Goodman Brown/Lottery

Literature is frequently employed as a device for social and political commentary. This is certainly true in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," and Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery." Both these stories darkly satirize the rigid social conventions that define small town American life. Even though they wrote about a century apart, Hawthorne and Jackson drew similar conclusions about American religious life and culture. Throughout his career, Nathaniel Hawthorne remained concerned about the hypocritical nature of puritanism. Stories like "Young Goodman Brown" darkly satirize religious fundamentalism and mob mentality. "Young Goodman Brown" is about a man who believes he might have dreamed of a strange pagan ritual set deep in the woods. Even his wife, ironically named Faith, attends the ritual. Faith's presumed faith in Christianity is proven false by her attending a Satanic rite in the woods. atching the ritual shocks Goodman Brown literally to death. In "The Lottery,"…

Works Cited

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "Young Goodman Brown." Retrieved online:  http://www.online-literature.com/poe/158/ 

Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." Retrieved online:  http://www.americanliterature.com/Jackson/SS/TheLottery.html

Likewise, "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor illustrates the cruelties of modern life. It too begins with ominous foreshadowing. The efforts of the old grandmother to look beautiful foreshadow her fate: "Her collars and cuffs were white organdy trimmed with lace and at her neckline she had pinned a purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet. In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady." The attitude of the family is evident early on when visiting a roadside diner: "No I certainly wouldn't,' June Star said. 'I wouldn't live in a broken-down place like this for a million bucks!' And she ran back to the table." The intrusion of the Misfit into the 'happy' (yet really unhappy) middle-class family's ordinary road trip ironically highlights the pettiness of their concerns, rather than the serial…

Works Cited

Elder, Walter. "That Region." The Kenyon Review. 17.4. (Autumn, 1955): 661-670.

October 7, 2008 06:02 Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4333623

Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." Classic Short Stories. October 7, 2008.  http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/lotry.html 

Lootens, Tricia. "Shirley Jackson: A Study of the Short Fiction by Joan Wylie Hall." South

setting of a story can reveal important things about the narrative's larger meaning, because the setting implies certain things about the characters, context, and themes that would otherwise remain implicit or undiscussed. In their short stories "The Lottery" and "The Rocking-Horse inner," Shirley Jackson and DH Lawrence use particular settings in order to comment on the political and socio-economic status of their characters without inserting any explicitly political or socio-economic discussion into the narrative. In the case of "The Lottery," the setting transforms the story from a one of simple horror to a more nuanced critique of American society, and particularly its dedication to arbitrary, destructive beliefs. Lawrence's "The Rocking-Horse inner" makes a similar point, but in this case the setting serves to implicitly critique the consumerism encouraged by capitalist hegemony in England. Comparing and contrasting these two settings allows one to better understand how each story makes an identifiable…

Works Cited

Jackson, Shirley. The Lottery and Other Stories. New York: Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 2005.

Lawrence, DH Selected Short Stories. Toronto: Dover Publications, 1993.

innovative tradition. Many great authors began their careers by writing short stories. Many authors whom were/are already successful practice and hone their craft by writing short stories. In the 21st century, there are many writers who specialize in short story writing, and there are in fact, new genres of short story writing in fiction, such as flash fiction, which are super short stories. Short stories provide authors a space where there are fewer rules than longer forms of fiction and even nonfiction. Short stories, in a way, are like poetry. Though poems are often bound and structured by many kinds of forms and cadences, poetry is one of the most expressive and difficult forms of literature to construct. The same goes for short stories. Short stories, at first glance, are superficially simple, yet in order to exploit the genre to its fullest and deliver a poignant or gripping emotional impact,…

Lottery" and "The Ones ho alk Away From Omelas"

Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" and Ursula LeGuin's "The Ones ho alk Away from Omelas" are both short stories that relate society's tolerance and apathy of needless pain and cruelty for the sake of superstition and tradition.

Each story is set in a small village or town and centers on a yearly festive occasion. LeGuin's story takes place in the town of Omelas during the Festival of Summer celebration, while Jackson's story is set in an unnamed village on June 27th, the day of the town's yearly lottery.

LeGuin describes the people of Omelas as happy, though "they were not simple folk ... But do not say the words of cheer much any more ... All smile have become archaic" (LeGuin pp). She goes on to write that the people of Omelas "have a bad habit, encouraged by pedants and sophisticates, of…

Work Cited

Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery."

http://www.underthesun.cc/Classics/Jackson/lottery

LeGuin, Ursula K. "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas."

http://pencible.tripod.com/pande/omelas.htm

" But he did not stayed longer and started on with his journey the animal hesitantly followed him knowing the man was in for a big trouble with that, as he was traveling the harsh weather also began making its mark on the man's body but he wanted to ignore it and in his heart he was also terming the people who tried to stop him from the journey as weak and not brave enough to undertake such adventure "Any man who was a man could travel alone." With the passage of time and journey man realized that he was fighting a losing battle against the nature and admitted the sage's saying "Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right." As one starts reading the story the reader dislikes the man's arrogance and sheer disrespect for nature but also hope for the safe journey of the person and also appreciate…

Reference:

Samuel Johnson, "Preface to Shakespeare," Prefaces and Prologues to Famous Books, ed. Charles W. Eliot. (New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1938) 208-250.

To Build a Fire' by Jack London

http://www.jacklondons.net/buildafire.html. accessed 11 February 2007

The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson

Is there such a thing as retribution, though -- or at least does evil ever regret its actions. As the story ends, Misfit seems to be thinking about goodness and probably thinking that evil is not the answer to the problems in his life. At the end of the story Misfit regrets killing Grandma, and says that "she would have been a good woman if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life." Everyone has evil inside them; sometimes we see only good or only evil; but the battle exists on various planes in a regular, almost evolutionary manner -- the conflict is what drives humans forward. What are these consequences, though? If Mme. Loisel would not have been so determined to rise above her station and show off, or if she had been more honest and less presumptive, she would not have spent a…

REFERENCES

Gretlund. J., et.al., eds. Flannery O'Connor's Radical Reality. University of South

Carolina Press.

However, the narrator eventually comes to acknowledge his ignorance after the blind man presents him with matters as seen from his point-of-view. John 14:22 applies perfectly in this situation, considering that it promotes the concept that individuals are probable to express more appreciation toward the world as a whole and toward things that previously seemed uninteresting. James 3:16 also applies in this situation because it emphasizes that jealousy and selfish ambition are probable to disrupt the peace within a family. The narrator has trouble enjoying life to the fullest because he is jealous and envious with regard to his wife's friends.

"The Lottery" shows Mr. Adams as the first persons who draws a ticket during the lottery and it would be absurd for someone to consider that this does not stand as a reference to Adam as the first man that God created. The fact that Tessie Hutchinson refrains from…

Works cited:

Carver, Raymond, "Cathedral," (Random House, 01.12.2009)

Jackson, Shirley, "The Lottery," (Dramatic Publishing Company, 1953)

Ross, Gary, "The Hunger Games"

The village priest comes to talk to him, and says, "If you reopen the path we shall have nothing to quarrel about. What I always say is: let the hawk perch and let the eagle perch'" (Achebe). What the priest means is that he is willing to accept Obi's new traditions, so long as they do not interrupt his old ones. When Obi refuses and the school is partially destroyed, tradition wins, and blind denial loses.

Tradition also wins in "The Lottery," though the outcome is far from happy. The lottery of the title selects one person from the town every year to be stoned to death by the other townspeople. Only one line is ever given as a practical explanation for this; a sing-songy rhyme that suggests it is for a good corn harvest. None of the townspeople described are farmers, and in general it seems like the people…

.."

Each woman's attitude toward life reverses upon learning the news. Mrs. Mallard goes from depression and wishing to die to happiness and hoping for a long life. "Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days...would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long." Mrs. Hutchinson goes from liking her neighbors and chatting cheerfully with the other women to fear of them and desperate pleas. "I tell you it wasn't fair. You didn't give him time enough to choose. Everybody saw that."

Both of the women end up dead in a tragic way. Mrs. Mallard dies from a heart attack and the shock of seeing her husband alive instead of dead. "When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease -- of joy that kills."…

bad it's to say that something is morally ambiguous. Moreover, something which is perceived as morally ambiguous has reasonable grounds and one could say, justifiable means for existing. Let's take, for instance, an individual who although tends to do good deeds usually, is forced by certain circumstances to behave badly: that is morally ambiguous. One such example, however general, is the presence of the courtesans in Higuchi Ichiyo's "Takekurabe" or "Child's Play," as translated in English. Although prostitutes are morally blamed, in Higuchi's story they are somewhat responsible for "how these great establishments prosper" since "the rickshaws pull up night and day. "(Higuchi 1807) Thus, the courtesans deserve certain credit for the economic survival of the Yoshiwara district, making their presence necessary and, as Higuchi acknowledges, "most of the people here, in fact, have some connection with the quarter. The menfolk do odd jobs at the less dignified houses." (Higuchi…

Yet art history continues to privilege prodigious output and monumental scale or conception over the selective and the intimate.

In the two sculptures discussed here, Bourgeois and Nevelson prove that they are equal to the task provided by the male-dominated realm of art history. In doing so, they have created two of the more innovative and confrontational works of feminist art of the 20th century.

