It is common to find that in literature, scholars present their views about prominent books and other works of interest. One such book that has attracted massive attention in the field of literature and has become a subject of high school and college literature studies is the Lottery that describes a community that gathers annually to celebrate a ritual where one of the members is stoned. The academic journal by titled “Sacred Violence in Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery” by Ted Bailey is a paper that analyses Shirley Jackson’s short story the Lottery and assumes a similar format from the original book to enable the reader to understand the text easily.
The first criterion that can be used to describe the article is its design based on the general appearance. The author opts not to include images in the paper even though there is an inclusion of special fonts and formatting through the use of upper and lower case letters appropriately. The special font is noted in the writing of the abstract where there is the use of italics to help the reader identify the section easily (Bailey 45). Furthermore, italics are used whenever there is a mention of the original novel to exclude the working from the rest of the text. The contents are arranged in a justified manner on the page to ensure further that there is a good layout. The organization is another critical feature and where it is noted that there is proper organization from the assessment of the section subheading use. The format is that of an abstract where there is a summary, the introduction where the author underlines the importance of the analysis, the body that features the reviews and finally the conclusion where everything is summed. The content is another critical consideration because the information is largely based on eternal research and the author’s opinion. The primary thesis is that the lottery had a hidden meaning with the evidence used being other research paper written non the subject. Finally, it is worth outlining that the style is of significance because the author uses easy vocabulary that can be understood even by someone who does not major in literature(Bailey 23). However, long sentences are used throughout the article with the past tense being the preferred style of communication.
The author Shirley Jackson uses a similar approach in every element of the DOCS analysis even though there are few notable different areas. In the design, there are no images, and the text is variable, but the contents are arranged in a left alignment format. Apart from the heading, there are no other headings in the organization of the short story (Jackson 4). The content primarily includes the message of humans’ power in traditional rituals and the tendency to use others as scapegoats. In consideration of the style, the vocabulary is also simple, and the past tense is used in the reportage. Furthermore, other than the notable jargon in the mentioning of the word paraphernalia, Jackson also uses simple sentences that are shorter than the ones in the article (Jackson 15).
The academic journal did not change the thinking about the lottery even though it brought into the limelight a broader perspective non the symbol that is illustrated. Even though there was excitement on who would win the lottery, I knew there was a deeper meaning, and the article only served to bring into perspective the different interpretations that the villagers intended based on the author’s theme.
Works Cited
Bailey, Ted. “Sacred Violence in Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery”.” University of Miskolc XX (2014): n. pag. Print.
Jackson, Shirley. The Lottery. United States: The New Yorker, 1948. Print.
