The-Lottery-英语阅读理解.ppt

The LotteryShirley Jackson,1948,Shirley Jackson,Shirley Hardie Jackson was born December 14, 1916 in San Francisco, CA. Jackson received her BA in English from Syracuse University. She married Stanley Edgar Hyman, a staff writer and literary critic at the New Yorker in the 1940s. She and Hyman had 4 children. Jacksons writing career flourished with publications in The New Yorker, Mademoiselle, Fantasy and Science Fiction, Charm, The Yale Review, The New Republic, The Saturday Evening Post, and Readers Digest. She also published several collections of stories. Jackson died of heart failure on August 8th, 1965 in Bennington, VT.,The Lottery by Shirley Jackson,Background Information: The AuthorShirley Jackson,American novelist and short-story writer best known for her story “The Lottery (1948). Jacksons skilful warping of a popular pastime has become an American classic, establishing her position as one of the great American horror writers,Warm-up Discussion,What is the lottery? Where does the lottery take place? Describe the setting.What happened to Mrs. Hutchinson?Were you surprised by the ending of the story? What was your reaction?How do the townspeople feel about the lottery?,Setting: Effectiveness,Small townCould be anywhere (small town, USA)No specific locale or year givenWidespread attitudes - anywhere, any era,Tone and Movement of Plot,Exposition: Very little conflict Holiday picnic atmosphereComplication:Mrs. Hutchinson is late.Gradually builds to horrifying conclusionClimax:We discover the true nature of the lottery.Contrast contributes to horror.DenouementWhat is it?,Stoning,In early Bible History, stoning was the (perhaps surprising to many) God-commanded Israelite method of executing those found guilty of the most serious offenses against His Law. Unlike most other forms of capital punishment, stoning had no specific executioner, all the congregation shall stone .,Ancient Ritual Sacrifice,In ancient Athens, Greece, Athenians believed that human sacrifice promised fertile crops. By transferring ones sins to persons or animals and then sacrificing them, people believed that their sins would be eliminated, a process that has been termed scapegoat A similar ritual sacrifice occurs with Tessie Hutchinson.This explains the village members remark, “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.,Scapegoat,Scapegoat- This is a person, group, or thing assigned responsibility for the perceived faults of a given society. The term has many roots in the ancient world. In modern times the holocaust is often pointed to as an example of scapegoating by which 6 millions Jews were killed under direction of Adolf Hitler. Hitler played on popular sentiment in his country at the time by blaming Jews for the loss of the first world war and the economic woes of Germany.,Ritual without meaning,Because there has always been a lottery“, the villagers feel compelled to continue this horrifying tradition. They focus on its gruesome nature, for they still remembered to use stones even after they have forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box“. The story may be saying that society tends toward violence instead of societys need for civilized traditions.,Capitalism,But on another level, its about the economic productivity of this village and how to keep that productivity in place,Thus, Kosenko argues, we need to look at the economic hierarchy of the village, starting from the wealthiest and going down to the workers and their wives and children.,Hierarchy,Mr Summers is the wealthiest: he owns the coal mine in town. He also more “time and energy to devote to civic activities than others.Then comes Mr. Graves, its postmaster.,Then Mr. Martin, the only grocer in town. The box is stored in their offices; also, the slips are prepared the night before the lottery in Mr. Summers office. There exists a distinct possibility that the lottery is fixed.,More Hierarchy,Next down one might consider Old Man Warner to be an informal authority or patriarch. Hes been through the lottery 77 times.Then comes working males, such as Mr. Adams, Mr Hutchinson. They are closely followed by their sons (who draw in their fathers absence).,Then come women. Based on the womens shabby clothing and the fact of how the boys respond (or not) to their mothers authority, one can easily see the women as largely powerless.,More Hierarchy,Last of all come those who cannot work, such as Mr. Dunbar (who has a broken leg) or those families with a dead father.And at the very bottom are those who rebel or question the system, such as Tessie. Note how she tells her husband “to go up there to draw the lottery ticket.,Kosenko makes a great point when he notes that those most marginalized are those most familiar with the terror of the lottery; thus, when the slip is drawn, the women immediately speculate on who has been chosen.,Another Possibility: Tradition,In part, the story is a reaction against blindly following such traditions as scapegoating. Much of the ceremony and。