This is a low stake writing assignment done before students began their formal essay. 

Directions:

After reading the following excerpt from “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, follow the instructions for your creative writing piece.

“Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones. The pile of stones the boys had made earlier was ready; there were stones on the ground with the blowing scraps of paper that had come out of the box Delacroix selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands and turned to Mrs. Dunbar “Come on,” she said. “Hurry up.”

At this point in the story, you will put yourself as one of the characters in the village of “The Lottery” as “the voice of reason.” Right before Mrs. Hutchinson is about to be stoned to death, “the voice of reason” stands up to make this announcement. Write down what you would say to the group as they are about to stone Mrs. Hutchinson. 

You can only pick ONE side to defend (either stop the group from stoning Mrs. Hutchinson or explain why the stoning needs to be done). You need to convince the group of villagers to see your point of view.