Shirley Jackson was famously tight-lipped about her story's theme, leaving her audience confused, disgusted, and angry—but also incredibly intrigued! In this discussion, you'll work with your classmates to ask, and answer, questions that will help you to unlock the theme of the story. Take a look at Arnold's post.

Here's a question I have: I really think Old Man Warner is an important character to analyze if we wish to discover the theme. Why is his reaction to the lottery so very different from everybody else's? Why does he react so strongly (even angrily) to one woman's timid observation that "some places have already quit lotteries"?

Poses at least two questions that will prompt your classmates to think critically about the story's theme.

Which sentence best contrasts two things? a. air travel, like bus travel, is a fun way to get from one place to another. b. air travel is a fun and relatively easy way to get from place to place. c. both bus travel and air travel require substantial planning. d. air travel is much more expensive than bus travel.

Welcome to the vocabulary assessment. by connecting with words in a more interactive way, through a graphic organizer that includes your own ideas, we hope you will learn new vocabulary strategies to integrate into your course work and your everyday life. objectives: use a variety of techniques to acquire a range of words determine, clarify, and illustrate the meaning of unfamiliar words to ensure that you properly and successfully complete the vocabulary assessment, do the following: complete the assessment using the passage provided. select a word from the passage, and identify/create each of the following for that word: denotation connotations synonyms antonyms affixes the sentence from the passage where the word appears an original sentence using the word a memory trick type your responses in the appropriate boxes. after you have typed your responses, print your graphic organizer and submit it to your teacher. be careful not to refresh the page before printing, as some browsers will not save your work. passage from "the pit and the pendulum" by edgar allan poe very suddenly there came back to my soul motion and sound—the tumultuous motion of the heart, and in my ears the sound of its beating. then a pause in which all is blank. then again sound, and motion, and touch, a tingling sensation pervading my frame. then the mere consciousness of existence, without thought, a condition which lasted long. then, very suddenly, thought, and shuddering terror, and earnest endeavor to comprehend my true state. then a strong desire to lapse into insensibility. then a rushing revival of soul and a successful effort to move. and now a full memory of the trial, of the judges, of the sable draperies, of the sentence, of the sickness, of the swoon. then entire forgetfulness of all that followed; of all that a later day and much earnestness of endeavor have enabled me vaguely to recall.

Identify the participle or infinitive phrase in the sentence below