The spider is a recurring motif in the work of Bourgeois. The spider installed at the National Gallery in ashington is one of many that she has made in her career. Bourgeois uses the spider to represent the figure of the mother - a person she loves dearly, but also has mixed feelings about. Unlike Bourgeois's sculpture, which can be viewed from any angle, Sky Cathedral is more like a painting, in that it is intended to be viewed from the front only.

The Sculptures…

Works Cited

Chadwick, Whitney. 2002. Women, Art, and Society. London: Thames & Hudson.

Showalter, Elaine. 2007. Lumps, Bumps, Bulbs, Bubbles, Bulges, Slits, Turds, Coils, Craters,

Wrinkles and Holes. Tate Etc. 11.

However, because the townspeople still object to changing or replacing it no matter how bad its condition, it is still being used. That seems to be an intended parallel to the lottery ritual itself (and to all rituals). Both the original paraphernalia and the condition of the box probably represent the ancient origin (and modern inapplicability) of most cultural rituals.

Along the same lines, the author provides a hint as to the origin of the lottery in the memory of Old Man Warner, who, in response to the suggestion that maybe the lottery should be reconsidered, recounts that "[there] Used to be a saying about 'Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.' First thing you know, we'd all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns. There's always been a lottery." The implication is that the ritual began long ago at a time when townspeople believed they had to sacrifice one of…

I was also disgusted by the jocks' inattention to their grades (or anything, for that matter, of serious importance - i.e., do any of these "special" adolescents ever so much as read a book; help a friend (with no "hidden agenda"); or volunteer community service? Of course not: they're all far too busy either indulging themselves; being indulged; and messing up other people's clubs; homes, and lives). Kevin Schertzer and John Maher (as if either needed the money) even steal money, jewelry, and other valuables from their fellow students at the Candy Cane Ball. Meanwhile, in the midst of all this jollity, Leslie is told she must transfer to West Orange High School, where she knows nobody, and receives an official diagnosis of mental retardation.

One aspect of this book that I like and admire a great deal, is that of how the author, very deftly and with apparent seamlessness…

Tradition is normally used in connection with culture and to keep a culture healthy and alive, it is important to allow traditions to stay alive as well. However traditions that place restrictions on personal, professional, emotional or spiritual growth tend to have a negative impact on entire humankind and must therefore not be followed. hen traditions are not followed, they die a natural death. Bad traditions must not be kept alive either through personal struggle or collective rebellion.

Two Kinds is one story of unproductive traditions that teaches us why some traditions are negative and hence must die. Not all traditions help in keeping a culture alive, some traditions tend to lend bad reputation to a culture and only cause culture degeneration. Two kinds by Amy Tan is one of the most heart-wrenching stories about a girl's difficult relationship with her mother. The sheer transparency of emotions can leave readers…

Works Cited

Kincaid, Jamaica. "Girl." The Harper Anthology of Fiction. Sylvan Barnet. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 1991-1190.

Discovering Fiction Student's Book 2. Cambridge University Press. 2001

176). She experienced prejudice early on in her life, and it helped build her belief that black people could make it in a white world, but that integration was extremely necessary. She attended Boston University Law School, and passed the bar in 1959. She returned to Houston to practice law, but turned to politics when her law practice stalled. She volunteered for the Kennedy campaign in 1960, and soon became well-known in Houston political circles.

She ran for the state legislature twice unsuccessfully, but she did not give up, and dedicated her entire life to politics and her constituents. She ran again in 1966, and "Her concerns were those of the people-industrial safety, welfare programs, insurance rates, vocational education, low wages, and voter registration" (Hendrickson, Collins, & Cox, 2004, p. 181). When she won the race, she was the first black woman to serve in the Texas legislature. Her character…

References

Clarke, M. (2005). Race, partisanship, and the Voting Rights Act (VRA). Texas Journal on Civil Liberties & Civil Rights, 10(2), 223+.

Gallagher, Julie. "Waging 'The Good Fight': The Political Career of Shirley Chisholm, 1953-1982." The Journal of African-American History 92.3 (2007): 392+.

Hendrickson, K.E., Collins, M., & Cox, P. (Eds.). (2004). Profiles in power: Twentieth-Century Texans in Washington (New ed.). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.

"Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm 1924-2005." The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education Jan. 2005: 45+.

Outline
I. The dangers of conformity is the main theme of both D.H. Lawrence’s short story “The Rocking-Horse Winner” and Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery.”
A. Although these stories were written in different times and places and describe different characters and events, they converge on the main theme of conformity to irrelevant or harmful social norms.
B. Both Lawrence and Jackson use literary devices like symbolism, irony, and characterization to convey the theme of conformity.
II. Characterization is central to both of these short stories, helping to show how weakness and lack of self-awareness lead to blind conformity, causing suffering and even death.
A. The mother in “The Rocking Horse Winner” is like Bill Hutchinson in “The Lottery,” even though the latter could have prevented his wife’s death.
B. Tessie and Paul are both sacrificial lambs, although Tessie does realize the stupidity of the social rules governing the community.
III. The…

S. such as providing affordable healthcare for all, paid for by raising taxes on the wealthy; making a sincere effort for energy independence, and generating more jobs while investing in renewable energy and conservation (Borosage and Heuvel).

