Shirley Jackson Trivia

1. What season does the lottery take place in?

From Quiz Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery"

Answer: Summer

An annual lottery takes place in each village on June 27th. In some places where there is a large number of people, the lottery starts on June 26th and ends on June 27th. The weather is described as warm and a full summer day. Flowers are in full bloom and the grass is green. The lottery starts in the morning, at 10 a.m.

From Quiz The Haunting of Hill House

Answer: Two

Dr. John Montague, an anthropologist, is set to investigate the allegedly paranormal occurrences at Hill House through methods celebrated in the Victorian era-- he and his assistants shall stay in the abode to analyze things first-hand. To do this, however he needs to gather assistants based on their propensity towards the supernatural. He sends twelve invites; four respond; only two show up. One of these is Eleanor Vance, a woman working as a nurse for her invalid mother. At a young age, she and her sister may have been responsible for a hail of rocks raining down on their house. She steals her sister's car (which is half her own) and drives out to Hillsdale for the event. Another is Theodora, a woman who only accepted the invite because she had a fight with her roommate. A third person is sent along-- Luke Sanderson, who's set to inherit Hill House from his aunt.

From Quiz "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson

Answer: 1948

"The Lottery" was first published in the June 26, 1948 edition of "The New Yorker" magazine, the same month in which Jackson wrote it. The story received more mail than any other short story in the history of the magazine--most of it negative.

From Quiz "Life Among the Savages" and "Raising Demons"

Answer: a sharply leaning left-hand gatepost

Everyone in town had an opinion on what to do about that gatepost, until Sally "magicked" the right-hand one "just slightly" off its foundations. "I got the impression that there was a general feeling that we ourselves had made the ultimate dead-pan joke about the crooked gatepost, and further discussion would be superfluous."

From Quiz Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery"

Answer: 300

As a practice, everyone in a village comes together on an annual basis for an event called the lottery. It is not yet known to the reader what the purpose of the lottery is. In this particular village, which is called small compared to others, there are approximately three hundred people. As a result, the lottery can take place on one single day. The lottery starts at 10 a.m. and, because of the number of villagers, is finished by noon.

From Quiz The Haunting of Hill House

Answer: Eleanor

Eleanor ends up being the first to arrive at Hill House, even before Dr. Montague, and she's greeted not-so-cordially by the housekeepers, Mr. and Mrs. Dudley, the former of which tries to impose his authority on her and the latter of whom does nothing to dispell the overbearing terror the house seems to emanate. Eleanor is shown to the Blue room shortly before Theodora arrives; she is led to the Green room, directly adjacent and connected by a bathroom. The two decide to brighten their wardrobe to oppose the frightening decor and architecture of the Victorian house before exploring the grounds and getting to know each other. Both are afraid of what awaits them.

From Quiz "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson

Answer: June 27

The day the lottery is held is significant for two reasons: 1)it is the day after the publication date in "The New Yorker" magazine. It must have been interesting to those first readers of the story to see the day's date on the story! and 2)The date plays into the reason the town holds its yearly lottery: making a human sacrifice to ensure a plentiful crop.

From Quiz Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery"

Answer: Mr Summers

Mr Summers is the coal man. He is depicted as friendly and round-faced. He has no children and his wife is described as a "scold." He runs many community activities such as the Halloween program, dances and the teen club. Mr Summers was able to change the original practice of having wood chips used in the annual ritual to slips of paper to make it more efficient to run the lottery.

From Quiz The Haunting of Hill House

Answer: In a parlor of sorts

When Eleanor and Theodora arrive back at the house they're met by Luke, the heir of the house, who greets them in a friendly manner. All three are then taken inside by Dr. Montague who quickly brings them all together for martinis in an off-to-the-side parlor furnished with oak wood and maroon furniture. They decide that this shall be as good a room as any to use for a home base (provided they add more furniture). They lighten the mood considerably by engaging in friendly banter before making their way (with a bit of trouble) to the dining room across the house. Mrs. Dudley, it turned out, made a feast. The others pressure Dr. Montague into explaining why he brought them to Hill House; he waits until after dinner to elaborate.

From Quiz "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson

Answer: Modern day (the date of publication)

"The Lottery" is set in modern day America. There are references to tractors, a teen club and a Halloween program. This modern setting makes the brutal stoning of Tessie Hutchinson seem even more chilling.

