READING REPORT

TITLE: "The Lottery"

●
AUTHOR: Shirley Jackson

SETTING: A small town that resembles most American small towns

CHARACTERS:
●
Tessie Hutchinson, Bill’s wife, draws the second black dot
and is stoned to death by her fellow villagers.

● Mr. Summers is the town official who conducts the

lottery and brings out the black box full of paper slips.

● Mr. Graves, the postmaster, brings the stool for the black
box to the town square.

● Bill Hutchinson draws the first black dot. Because he is the

head of his household, this triggers a second round of
drawings for his family

SUMMARY: The story

an annual tradition describes
known as "thealottery,"
fictionalinsmall
whichAmerican
a membertown which
of the observesis
community
selected by chance and stoned.
As Shirleystones
gathering Jackson's ''The
as the Lottery''
girls watch opens,
and talkthe local boys
amongst are gleefully
themselves. School is
out for the summer, so the children are enjoying a break from their studies.
The adults, clearly friends and neighbors in the small village, greet each
other as all assemble on the square for the lottery. Beneath the cheerful
facade, however, people are serious and focused on the event that is about
to take place.

Mr. Summers is in charge of the lottery and other ''civic activities'' in the
town. He arrives with a black wooden box, followed by Mr. Graves, the
postmaster, who is carrying a stool to set the box on. The box is filled with
small pieces of paper to be used for the lottery drawing. Mr. Summers asks
for help as he randomly mixes the pieces of paper, and Mr. Martin and his
son Baxter step forward to assist him.

The last person to arrive at the gathering is Tessie Hutchinson. As she

makes her way to her husband's side, she jokes that she is late because
she doesn't want to leave dirty dishes in her sink.

The black box is not the original box used by the town for the lottery, but it
is rumored to contain some of the wood from the original. Mr. Summers
argues every year that a new box should be built. The villagers do not want
a new box because they are reluctant to change anything about the ritual,
so the old box is stored all year until it is needed for the annual lottery. Mr.
Summers, however, has been able to persuade the villagers to allow him
one small change to the tradition. He is allowed to use paper for the
drawing instead of the wooden chips that had been used at one time.

The lottery occurs on June 27, but area towns with a larger population
sometimes start the lottery on June 26. Mr. Summers makes certain that
the lottery proceeds in an orderly manner. The lottery participants,
beginning with Mr. Adams, step forward to draw in alphabetical order
according to their last names. As the lottery progresses, Mr. Adams
mentions that another town in the area has stopped holding the lottery. Old
Man Warner disapproves and adds that he has always heard an old saying
that links the lottery to the production of corn. He cautions that no good will
come of altering or halting the lottery tradition.

MORAL LESSON:
The danger of holding on to tradition or loyalty to a group at the cost of ethical

and moral responsibility.

READING REPORT

Title: Footnote to Youth

Author: Jose Garcia Villa

Settings: In a province farm.

Characters: Dodong – A young farmer who was married at a young age.

Teang – Dodong’s wife.

Lucio – Teang’s suitor which is 9 years older than Dodong.

Blas - Teang and Dodong’s first child.

Tona - The girl that Blas wants to marry.

Plot of the story: Dodong wanted to marry Teang and asked his father's
permission.

Thinking that since they are young, their love would be short, his father
allowed them to get married. After nine months, Teang gave birth to a child
named Blas, and for six consecutive years, a new child came along. Teang
did not complain even though she secretly regretted being married at an
early age. Sometimes she even wondered if she would have the same life if
Lucio, her other suitor who was nine years older than Dodong, was the one
she married. Lucio has had no children since the time he married. When
Blas was 18, he told his father that he would marry Tona. Dodong did not
object, but tried to make Blas think twice before rushing to marriage
because Dodong doesn't want Blas to end up like him. Introduction: The
sun was salmon and hazy in the west. Dodong thought to himself he would
tell his father about Teang when he got home, after he had unhitched the
carabao from the plow, and let it to its shed and fed it. He was hesitant
about saying it, but he wanted his father to know. What he had to say was
of serious import as it would mark a climacteric in his life. Dodong finally
decided to tell it, at a thought came to him his father might refuse to
consider it. His father was silent hard-working farmer who chewed areca
nut, which he had learned to do from his mother, Dodong's grandmother. I
will tell it to him. I will tell it to him. Rising Action: Dodong asked Teang if
wanted to marry him and she said yes. He then went to his father and
asked him permission to marry Teang but his father just kept silent.The
silence became intense and cruel. Dodong was uncomfortable and then
became angry because his father kept looking at him without uttering
anything. He desperately said that he’d marry Teang. There was impatient
clamor in his voice, an exacting protest at this coldness, this indifference.
Dodong looked at his father sourly. He cracked his knuckles one by one,
and the little sounds it made broke dully the night stillness. Finally, words
came out of his father’s mouth. "Must you marry, Dodong?" he asked.
Dodong resented his father's questions; his father himself had married.
Dodong made a quick impassioned easy in his mind about selfishness, but
later he got confused. His father then told him that he was very young, and
he answered that he was already 17 years old and that he really wants to
marry Teang for she was a good girl. His father told him to ask his mother
about it instead and Dodong’s mother agreed. There was a strange
helpless light in his father's eyes. Climax: Dodong saw her wife in the
“papag” with his firstborn child. He heard his baby’s cry named Blas that
pierced him queerly. He could not control the swelling happiness in him and
also felt embarrassed because he is not still ready to support a family.
Then Dodong wanted to touch the baby and give him a sense of father’s
touch. The following action: Many more children came. For six successive
years a new child came along. Dodong did not want any more children, but
they came. It seemed the coming of children could not be helped. Dodong
got angry with himself sometimes. Teang did not complain, but the bearing
of children told on her. She was shapeless and thin now, even if she was
young. There was interminable work to be done. Cooking. Laundering. The
house. The children. She cried sometimes, wishing she had not married.
She did not tell Dodong this, not wishing him to dislike her. Yet she wished
she had not married. Not even Dodong, whom she loved. Ending: When
Blas was eighteen he came home one night very flustered and happy. It
was late at night and Teang and the other children were asleep. Dodong
heard Blas's steps, for he could not sleep well of nights. Dodong called him
name and asked why he did not sleep. Blas said he could not sleep.
Dodong then told him to sleep because it was already late. Blas called
softly. Dodong stirred and asked him what it was. Blas said that he wants to
marry Tona and that she accepted him already. Dodong rose from his mat
and told Blas to follow him. They descended to the yard, where everything
was still and quiet. The moonlight was cold and white. Dodong asked Blas
again if he really wanted to marry Tona and Blas said yes.He did not want
Blas to marry yet. Blas was very young. The life that would follow marriage
would be hard.

Lesson Learned :

Marriage is a lifetime commitment. Before getting married, make it to the

point that you are already committed to spending the rest of your life with
your partner. Always put God in the center of your marriage and ask Him
for immense guidance. Always strive hard to be a good spouse as one can
be. Love each other and help build a relationship that will last for a lifetime.