America, after decades of its love relationship with Conservatism, topped by eight years of the disastrous Bush presidency that has left the country on the brink of financial collapse and almost universal dislike, was indeed ready for change. it, therefore, decisively rejected the candidate -- McCain -- who promised more of the same and chose the candidate for change.

as the U.S. In Need for Change?

That there was a need for change in the U.S. is a no-brainer. On the domestic front, the U.S. is facing perhaps the most formidable economic meltdown since the Great Depression of the 1930s. In eight short years, the Bush administration has managed to turn a huge…

Works Cited

Borosage, Robert and Katrina Heuvel. "What Obama Needs for Progressive Reform." The Nation. September 01, 2008. November 17, 2008.  http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080901/borosage_kvh 

Grunwald, Michael. "For Obama, Race Remains Elephant in the Room." Time Magazine. Monday, Sep. 15, 2008. November 17, 2008.  http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1841109,00.html 

It's time America should take a chance and make Barack Obama the next leader of the free world." The Economist. October 30, 2008

Jakes, T.D. "Will a Black President Really Heal the Racial Divide?" Time Magazine. November 04, 2008. November 17, 2008.  http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1856574,00.html

When Louis Derbanne dies, he leaves a valid will, but his wife is not up to managing a plantation, and the fortunes of the family begin to slide. In effect, this white woman was little better off than the slaves they refused to educate, but of course, no one would ever admit that. The planters were not very smart, they did not take pains to ensure they had all the tools to hold on to their land, and the situation with Suzette and her family, and their eventual breakup, clearly indicates that.

Another surprising fact was the information that so many white men actually took responsibility for their mulatto families, as Derbanne did with at least some of the women who fathered his children, by freeing them at his death, and that there was much more of a caste system in Louisiana than just whites and blacks. There were the…

References

Bowman, David. "The Newcomers." Book, January-February 2002, 31+.

Hill, Shirley a. "Marriage among African-American Women: A Gender Perspective." Journal of Comparative Family Studies 37, no. 3 (2006): 421+.

Richardson, Brenda. (2001). Cane River Book Review. [Online]. Available at: Findarticles.com Accessed at  http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HST/is_3_3/ai_75121825on24  April 2008. 1-3.

Tademy, Lalita. Cane River. New York, Warner Books, 2001.

Robert Hayden is set at a time during the cold climates. However, despite the time frame in which the poem was set, the poem is still applicable to situations not properly set in the cold days of living. What the poet, Robert Hayden, points out is that the labor that the narrator's father expends just to be able to make a well made fire to get out the cold in their home. The cold atmosphere in which the poem is set is not only literal, but also symbolic. The cold atmosphere that the narrator experiences and his father try to eliminate in their house is an analogy to the cold treatment that the narrator gives to his father. Despite the work the narrator's father had done just to make the house warmer, the narrator, not even a member of his family, did not thank him for his effort. The poet…

She is literally locked in the house and it becomes her "protector" of sorts. It is as real as a character because it is has a type of power over Louise. She can never leave it. After hearing the news of Brently, Louise runs up to her room and "would have no one follow her" (635). The room takes on a persona as it becomes the one thing with which Louise shares her secret of freedom. Here, she can relish in the thought of being free without worrying about the disapproval of others. Here, she can express the excitement she feels when she looks outside and considers freedom as something within her grasp. This is the only place that knows her true heart and it is the only place in which she has few minutes to taste the freedom she desires. The room envelops her and allows her to this…

Work Cited

Chopin, Kate. "The Story of an Hour." The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Lauter,

Paul, ed. Lexington D.C. Heath and Company. 1990.

Miss Brill

Judgment and Otherness in "Miss Brill"

Katherine Mansfield's short story "Miss Brill' appears at first to be a rather simplistic and superficial description of an older woman and her silly infatuation with her fur stole. By the end of the story, however, the reader realizes that there is an irony at work throughout the text on several levels, and the very appearance of superficiality that is so well-crafted early on in the story is revealed to be a misconception contrived equally by the perspective of the story itself and by the reader, who must necessarily employ their standard human perceptions, subjectivities, and judgments in order to engage with the story. Through detailed renderings of character, point-of-view, and setting -- as well as through the rather oblique nature of the story's plot -- Mansfield very poignantly and pointedly explores the theme of "otherness" and the manner in which human…