The black box is the box that the names are picked out of for the lottery, every time the lottery takes place. ... It shows just how much the villagers do not want to replace the black box. ... The villagers are still loyal to the black box, because the box, "had been made with some pieces of the box that had preceded it," (Jackson 84). The villagers are following a tradition by using the black box that has pieces of the previous box. ... The black box symbolizes death and darkness. ...

• Word Count: 975
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Every year the village would place a wooden black box and place their names inside of it. ... Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about "making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box" (265). ... The significance of the wooden black box is that someone will draw a person's name and that person will be stoned to death. ... When the black box is introduced it changes the mood and atmosphere to the story and the people. ... The black box presents all evil acts that have happened to the people in the past. ...

• Word Count: 556
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

The black box is an ill-omened symbol, marking one unlucky winner to be morbidly murdered by their fellow villagers. ... The villager's attitude towards the black box and its traditions goes unquestioned. ... Summer often suggests having a new box made but his suggestion goes unanswered because "no one liked to upset even as much has tradition was represented by the black box " (134). ... The color black is well known to generally symbolize for death. ... The black box of death is placed on top of the three legged stool of the Christian Trinity. ...

• Word Count: 686
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

The atmosphere is serious, where the children are "gathered around quietly." (335) The black box is the central theme or idea in the story. ... Someone's fate lies in an dull object, the black box. ... The box is symbolic of our dislike of change; it is old and splintered (337) showing that we cling to what is familiar rather than change and it also symbolizes the traditions of the community. No one in the little town questions the origin of the black box, but accepts it as part of their lives. ...

• Word Count: 454
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Then unexpectedly her family gets the paper with the black dot, and Mrs. ... The author also uses the black box to set an uneasy mood when she says" "the stool was put in the center of the square and Mr. Summers set the black box down on it. ... They seem to be scared of what the box represents, a symbol of bad luck. ...

• Word Count: 648
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

This quote makes me pictures a mob of people standing around the black box and Mr. ... When they reached into the black box, they reach into the unknown. The color black is very symbolic. ... When you"re in a completely black room, you can't see anything. ...

• Word Count: 519
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

The reader eventually learns that the gathering is part of a sick and twisted tradition in which the members of the village drew slips of paper from a box and who ever drew the slip with a black spot was stoned to death. ... The black box holds the key between life and death to every person in the town. It seemed as though the black box came to life and chose Mrs. ...

• Word Count: 746
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Also used is the black box that they draw the tickets from. This box represents the traditions of the town and the sole purpose of the lottery. The characters in the story are so resistant to change that they refuse to build a new box. Even the current box is built from pieces of the old one. ...

• Word Count: 654
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Each head of household, usually a male, is require to draw a paper from a black box. The family representative who draws out the slip with a black dot will then redraw. This time, the black box contains enough white slips representing each member of the family minus one, which will be replacing with a slip containing a black dot. Whatever family member draws the paper with the black dot is the final winner but their winning will result in being stoned to death. ...

• Word Count: 670
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Also, their attitude toward the black box that holds the slips of paper was one of indifference. "The black box grew shabbier each year; by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some place faded or stained." ...

• Word Count: 717
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

A black box has always been used to hold the slips of paper for the lottery. "The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born" (Jackson 348). ... After one family draws the black dotted paper, another drawing takes place. All members in the family are given a slip of paper, again with only one containing a black dot. ... Hutchinson draws the black dotted paper, no one retreats from the task at hand. ...

• Word Count: 940
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

The whole tradition of the drawing slips of paper from a black wooden box has its roots in ancient history and people already forgot the original reason of it. ... The slip of paper with a black point finally ends in the hands of Tessie Hutchinson. ... Apart from that, he also begins talking about a new wooden box because the old one grew shabbier each year. But in this case he is not successful because of disagreement of those people who believe that the present box had been made with some pieces of the original box which had been constructed by people who established their village. ......

• Word Count: 2043
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

Also, when the black box is brought in, the mood and atmosphere of the residents noticeably change. A "murmur of conversation"(256) rolls through the crowd, and when the lottery official asks for help carrying the box, there "s a "hesitation"(256) before two men step forward to assist him. ...

• Word Count: 643
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Making up the slips of paper that will go into the black box, and conducting the actual lottery, are his two most important jobs. ... Summers was very good at all of this; in his clean white shirt and blue jeans, with one hand resting carelessly on the black box" (134). ...

• Word Count: 1102
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson In the story "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, villagers gather together in the center of the town each year for an annual lottery. There is much excitement and interest at the rituals of the event proceeds. The winning family is chosen by ballot, and from tha...

• Word Count: 512
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

The short story, "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson is about small village that has a dark tradition. Men of each family must pick a slip of paper from a black box. These slips of paper will determine the fate of the lottery and also of a family. One message the author may be conveying to the reader i...

• Word Count: 1411
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

On June 28th 1948, when Shirley Jackson's bone chilling short story, "The Lottery,"" was published, the feedback was not what Jackson presumed. The audience found the story to be shocking, outrageous and gruesome. The Lottery is a short story about an annual tradition, it is a random selection of on...

• Word Count: 827
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School