From Quiz "Life Among the Savages" and "Raising Demons"

Answer: Joanne

Her father had wanted to name her Jean, and her mother had wanted to name her Anne, so they "compromised upon an arbitrary Joanne". Jannie herself, however, calls herself "variously, Jean, Jane, Anne, Linda, Barbara, Estelle, Josephine, Garaldine, Sarah, Sally, Laura, Margaret, Marilyn, Susan, and - imposingly - Mrs Ellenoy. The second Mrs Ellenoy."

From Quiz Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery"

Answer: Stones

The children of the village gather together first. School very recently finished for the year and the children are still talking about school. The boys gather together and make a pile of stones, each of the groups guarding their piles from other groups of boys. The girls gather together, talking quietly to each other. The men gather next, followed by the women. Once everyone is assembled, each of the families join together before the beginning of the ritual. As the groups of people come together for the lottery, the mood is friendly but not raucous.

From Quiz The Haunting of Hill House

Answer: Crain

Sitting in front of the fire, the three assistants are given a brief history of the house by Dr. Montague, who begins by saying that the house is over eighty years old. First owned by a man named Hugh Crain, the residence saw a fair share of death; his wife died when she first laid eyes on it, and two subsequent wives died as well. The house was left to one of his daughters; she passed away in the house and it was inherited by a friend of hers-- not her younger sister. The friend hanged herself a few years later after endless persecution from the youngest Crain and the building was passed to the Sanderson family who, though they upgraded the house for modern conveniences, did not stay longer than a few days before passing it along to several lessees. The story ends there, and after a bit of time getting to know one another, the four head to bed.

From Quiz "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson

Answer: She forgot what day it was.

Tessie Hutchinson's casual attitude toward the lottery is bizarre. It is odd that one could forget the day that she, or another member of her small community, will be horribly killed. These details make the story effective and disturbing.

From Quiz "Life Among the Savages" and "Raising Demons"

Answer: Charles

Our narrator goes to the first PTA meeting, all agog to meet Charles' mother, only to learn that there IS no Charles. We are left with more than a suspicion that the bad-word-saying, chalk-throwing, and girl-hitting Charles is, in fact, Laurie.

From Quiz Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery"

Answer: Mrs Hutchinson

Just as the lottery is about to start, Mrs Hutchinson comes quickly up the path and remarks to the woman next to her that she had almost forgotten what day it was. It wasn't until she noticed the children were gone that she realized and came along to the square. The two women laugh at her forgetfulness. Mrs Hutchinson also makes a joke about leaving dishes in the sink as the crowd laughs softly with her.

From Quiz The Haunting of Hill House

Answer: From the top of the library tower

The next day, Eleanor wakes up having had the best sleep she's had in years. All four head down for breakfast in the dining room and, unsurprisingly, Theodore and Eleanor get lost along the way. Although Dr. Montague and Luke opened the doors for them earlier, they shut on their own. This problem recurs during their subsequent exploration of Hill House which includes the tower from which Ms. Crain's helper hanged herself (which Eleanor does not enter), the kitchen, and a large hall containing an impossible statue. Dr. Montague says that Crain had the house built in such odd angles so as to skew all of the dimensions, so what seems impossible is simply the way the house was built. One inexplicable thing happens when they enter the nursery on the second floor-- they find a spot of penetrating cold near the doorway, and can't figure out why it's there.

From Quiz "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson

Answer: It is a shabby black box, splintered, faded and stained.

The box is described as ..."no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained." Once one has read the entire story, the significance of the box being splintered becomes apparent.

From Quiz "Life Among the Savages" and "Raising Demons"

Answer: Sally

Sally has long been pestering her mother to be allowed to "magick" the leaning gatepost. "'WHY can't I?' she asked. 'Because it is a great big gatepost and you are only a little tiny girl, and you have made enough trouble with that magic already, what with poor little Jerry Martin afraid to go to bed at night and his mother keeps calling me and calling me to get you to take the spell off again - '"

From Quiz Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery"

Answer: Broke his leg

As the lottery begins, the mood turns more sober. Mr Summers asks if everyone is present and confirms that Mr Dunbar is not there as he has a broken leg. His wife, Mrs Dunbar, will participate for him. The Dunbars have a son but he is not old enough to step in for his dad. There are a set of formal and understood rules that are followed regarding family representation at the lottery.

