Read the excerpt from "The Lottery." Because so much of the ritual had been forgotten or discarded, Mr. Summers had been successful in having slips of paper substituted for the chips of wood that had been used for generations. Chips of wood, Mr. Summers had argued, had been all very well when the village was tiny, but now that the population was more than three hundred and likely to keep on growing, it was necessary to use something that would fit more easily into the black box. The night before the lottery, Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves made up the slips of paper and put them in the box, and it was then taken to the safe of Mr. Summers' coal company and locked up until Mr. Summers was ready to take it to the square next morning. The rest of the year, the box was put away, sometimes one place, sometimes another; it had spent one year in Mr. Graves's barn and another year underfoot in the post office, and sometimes it was set on a shelf in the Martin grocery and left there. What important information does the setting in this excerpt communicate about the story? The setting reveals that the village people rarely shop for groceries because there is only one grocery store. The setting proves that the old way of selecting the names from the black box is better. The setting reveals that the village population is small and maintains a country lifestyle. The setting describes why special care is taken to secure the black box and the village family names.

The important information the setting in this excerpt communicates about the story is:

C. The setting reveals that the village population is small and maintains a country lifestyle.

Explanation:

As is revealed in this excerpt, the population of this village is of less than 300 people. It is clearly a small village that still maintains a country lifestyle. It mentions a post office, a grocery store, a barn... - it all sounds provincial. The excerpt shows that the box is only under special care the night before the event. For the rest of the year, it is left pretty much anywhere. The excerpt shows the old way of selecting names is now impractical, since chips of wood wouldn't fit in the box anymore. The excerpt does not gives enough information to conclude that people rarely shop for groceries. Therefore, we can safely choose letter C as our The setting reveals that the village population is small and maintains a country lifestyle.

"the monkey's paw" is a rare story in that the theme is actually stated in the story. sgt. maj. morris tells the whites that the old fakir who put the spell on the paw said, "fate rules people's lives and those who interfere with fate do so to their sorrow." the message is a warning, but mr. white doesn't believe it. even though sgt. maj. morris makes it clear that he tried wishing with unfortunate results and he tries to throw the paw on the fire,   mr. white makes a wish for 200 pounds only to find that he receives the money when herbert dies in a factory accident. according to the fakir, then, because mr. white had wished for something he should not have had, his son lost his life.

the second wish that mrs. white encourages him to make is for herbert's return--one week after his death. when the strange knocking begins at the door during the windy night, mr. white panicks, believing that the previously dead but still mangled herbert could have walked home from the cemetary and is now at the door. because he fears what his wife will find if she opens the door, mr. white makes his third wish--for the noise to stop.

therefore, he uses his three wishes and to his sorrow, loses his son and disappoints his wife, who fervently believed that their son was at the door. she wanted him back, regardless of his condition.

explanation: