WHO ARE WE GOING TO LAPIDATE THIS YEAR? TECHNIQUES OF MYSTERY IN SHIRLEY JACKSON'S "THE LOTTERY"

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34630/polissema.vi21.3844

Keywords:

Creative Writing, Mystery techniques, The Lottery, Shirley Jackson

Abstract

Shirley Jackson (1916-1965) is one of the most celebrated North American writers, in the genres of mystery and terror. Amongst the two hundred short stories she wrote, “The Lottery” (1948) constitutes her most anthologized and beloved narrative. In this article, I examine a crucial aspect to the success of “The Lottery”: mystery. I analyze the story, step by step, to detect the main techniques used by the author to build mystery: a) intriguing clues; b) crescendo of suspense; c) shocking final twist. To do so, I resort to the above-mentioned narrative and to the text “Biography of a Story”, where Jackson reflects upon the genesis and reception of “The Lottery”, to essays by several specialists in the fields of Literature and Creative Writing and to my opinion.

Author Biography

João de Mancelos, Centro de Línguas Literaturas e Culturas, Universidade da Beira Interior

João de Mancelos nasceu em Coimbra, em 1968. É licenciado em Ensino de Português e Inglês (UA, 1992), mestre em Estudos Anglo-Americanos (UC, 1996), doutorado em Literatura Norte-americana (UCP, 2001), pós-doutorado em Estudos Literários (UA, 2006-2012) e agregado em Estudos Culturais (UA, 2015). É docente na Universidade da Beira Interior e escritor. Publicou vários livros de ensaio, poesia e ficção. Os seus interesses incluem Literatura e Cinema.

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capa do nº 21 da Revista Polissema

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Published

2021-12-31

How to Cite

de Mancelos, J. (2021). WHO ARE WE GOING TO LAPIDATE THIS YEAR? TECHNIQUES OF MYSTERY IN SHIRLEY JACKSON’S "THE LOTTERY". POLISSEMA – ISCAP Journal of Letters, 1(21), 234–249. https://doi.org/10.34630/polissema.vi21.3844

Issue

No. 21 (2021)

Section

Studies

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