Challenges & Opportunities of Teaching The Lottery

Including "The Lottery" in the curriculum, introduces an enormously rich tradition to the classroom, reinforcing larger themes in American literature. Jackson draws from the American horror/Gothic tradition made popular by Poe. Her work serves as a link between the elder statesman of gloom and doom to the best horror writers of today, such as Stephen King and Anne Rice.

There's no doubt horrific tales are a major part of popular culture. We're willing to go out a limb and say that "The Lottery" probably has a bit more literary merit than a lot the genre's modern incarnations. The story provides a great opportunity to reel students in with a genre they recognize, and then to show them how that genre can connect with larger ideas and themes.