From Quiz The Haunting of Hill House

Answer: Outside

Things become more frightening on the second night. After the four head to bed, Eleanor and Theodora are awakened by the sound of banging down the hall, almost as though metal is being used to bash the wooden doors. As it nears, Eleanor heads to Theodora's room where both of them, cold and afraid, listen as the banging comes to their door and crashes down on the frame, shaking it in its hinges and terrifying them to their cores. The sound goes away when Dr. Montague and Luke come upstairs. Apparently, two hours earlier, they'd had to chase a creature out of the house, presumably a dog, as it had gotten inside (although the doors were closed). Dr. Montague is worried that perhaps the house is trying to get them separated. The next morning, everyone awakens gleefully, as though the events of the previous night were nothing to worry about. They plan to explore more of the grounds, but they're taken aback by a message scrawled in chalk on one of the walls of a hallway: 'HELP ELEANOR COME HOME'. This is revealed to be a prank, though it frustrates the high spirits out of Eleanor.

From Quiz "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson

Answer: A ritual sacrifice to guarantee a plentiful crop.

Although it is uncertain whether the people of the town are aware of the reason for the lottery as they have forgotten many of the traditions surrounding the lottery, Old Man Warner recalls there "[U]sed to be a saying about 'Lottery in June, Corn be heavy soon.'" This statement makes the lottery's purpose clear.

From Quiz "Life Among the Savages" and "Raising Demons"

Answer: the blanket from Sally's bed

Through a long, fevered night, all the members of the household moved from bed to bed, dragging their possessions behind them. In the morning all the pillows, blankets, cigarettes, ashtrays, drinks, and dolls could be found, except for the blue-patterned patchwork quilt from Sally's bed.

From Quiz Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery"

Answer: Hutchinson

Mr Summers calls the family name of every family in the village and the man responsible for each family steps forward and draws a piece of paper from a box. They don't look at the paper until everyone has drawn. Once the markings on each piece of paper are revealed, one family has a piece of paper with a black spot on it. They are the family who must move to the next step of the lottery. Mrs Hutchinson, previously joking with the crowd, is now visibly upset and calls the drawing of the paper unfair. She asks for a re-draw, which does not happen.

From Quiz The Haunting of Hill House

Answer: The green room

The four become almost worried when no new supernatural occurrences present themselves. In fact, Dr. Montague prepares for a visit from his wife in two days time. Shortly after this announcement though, Theodora heads to her room to find it covered in blood, all of her clothes destroyed. Eleanor, calmer than usual, is able to take the scene in and read a message on the wall reading 'HELP ELEANOR, COME HOME ELEANOR'. She takes this in with a level head and it is suggested that Theodora stay in her room with her. For some reason, Eleanor can't bear the thought of this. That night, the two of them head to bed and more supernatural occurrences begin to arise. Eleanor hears mumbling and laughing in the other room before the sound of a baby crying. Scared, she reaches over and clutches Theodora's hand but, when the lights brighten she realizes that Theodora did not experience the same activity. Scared, she can't help but wonder whose hand she held.

From Quiz "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson

Answer: She demands that her married daughter and daughter's husband take their chances with the rest of the family.

When Tessie realizes that her family has been selected to be "finalists" in the lottery process, she demands that her married daughter and daughter's husband be forced to take their chances with the rest of the family. It is with this statement the reader sees that all motherly instinct evaporates in Tessie's fight for survival.

From Quiz "Life Among the Savages" and "Raising Demons"

Answer: teacher at a girl's college

This puts his wife into a new position, that of "faculty wife". "A faculty wife is a person who is married to a faculty....It is considered probable that ten years or so ago she had a face and a personality of her own, but if she has it still, she is expected to keep it decently to herself." Shirley Jackson would have had first hand knowledge of this, as her husband was a teacher at nearby Bennington College, at that time an all-girl school.

From Quiz Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery"

Answer: 12

There are five members of the Hutchinson family who now must each draw a piece of paper from the box. It is still unknown what will happen to that person but the suspense is high as they each choose a slip of paper. There is Mr and Mrs Hutchinson (Bill and Tessie), Nancy who is 12 years old, Bill Jr. and "little Dave", who is too little to understand what is going on. He excitedly picks a piece of paper but it is held for him by an adult until it is revealed what is on it. As Nancy picks her paper, there are murmurings from the school kids that they hope it isn't her.

From Quiz "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson

Answer: He/she draws a piece of paper with a black spot on it.

A single black spot signifies the winner of this appalling lottery.

From Quiz "Life Among the Savages" and "Raising Demons"

Answer: clothespin dolls

"During the long summer when I was fourteen years old, I made, with the collaboration of my friend Dorothy, four hundred and thirty-one clothespin dolls. I know that never before or since have I made so many of anything, or with so much enthusiasm, and I feel increasingly, now, that there is not enough time left in the world to make four hundred and thirty-one things; perhaps some quality of adolescent fervor has disappeared."

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Last Updated Jun 14 2025 5:51 AM

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