ENGL 204 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Promised Land, Book Of Leviticus, Family Values
8 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
The Lottery & Exodus Thursday, Sept 21, 2017
Keep attending classes, even if it is after ADD/DROP.
-Read part 1 of the Red Tent, but you do not have to read all of the novel (unless you
want to) as the Professor had to remove one of the lectures.
•Prof will send out an announcement about what we need to read
The Lottery - Jackson
-The Black Box
•Term associated with sociology, philosophy ,aesthetics, etc
-Typically refers to something the refers to a function, but the process is not
clear
-“Black boxes” refer to ideologies: how ideas affect culture (for instance) but
we’re not sure how
•Black box in the story is related to tradition (they understand what it does, but no
necessarily clear why they do it)
-The tradition of the black box ensures a good crop, according to Old Man Warner
•Agrarian culture: farming
-Kids not in school so they can participate
-A few hints throughout the story that something is off
•The men go up to see which family will sacrifice, and then the family members draw
again to see which member
-They are supposed to go in alphabetical order, but Dunbar’s not there
•Suggested that they are the most recent hit form the lottery
-Perhaps they lost their oldest son to the last lottery
•This ritual is like an open secret
-Mr. Summers going through the list asking who is and is not participating
•The impression that some people are missing
In a short story, every part counts. Every word has menaing.
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-Talk about giving up the lottery
•Old Mr Warner is very lucky. He survived several lotteries
-Does not agree with getting rid of the lottery “Pack of crazy fool” = he has not
suffered from it, unlike the Dunbar family
-Mrs Dunbar “go tell your Father”
•They are very interested in who is selected
-Go home and tell your father that they are safe
-Disturbing scenes
•Giving the little Hutcherson boy stones to stone his own mother
-Why stoning?
•Archaic and old
•A slow and gradual death
•It allows the whole town to participate
•A very barbaric and visceral ritual
-A community that seems put together and friendly and full of families, but they’re
barbaric
-Mrs Hutchison: “It’s not fair!”
•She’s annoyed and upset with the process
•She tries to her other daughter in to broaden the chances of who gets chosen
-Her kids are so young, they need help choosing their slips of papers
-Mr Summers is very formal, rote, doing it automatically
•They don’t know the meaning behind what they are doing (except for Old Mr
Warner who remembers why they do it)
-The kids are thrilled they are not going die
•They don’t realize one of their parents will die
•Corrupted family values
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Document Summary
Keep attending classes, even if it is after add/drop. The black box: term associated with sociology, philosophy ,aesthetics, etc. Typically refers to something the refers to a function, but the process is not clear. The tradition of the black box ensures a good crop, according to old man warner: agrarian culture: farming. Kids not in school so they can participate. A few hints throughout the story that something is off: the men go up to see which family will sacri ce, and then the family members draw again to see which member. They are supposed to go in alphabetical order, but dunbar"s not there: suggested that they are the most recent hit form the lottery. Perhaps they lost their oldest son to the last lottery: this ritual is like an open secret. Mr. summers going through the list asking who is and is not participating: the impression that some people are missing.
