The Lottery

Pre-reading: Justice is when everything is fair and right.
One tradition my family has is, every christmas, when we're opening presents, we always go in a certain order. We go youngest to oldest.

Plot/Reaction: The town is obviously very old school. They still believe in giving sacrifices in hopes for good crops. For whatever reason, they think killing people for good crops is okay. Mrs. Hutchinson was chosen to be stoned to death so the town would get good crops that year.

Questions: Why does the town think that killing someone will give them good crops?
Why does it take Mrs. Hutchinson's life being in danger to realize that killing people for good crops isn't right?

Quote: "The children had stones already."
"Someone gave little Davey Hutchinson a few pebbles."

By the Waters of Babylon: Quotation Sandwich

Claim: It is better to take information in little by little, instead of taking it in all at once.

Quote: "He was right- it is better the truth should come little by little. I have learned that, being a priest. Perhaps, in the old days, they ate knowledge too fast."

Commentary: It is better to take in information little by little instead of all at once because if you take it in all at once, it can become very overwhelming. It could ultimately result in the demise of things.

By the Waters of Babylon

Author: Stephen Vincent Benet

Date Read: 10/21/10

Pre-reading: I believe that some people process information faster than others, but it sometimes can be processed too fast because people just want to get things done quickly. My view on technological advances is that it's a good thing. In order for our society to progress, we need new advances in technology.


Plot/Reaction: He visits the Place of the Gods, the banks of a great river, and the ruins of a great temple in the mid-city.


Questions: Where do they live?
Why does holding a piece of metal decide if you are a priest or not?


Quote: "Sometimes signs are sent by bad spirits."

There Will Come Soft Rains: Quotation Sandwich

Claim: Progression and technology can backfire.

Quote: "At ten o'clock the house began to die."

Commentary: Progression in technology can lead to bad things such as corruption, and the demise of an entire society. The technology would take over the people that created it and the people that use the technology.

There Will Come Soft Rains

Pre-reading: In the year 2026, things will be very advanced. Technology will be more advanced and we're gonna have a lot more cooler and high-tech things.

Plot/Reaction:

7:00 – time to get up

7:45 – breakfast time
8:05 – off to school, off to work
9:15 – time to clean

• 10:00 – the sun come out from behind the rain
  10:15 – the garden sprinklers whirled up
  12:oo noon –  a dog whined, shivering on the front porch
  2:00 – the regiments of mice hummed out
  2:15 – the dog was gone
  2:35 – bridge tables sprouted from patio walls
  4:00 – the tables folded
  4:30 the nursery walls glowed, animals took shape
  5:00 – the bath filled with clear hot water
  6,7,8:oo – the dinner dished manipulated
  9:00 –  the beds warmed their hidden circuits
  9:05 – “which poem would you like this evening?”
  10:00 – the house began to die
• Questions: Who is Mr. Featherstone?

• - Why is there a dog on the front porch?
• Quote
  -”Today is August 4, 2026…in the city of Allendale, California.”

Harrison Begeron: Quotation Sandwich

Claim: The society Harrison Bergeron lives in is not at all equal.

Quote: "He  is a genius and an athlete, is under-handicap, and should be regarded as extremely dangerous." pg. 136

Commentary: Even under the handicap, Harrison is still smarter and more athletic than others. This means that not everyone is equal. Harrison was different from the others and the government didn't like that.

Harrison Bergeron

Title of Selection: Harrison Bergeson
Author: Kurt Vonnegut
Date Read:


Pre-reading:
Equality is being equal and people are treated fairly.


Plot/Reaction
Harrison Bergeron is the son of George and Hazel Bergeron. He was taken away by the government because he is a genius and athlete and in the government’s eyes he was not “equal” with everyone else. Harrison challenged the government’s handicap program by escaping jail, going on tv, declared himself emperor, and took off the handicaps on people so they could be true to who they are.


Questions
Why does everyone have to be the same?
What's the "criteria" you have to meet to be given a handicap?


Quotes
"Forget sad things," said George.

Contents of a Dead Man's Pocket

Title of Selection: Contents of a Dead Man's Pocket
By: Jack Finney
Date Read: 10/8/10

Pre-reading
Top 5 priorities in my life:
1. family and friends.
2. school
3. volleyball
4. soccer
5. my faith

Plot/Reaction
The yellow sheet of paper was full of facts, quotations and figures that he needed for work. Tom retrieves the paper by climbing out of the window, onto the side of the building.

Questions
1. Why did he insist on working instead of going to the movies with his wife?
2. Why did he not care about the paper the second time it flew out of the window?

Quote
He thought of all the evenings he had spent away from her, working; and he regretted them. He thought wonderingly of his fierce ambition and the direction his life had taken; he thought of the hours he'd spent by himself, filling in the yellow sheet that had brought him out here. Contents of the dead man's pockets, he thought with sudden fierce anger, a wasted life.