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Foreshadowing And Tone In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

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The use of foreshadowing and tone in Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery effectively establishes the suspense and a sense of dread in the story. The writer holds back on the revelation of what is happening for so long yet there are subtle uses of foreshadowing to prepare the reader. When the characters assemble in the town square for “the lottery”, it creates suspense as a lottery is usually a positive event. The first example of foreshadowing is when the boys begin to stuff their pockets with stones, at that point in the story – there is no explanation for this yet by the end of the story, this event turns the ending into a realization rather than a surprise. There are many signs of tension throughout the story but they are all subtler than piles

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