Text Evidence in “The Lottery”
(DIRECTIONS)

1. Find two pieces of evidence that show tradition was important to the villagers.

2. Find evidence that the villagers cared less and less about the details of the ritual as years passed.

3. Find evidence that shows how blindly following tradition can be dangerous.

4. Find two pieces of evidence that show that some villagers did have reservations about killing other villagers.

5. Find evidence that shows the villagers valued traditional (old-fashioned) gender roles within the family.

6. Find evidence of one family member betraying another.

(EVIDENCE)

A Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her. “It isn’t fair,” she said. A stone hit her on the side of the head.

B There was a story that the present box had been made with some pieces of the box that had preceded it, the one that had been constructed when the first people settled down to make a village here.

C A tall boy in the crowd raised his hand. “Here,” he said. “I’m drawing for my mother and me.” He blinked his eyes nervously and ducked his head as several voices in the crowd said things like “Good fellow” and “Glad to see your mother’s got a man to do it.”

D The crowd was quiet. A girl whispered, “I hope it’s not Nancy,” and the sound of the whisper reached the edges of the crowd.

E “All right,” Mr. Summers said. “Open the papers. Harry, you open little Dave’s.” Mr. Graves opened the slip of paper and there was a general sigh through the crowd as he held it up and everyone could see that it was blank.

F “...First thing you know, we’d all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns. There’s always been a lottery,” he added petulantly. “Bad enough to see young Joe Summers up there joking with everybody.”

G “Bill,” he said, “you draw for the Hutchinson family. You got any other households in the Hutchinsons?” “There’s Don and Eva,” Mrs. Hutchinson yelled. ”Make them take their chance!”

H There had been, also, a ritual salute, which the official of the lottery had had to use in addressing each person who came up to draw from the box, but this also had changed with time...