¡  Shirley  Jackson’s  short  story  “The  Lottery”  is  a  very  interesting  read,  but  as  with  most  short  stories,  there  is  a  lot  of  the  story  that  isn’t  told.  §  How  did  the  Lottery  start?  §  Under  what  situations  did  people  find  the  Lottery  necessary?  

§  How  has  the  Lottery  evolved  or  stayed  the  same  over  the  years?  

¡ Write  a  Wikipedia  article  about  the  history  of  “The  Lottery.”  § This  is  both  a  creative  writing  assignment  and  an  informative  essay.  ▪  It’s  creative  because  you’re  making  up  the  history  of  the  Lottery.  ▪  It’s  informative  because  you  will  be  educating  your  audience  on  the  history  you’ve  created.  

•     First,  brainstorm  your  Lottery  history  •   Why  was  the  Lottery  created?  • Religious  reason?  • As  a  reaction  to  some  disease?  • A  form  of  population  control?  

•   Who  were  the  first  people  to  practice  it?  • Early  settlers  to  the  Americas?  • An  ancient  tribe  on  an  isolated  island?  

• What  other  questions  are  there?  

¡  These  questions  can  help  you  brainstorm…  § What?    As  in  what  conditions  led  to  the  Lottery?  § Where?    As  in  where  did  the  Lottery  begin?  § Why?    As  in  why  did  people  start  the  Lottery?  § When?    As  in  when  did  they  put  the  Lottery  into  law?  

§ Who?    As  in  who  were  the  creators  of  the  Lottery?  §  How?    As  in  how  has  the  Lottery  changed  and  stayed  the  same  over  the  years?  

¡  Get  on  Wikipedia  and  read  a  few  articles  that  detail  the  history  of  a  person,  place,  or  event.  § This  will…  ▪ Help  you  format  your  own  Wikipedia  article.  ▪ Give  you  examples  of  how  a  informational  article  sounds.  ▪ Show  you  what  kind  of  information  most  historical  articles  include.  

¡ While  researching  articles  on  Wikipedia  keep  in  mind  that…  §  Some  articles  on  Wikipedia  are  real  snoozers.    You  want  your  article  to  be  interesting.  

§  Some  articles  on  Wikipedia  are  unnaturally  long  and  a  tad  too  detailed.    Your  article  should  give  a  good  history,  but  should  still  be  interesting  and  concise.      

¡  Next,  outline  the  organization  of  your  Lottery  history.  •  Decide  how  to  order  your  information.  ▪  By  importance?  ▪  By  chronological  order?  ▪  By  some  other  organization?    

 See  handout  for  an  example  of  an  outline.  

Wikipedia  usually  starts  off  its  article  with  an  overview  paragraph.    It  gives  all  the  crucial  info,  but  keeps  it  short  and  sweet.  

Wikipedia  usually  has  pictures  and  other  diagrams  to  complement  their  articles.  

A  Wikipedia  article  has  a  “Contents”  section.    Notice  how  it  looks  eerily  similar  to  an  outline?  

Notice  the  relevant  links  on  the  side?    What  other  topics  would  your  readers  like  to  learn  about  based  on  the  events  and  topics  in  your  history?  

And  now  our  history  begins.    Notice  the  use  of  pictures,  headings,  and  subheadings.  

•     Your  reader  will  expect….  An  unbiased  report  

Something  interesting  to  read  

Clear  organization  

An  article  they  can  understand  

¡  Do  not  use  “I”  or  “you”  in  your  article.  ¡  Do  not  express  opinion,  only  facts.    And  by  facts,  we  mean  the  facts  you’ve  made  up.    

¡  Present  more  than  one  point  of  view.    Perhaps  your  history  will  include  a  view  from  people  both  for  and  against  the  Lottery.    While  these  are  opinions  of  “others”,  you  will  remain  unbiased.  

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¡  Just  as  with  persuasive  writing,  you  want  to  catch  and  keep  your  audience’s  attention.  

¡  Start  with  a  hook  §  An  interesting  statement  or  event  ▪  “It  was  in  the  heat  of  summer  in  early  1765  when  the  first  stone  was  thrown.    Susan  Allen,  an  aged  woman  of  65,  was  the  Lottery’s  first  winner.”  

§  A  startling  fact  or  statistic  ▪  “A  yearly  ritual,  the  Lottery  has  executed  an  estimated  2,000  citizens  since  its  inception.”  

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¡  Stick  to  your  outline  and  present  the  information  clearly.  §  A  clear  introduction  of  the  topic  is  a  must.  §  Each  following  paragraph  should  focus  on  a  specific  topic,  be  it  a  person,  place  or  event  in  your  history.  

§  Use  linking  words  between  paragraphs  (i.e  next,  afterwards,  therefore,  etc)  

§  Take  advantage  of  anecdotes  to  help  the  reader  follow  your  history.    This  will  also  help  with  keeping  the  article  interesting  to  read.  ▪  Anecdote:    a  short  and  interesting  story  taken  from  a  person’s  past  experience.    These  would  be  stories  you’d  make  up  for  the  different  people  you’ve  included  in  your  history.  

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¡  Use  appropriate  vocabulary.  §  This  isn’t  the  time  to  show  off  all  the  really  long  words  you  know.  

¡  When  appropriate,  make  use  of  bulleted  lists,  headings  or  subheadings,  pictures  or  diagrams.  

¡  Write  concise  sentences,  varying  in  length.  §  Shorter  sentences  are  always  crisper  and  more  clear,  but  a  variety  of  sentence  lengths  will  keep  the  reader  interested  and  engaged.  

¡  Create  good  flow  between  paragraphs.  §  Remember  those  linking  words.  §  A  good  transition  sentence  at  the  beginning  and  end  of  each  paragraph  will  help  your  reader  understand.  

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¡  A  template  for  Wikipedia  formatting  is  available  for  your  use.  

¡  You  may  also  want  to  take  a  look  at  the  outlining  handout  and  the  “Transitional  Phrases  for  a  Successful  and  Completely  Awesome  Essay”  handout.      

¡ Good  luck!