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Literary Elements Used In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

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Shirley Jackson is known for her supernatural novels, her most famous novels are “The Haunting of Hill House” and “The Lottery” with many more to follow. Jackson’s work was the most popular during the twentieth century. The story “The Lottery” is based in the late 1940’s in a time after World War II. Literary elements used in this story are irony; because when you begin to read the story it makes the reader believe the winner is going to win something but at the end the “winner” dies. Another term used is setting and conflict because they help explain the story in more detail and give the story a plot twist and makes it more interesting for the reader. The Lottery is about this village and how they follow tradition every year and someone from the town has to pay for it. “Am I walking toward something I should be running away from?” –Shirley Jackson's, The Haunting of Hill House is a quote about Jackson. Jackson uses irony, conflict and setting to illustrate the theme of death in her short story “The Lottery”. …show more content…

In ”The Lottery” the author shows irony before even reading the story. When you think about it the lottery sounds like the winner is going to win something, however in this story Jackson made it a tragedy and the “winner” dies. The author uses irony more than one in this story to make the readers believe the village people are happy and nothing is wrong. When Tessie, the winner of the lottery, screams and says “It isn't fair, it isn't right.” This act of irony tells the readers that if someone else was to be chosen she would not have a problem filling the tradition of the

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