Objectives:

---

Understanding Beliefs and Cultural Blindness

Understanding Beliefs and Cultural Blindness

Materials Needed

• Copies of “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
• A Google Doc for students and teacher to deposit questions as they read;
• OR Whiteboard and markers to write questions;
• OR Projector (optional for displaying discussion questions); OR 
• Handouts with discussion questions and prompts

Steps Involved

1. Introduction (10 minutes)

Journal: Do you (or we, collectively as a society) have any rituals, customs, or celebrations where we may not understand where it originated or what the purpose serves? 

• For instance, The Wing Bowl (competitive eating), The Super Bowl, Drinking large coffees, Carrying giant water bottles…
• Give students about five minutes to think and write
• Then ask a few students to share their rituals. Talk about the purpose of the ritual. What role does participation play in your life or the lives of the other participants? (usually, it’s just for fun or camaraderie, and that may be good enough…)

2. Reading the Text (20 minutes)

Facilitator: Distribute copies of “The Lottery” and provide a brief overview of the story’s context. Students may read silently, but it may be useful to read aloud or listen to a recording (to keep students all on the same page–stopping to allow them to develop questions).

Students: Read the short story. Encourage them to take notes on their thoughts and feelings and ask questions as they read.

3. Group Discussion (30 minutes)

3. Group Discussion (30 minutes)

Facilitator: either lead a discussion or have students discuss in small groups using the following guiding questions in tandem with the questions students wrote while reading:

• Is the lottery practice unethical or immoral if the entire village agrees and participates in it? 
• Would it be ethical or unethical if an outsider came to the village and forced the villagers to stop this practice?
• What are the key elements of the lottery tradition in the story? Where did it come from? What do the villagers get out of the lottery?
• How do the townspeople react to the lottery? What does this say about their beliefs?
• Can you identify any characters who question the tradition? What do you think they are thinking? 
• What message do you think Shirley Jackson is conveying about cultural practices? 

Students: Engage in a group discussion (or small group, paired..), sharing their insights and interpretations. Encourage them to reference specific passages from the text.

4. Critical Reflection (15 minutes)

Facilitator: Ask students to reflect on the implications of cultural blindness in their own lives. Provide prompts such as:

• Are there rituals, or traditions in your life or community that you think should be questioned?
• How can we encourage a culture of questioning rather than blind acceptance?
• What are some historical examples of dangerous cultural blindness? 

Students: Write a short reflection on one tradition they believe deserves scrutiny and why. 

• Teachers could provide more creative ending reflections such as drawing a picture of different cultural practices, a one pager (A “one pager” is a single-page document that concisely summarizes key information about a product, project, business, or concept, providing a quick overview to the reader by presenting essential details in a visually appealing format.)
• Teachers could ask students to compare this story to other texts such as Plato’s Cave Allegory, The Hunger Games, or historical occurrences like The Holocaust, Jim Crow America…

5. Conclusion (5 minutes)

5. Conclusion (5 minutes)

Facilitator: Summarize key points from the discussion and reflections. Emphasize the importance of critical thinking and questioning cultural norms. 

Students: Share any final thoughts or questions they have about the story or the discussion.