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The Lottery – General Directions and Contents

Let the students know that they’re going to watch The Lottery. Based on the short story written by Shirley
Jackson of the same name, the short film is about a fictional small town which observes an annual ritual
known as "the lottery".
Links to view the video online:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1TV1R1kK9A (best quality)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQQoMCaUz5Y (alternative if the other one is missing)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf35fDn4sGc (alternative with 10 minute commentary from James Durbin)

PART 1 – Comprehension Questions. Answer key included.

 15 questions to keep the students on track

PART 2 – Critical thinking and discussion questions

 10 thought provoking questions for the students to complete once finished watching the film. The
students can then be brought together in either groups of 2 or 3 to further discuss their questions.
Followed by a class discussion, each group to present their findings for each question one after the
other.

Marking idea for the comprehension questions

When the students have finished the questions, they swap their work with their friends to mark. We go
through together as a class, taking it in turns to ask and answer questions. Students can also check
grammar and spelling if more advanced, and then rechecked by the teacher.

Enjoy the short film and the questions!

______________________________________________________________________________________________
Name _____________________________ THE LOTTERY
1. What were the kids searching for on the ground? ___________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. What does Steve hate to eat? _________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. What were the 2 men carrying with them to the crowd? ____________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. What did he take from his top pocket? _______________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. What date is the lottery on? __________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
6. What had happened to Clive Dunbar? ________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
7. In what order were the names read out? _____________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
8. In which County were they thinking of giving up the lottery? ________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
9. What did Old Man Warner say there would be a lot of after the lottery? ____________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
10. What number lottery was it for Old Man Warner? ___________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
11. Who had the black spot? ____________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
12. Why did Harry prepare four tickets for the box? ____________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
13. Who took the first slip of paper? ____________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
14. Who had the black spot this time? __________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
15. What happened to Tessie? _______________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Copyright © 2019 by Mr Hull’s Movie Guides

Name _____________________________ THE LOTTERY

1. Tessie mentioned Bill wasn’t given enough time. Why do you think having more time would have
made a difference?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Even though the townsfolk knew what was going to happen, why do you think they were only
talking about mundane things like taxes and fixing a roof?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Why do you think it was the men of the family that had to choose the paper?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. Why do you think they weren’t able to open the slips until everyone had chosen one?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. Why do you think some of the townsfolk were so eager to throw the rocks first?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6. Why do you think some of the other Counties had given up the lottery?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7. What do you think was the purpose of the lottery?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8. Why do you think everyone is so calm whilst performing the lottery?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9. How is this related to traditions? Can you give examples of traditions that are followed but it’s not
really clear why?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10. If you arrived at this town and found out about this lottery, what would you do to try and convince
them to change their ways?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Copyright © 2019 by Mr Hull’s Movie Guides

ANSWERS
THE LOTTERY

1. What were the kids searching for on the ground? Lots of rocks
2. What does Steve hate to eat? He hates to eat T.V dinners
3. What were the 2 men carrying with them to the crowd? It was a stool and a chest
4. What did he take from his top pocket? It was a piece of folded paper with the men’s
names from the community
5. What date is the lottery on? It’s on June 27th (They hear June from answer to Q9)
6. What had happened to Clive Dunbar? He had broken his leg
7. In what order were the names read out? They were read in alphabetical order of the
surname.
8. In which County were they thinking of giving up the lottery? In Warren County
9. What did Old Man Warner say there would be a lot of after the lottery? He said there
would be a lot of corn soon
10. What number lottery was it for Old Man Warner? It was his 77th
11. Who had the black spot? It was Bill Hutchinson
12. Why did Harry prepare four tickets for the box? Because Bill had 3 children and 1 for his
wife for a new selection
13. Who took the first slip of paper? It was little Davey
14. Who had the black spot this time? It was Tessie

15. What happened to Tessie? The community stoned her to death

Teacher Notes:

The Lottery is all about tradition, even down to the fine points such as finishing it on time. Tessie mentioned
twice that Bill wasn’t given enough time to choose, yet this won’t change the luck of the draw even if he was
given more time. Perhaps it’s because they have always been given a certain amount of time to take a slip of
paper, as per the tradition. We hear later on that having the lottery in June meant the corn would grow soon,
meaning as long as they followed what they’d always done, they’d be ok.

The story also speaks of mob mentality and the idea that people can abandon reason and act cruelly if they
are part of a large group of people behaving in the same manner. The idyllic setting of the story also
demonstrates that violence and evil can take place anywhere and in any context. This also shows how people
can turn on each other so easily, such as when Tessie’s friends were eager to hurry up the process of stoning
her to death.

Copyright © 2019 by Mr Hull’s Movie Guides