it wasn’t new enough anymore. Once a popular attraction, it was now just more of a nuisance.
This story might also be showing us some of the less-than-desirable characteristics of human beings. Not only are we easily intrigued, but we are also very selfish and jump to conclusions quickly. When the “angel” first came, they thought that it was the cure-all for the sicknesses. This was before they even knew what it was, and they selfishly thought that it was going to be something that was going to benefit them. It was something new so they were willing to trust it to cure them. When they put their trust in it, it didn’t cure it at all. The leper grew sunflowers out of his sores, the cripple almost won the lottery, and the blind man grew three teeth. This shows how willing we are as humans to put our trust into something just because it is new or different as opposed to figuring out the facts.
The townspeople also looked at the bird and almost automatically, after getting bored with throwing the table scraps at it, started to think about what this creature could do to help them. One person wanted to make it into a five star general to win all the wars. Another wanted it to reproduce so that it could take over the universe. All of those things were things that they could live without, obviously because they had for all those years prior. This shows humans being’s tendency to think selfishly and think only about how this would benefit themselves. Pelayo and Elisenda were the same way. When the creature first arrived at their house, they didn’t want anything to do with it, they were actually going to club it, however when they realized that they could make money off of it by charging people to see it, they didn’t have a problem. After all the people left, they went back to thinking it as more of hassle.
Comment by Gabe Cheney — October 16, 2008 @ 2:23 pm |