The-Lottery-英语阅读理解.ppt

1、“The Lottery”Shirley 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

2、 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

3、 August 8th, 1965 in Bennington, VT.,The Lottery by Shirley Jackson,Background Information: The Author Shirley 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 he

4、r 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 lotte

5、ry?,The Lottery,5,Setting: Effectiveness,Small town Could be anywhere (small town, USA) No specific locale or year given Widespread attitudes - anywhere, any era,The Lottery,6,Tone and Movement of Plot,Exposition: Very little conflict Holiday picnic atmosphere Complication: Mrs. Hutchinson is late.

6、Gradually builds to horrifying conclusion Climax: We discover the true nature of the lottery. Contrast contributes to horror. Denouement What 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

7、 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 p

8、ersons 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- T

9、his 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. Hi

10、tler 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 gru

11、esome 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 prod

12、uctivity 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 i

13、n 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 disti

14、nct 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 thei

15、r 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 th

16、ose 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 terr

17、or 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 artifacts of the lottery have been lost, such a

18、s the salute, wooden ballots, etc.,Also, there is a hint in what Old Man Warner says (“Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.”) that the lottery once served as a blood sacrifice to produce good crops, but that connection seems to have been forgotten.,Historical Context,We also have to remember that Ja

19、ckson wrote this story following WWII, in which Jews had been scapegoated by the Nazis. This period was almost unimaginable to us. Approximately 60 million people died in WWII, and the war provoked incredible violence from a variety of nations.,Historical Context,“The Lottery” was written in 1948. A

20、fter World War II Americans tended to imitate those around them rather than follow their own separate paths. Encouraging this conformity was the spread of television, which broadcast the same set of images to Americans scattered through the country. In politics, people feared the spread of Communism

21、, leading to the Un-American Activities Committee, the Hollywood blacklist, and by 1950, McCarthys Communist “witch hunt” In the story, the townspeople are swept away by the tide of conformity, and the lottery goes ahead as always.,Historical Context,By 1943 news of the Nazi concentration camps had

22、finally reached America. A number of Americans responded with horror and concern that communities could have stood by and silently allowed the Holocaust to occur. Jackson hints at a similar situation in her story when the townspeople are unable to fully question or prevent the brutal lottery practic

23、e, and in fact, participate in it.,Historical/Sociological Context,During World War II, Jews and other targeted groups were torn from their communities and sent to their death while the world stood by in silence. In “The Lottery,” Tessie is similarly suddenly ostracized from and killed by members of

24、 her own community.,A few of the townspeople disagree with the ritual, but they merely mutter their displeasure under their breath, afraid to speak out more boldly against the practice. Not only do humans blindly perpetrate evil, the story tells us, but they are also capable of closing their eyes to

25、 and even participating in terrors that occur in their midst.,Biblical Allusion,“The Lottery” alludes to the Biblical story in which Jesus frees an adulterous woman, directing who is without sin to cast the first stone. No one throws stones at her. Unfortunately, no one in “The Lottery” stops this s

26、toning. Tessie becomes their scapegoat; she pays for their sins.,POV: 3rd Person Objective,At the end of The Lottery, the reader discovers with horror what is about to happen, but the story ends with the casting of the first stones. Jackson prefers to leave the gruesome details to the readers imagin

27、ation. The conflict occurs within the reader as the reader notes foreshadowing in the story with growing uneasiness,Group work: Give five examples from the story that show how men have the power in this society. male keeps box; men draw; womens identities directly tied to their husbands; men stand i

28、n front; boys are playing; girls are standing around quietly; a woman dies in the end,Male vs. Female,Womens roles,Tessie Hutchinson defies the concept of the passive and selfless woman. Tessies actions are decidedly unlike the behavior expected of the ideal wife and mother in the era. Tessie is har

29、dly self-sacrificing. She even jeopardizes her married daughter by suggesting that she join the Hutchinson family in the final lottery drawing.,Women vs. Women,At the beginning of the story, the girls stand together watching the boys gather the stones, but as those girls become women, the involvemen

30、t in marriage and childbearing that the lottery encourages pits them against one another, blinding them to the fact that all power in their community is male.,What are some examples of conflict between women?,A most grievous betrayal of another woman occurs when Tessie turns on her married daughter

31、and attempts to jeopardize her safety. Jackson emphasizes womens turning against one another, too, through her pointed depiction of the brutality of Mrs. Delacroix and Mrs. Graves in setting upon Tessie.,Mob violence,The heinous actions exhibited in groups (such as the stoning of Mrs. Hutchinson) do

32、 not take place on the individual level, for individually such action would be deemed murder. On the group level, people classify their heinous act simply as ritual. When Mrs. Hutchinson arrives at the ceremony late, she chats sociably with Mrs. Delacroix. Nevertheless, after Mrs. Hutchinson falls v

33、ictim to the lottery selection, Mrs. Delacroix chooses a stone so large that she must pick it up with both hands. Whereas, on the individual level, the two women regard each other as friends, on the group level, they betray that relationship, satiating the mob mentality.,Parable,Many believe “The Lo

