Download “The Lottery” Writing Assignment

“The Lottery” Writing
Assignment
Weaknesses in Writing to Find and
Revise
Check to see if your
essay contains:
• Personal pronouns:
– I, we, us, you, me, our, mine, my
• Use of Contractions:
– can’t, won’t, couldn’t, wouldn’t,
shouldn’t, they’re, aren’t, weren’t,
wasn’t, etc.
Check to see if your
essay contains:
• Homophone mix-ups!
– Their over they’re in there car.
SHOULD BE
– They’re over there in their car.
They’re = they are
There = the place
Their = possessive form of
they; something they own
Check to see if your
essay contains:
The word “quote”
– “This quote shows…”
–States the obvious; do
not use the word “quote”
Check to see if your essay contains
Grammatically Incorrect
Incorporated Quotes
• The author states, “eventually made a
great pile of stones in the corner of the
square…”
• Correction:
– The author states that the children
“eventually made a great pile of stones in
the corner of the square…” OR
– The author states, “[The children]
eventually made a great pile of stones in the
corner of the square…”
Check to see if your essay contains
Passive Voice and Inactive Verbs
• The lottery is organized by Mr.
Summers…
– Mr. Summers organizes the lottery…
• Irony is used…
– The author uses irony
Check to see if your essay contains
Dropped Quotes
• “The children had stones ready and
someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few
pebbles” (Jackson 12). Davy Hutchinson is
Tessie’s son…
• At the end of the story, “The children had
stones ready and someone gave little Davy
Hutchinson a few pebbles” (Jackson 12).
Davy Hutchinson is Tessie’s son…
Check to see if your essay contains
Citations in the Middle of a Sentence
• According to John, “When I was five,
Sammy stole my favorite toy” (Smith 5),
which proves that Sammy demonstrated
criminal tendencies since he was a child.
• According to John, “When I was five,
Sammy stole my favorite toy,” which
proves that Sammy demonstrated criminal
tendencies since he was a child (Smith 5).
Check to see if your essay
contains Awkward Phrases
• “The children had stones ready and
someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few
pebbles” (Jackson 12). This is an example
of irony because
• An example of irony is when…
• One example is when…
• One example was when…
• This is irony because
How to correct these
Awkward Phrases
• State the example first, then use an
active verb to state that the example
illustrates the point that you’re trying to
make.
• The children give young Davy
Hutchinson, Tessie’s son, stones to
throw at her, which demonstrates
situational irony. Readers do not expect
that the victim’s son would participate in
the murder of his mother.
DON’T FORGET!
To prove this thesis, this
interpretation must contain two
parts. It must:
1. explain how the quote demonstrates
foreshadowing or irony
2. explain how this instance of
foreshadowing or irony enhances
the suspenseful elements of the
story