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Reading Room
Links to Readings
Please be patient, some of the files take a minute to load on dial up modems (I'm dial up so I understand). In particular the full length novels will require you to wait for the text to load. There are no graphics. Happy Reading! Check out the newly added works by Robert Frost! or go to our library and read one of six full length novels! Here are some questions to answer after you read An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and The Lottery.
An
Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
In what ways
does section 1 suggest a psychological time much slower than actual time?
Why is it
appropriate that the execution take place on a bridge over a river?
In what ways
does Bierce try to gain the reader's sympathy for Farquhar? Why does he need
to do this?
Which events
in section 3 might be read as dislocations of sensations experienced by a man
in the process of being hanged?
What would be
the result if Farquhar's imagined reunion with his wife took place after
breaking his neck?
The
Lottery
What
associations does the word "lottery" have for you? Are they relevant to the
story?
On what other
occasions might the people of the village gather in the way they do for the
lottery? Mr. Summers is in charge of "civic activities." Is the lottery one of
these? Explain.
Discuss the
degree to which the tradition of the lottery has been kept. Why does no on
want to make a new box? Why is the whole institution not abandoned?
Examine the
character of Tessie Hutchinson. She claims that her fate is not fair. Is there
any reason why she should be singled out? Is she a tragic heroine? Consider
her cry "there's Don and Eva...Make them take their chance!"
On your first
reading, when did you begin to suspect what happens at the end of the story?
How soon might it become evident? What are the most important hints?
One reason
the ending can surprise the reader is that the villagers never speak directly
of what they are about. Why not? Are they ashamed? Afraid?
Comment on
the conversation between the Adams's and Old Man Varner. What is the
implication of Steve Adam's last appearance in the story?
Does the
rhyme "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon" adequately explain the institution
of the lottery? What other reasons might people have for such behavior? What
is the social function of a scapegoat?
Discuss the
reaction of the Hutchinson family. Why does the lottery single out a family
first, then a victim?
Why are the
people in such a hurry to "finish"?
What is the
implication of "someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles?
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