Discussion Board
In this discussion board, I want you to think about and discuss this essay - "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, which can be obtained by Googling author and title - in two different ways, in two paragraphs:
Formal Criticism - This deals with how the piece stands on its own. Why would the author write this? What is this point she is trying to make? Overall, what did you think of this story?
Contextual Criticism - This deals with the piece in terms of the artists/author's life, politics, the time in which is was written, etc. For example, if I told you that she wrote this shortly after World War II, and it was published in 1948, does that change the way you think about the story? This was a time of concentration camps, the first use of the atomic bomb, great sacrifice, great loss of life. How do all of these factors play in to the story?