34、ttery” to be a modern-day parablea story that presents a moral lesson through characters who represent ideas. The focus in a parable is not to develop character or other typical plot elements. Youre not told the lesson in a parableyou are to figure out what the lesson is.,Irony,There are a number of

35、 excellent examples of dramatic irony in the story. The basic idea of the lottery as something, which in our society is generally a good thing, being evil is the chief irony of the story. This helps to strengthen both the surprise and horror of the story. In addition, it helps to keep the reader fro

36、m catching onto the basic idea of the story.,Situational Irony: The actual outcome of the situation is the opposite of someones expectations Remember: Old Man Warner hears that the North village is going to end the lottery and says, Next thing you know, theyll be wanting to go back to living in cave

37、s.” How is this ironic?,The towns lottery is so barbaric, yet hes worried about going back to caves? Just as important is the irony that is found just over halfway through the story. This idea of being uncivilized because they will not perform an act that the reader almost certainly will find uncivi

38、lized is vital to the basic idea of the story.,Symbolism,Black: the color for death, mourning, punishment, penitence in Western civilization. The black box used to draw lots and the slip of paper with a black mark pointing out the winner are mentioned too frequently to be coincidental. Black box: co

39、ffin? Evil secret hidden away? Black spot on paper: sin? A “black mark” on ones record is negative; black mark: unclean?,Symbolism,The Lottery Itself: symbolizes any number of social problems that we blindly continue even though they are outdated. The setting: no specific name/place indicates this i

40、s any town, USA; the contrast of the town with the ritual helps build suspense. Stones are a universal symbol for punishment, burial, and martyrdom: they indicate a morbid ceremony. Chips of wood: now discarded for slips of paper, suggest a preliterate/ancient origin, like the ancient sacrificial ri

41、tuals for crops. Square: (village square) may represent the four corners of the earthearthly opposed to heavenly; human-created as opposed to natural; boxed in; concealed.,Symbolism: Names,Tessie Hutchinson: Most likely an allusion to Anne Hutchinson (1591-1643), American religious enthusiast who fo

42、unded the Puritan colony of Rhode Island. She had new theological views which opposed her to other ministers. After a local trial banished her she was tried before the Boston Church and formally excommunicated. Anne and fifteen of her children were subsequently murdered by the Indians in 1643. The p

43、arallelism between her story and Tessies is clear: to her, excommunication meant spiritual death just as to Tessie being cast out from the group = death.,Symbolism: Names,Tessie Hutchinson: Anti-ritualAnn Hutchinson held that neither church nor state was needed to connect a believer to his or her Go

44、d. (In the end, Tessie rejects the lottery ritual, saying “it isnt right.”) Tessie, diminutive for Theresa, derives from the Greek theizein, meaning “to reap”, or, if the nickname is for Anastasia, it will translate literally “of the resurrection”. (sacrifice for sins; contrast with Delacroix“of the

45、 cross.”),Symbolism: Names,Delacroix (“of-the-Cross”) vulgarized to Della-croy (no longer truly of the cross) Some critics suggest that Mrs. Delacroix represents the duality of human nature: she is pleasant and friendly on the outside, but underneath she possesses a degree of savagery. Cross has man

46、y connotations crossroads (faced with 2 directions); to cross something off; to be angry; to cross over or to pass by; pass from one side of to the other; to oppose, as in crossing ones path; a burden; combination of 2 elements; To make or put a line across; To betray or deceive, double-cross,Symbol

47、ism: Names,Summers: the season of summer is associated with youth, strength, growth, prime of life, warmth, leisure, prosperity, happiness, blooming, blossoming Mr Summers is the head of the coal business, which could symbolize close contacts with the underworld, evil; lurking just beneath the surfa

48、ce. Coal is earthly (as opposed to heavenly); black; formed in the process of many years (long-term process); formed from compressed, decaying matter; early chemistry used a black spot to symbolize coal. Marxist critics point out how Mr. Summers, who would have been one of the wealthier citizens, le

49、ads the lottery those with money control the peoples activities.,Symbolism: Names,Graves : the obvious grave = place of entombment/death Mr. Graves quietly assists Mr. Summers, with “Graves” hinting at a dark undertone. Grave = serious; hints that the lottery may not be a frivolous contest (“Mr. Gra

50、ves said gravely”) Critics have said that Jackson creates balance by juxtaposing Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves to share in the responsibilities of the ritual: Life brings death, and death recycles life.,Symbolism: Names,Adams : reference to the first man, the first sinner While he seems to be one of th

51、e few who questions the lottery when he mentions that another village is thinking about giving up the ritual, he stands at the front of the crowd when the stoning of Tessie begins. Like the biblical Adam, Adams goes along with the sin; he follows others in their evil.,Symbolism: Names,Old Man Warner: Resistant to change and representing the old social order, he warns about how important the event is to the survival of the village. Old man Warner is 77 years old the number 7 h