When the story was cut off, I thought the ending would be that whoever got the black dot would be killed, but what really confused me was how they were going to kill them. The way the character Tessie acted made me feel certain she was going to get killed. Also when one of the school girls says "I hope it's not Nancy.", it made me think that they'd never see her again or would regret it if she were chosen. I think Old Man Warner made it seem as though it was an honor to win the "lottery" because maybe in his time, it truly was an honor to sacrifice yourself for the rest of the people.
When the story didn't end properly, I felt extremely frustrated and curious because when we were handed the paper and told not to open it, it was like being in a dark cave with a ladder leading to the exit barely out of your reach. I felt like I was left in the dark, but I knew how to get out, which unfortunately would take too long. I was sure that the "mystery paper" had the ending inside because it seemed at least a page long and the only thing I could think of to be inside was either the ending or something else depending on what type of paper you got. I don't know how, but I did manage to open the letter when I returned back home, but the wait was agonizing. I think I probably would've opened it sooner if I didn't have something else to do to take my mind of the story (basketball game).
The moment Mrs. Psillides pulled out the black box, I was struck with conviction that at least one of us would get the black dot. Strangely enough, I was actually expecting a black dot on my paper since my luck has never been the best. The black dot to me represented the limit to my patience since it made me feel even more anxious to read the end.
When I finally remembered to read the end of the story, I felt afraid at first until I remembered that no one would actually stone me to death. The ending wasn't really a surprise since I was already anticipating Tessie's death and it solved the question in my head about why the children were collecting rocks. What really shook me was when she screams "It isn't fair, it isn't right," because I could practically hear the fear and desperation in her voice and the way the story really ends was also like a cliffhanger since the author never really tells you that she dies. Also, when they gave her own son stones to throw, that struck a nerve and I started to really understand Mrs. Hutchinson's pain in the story.
I think my predictions were actually quite close since I was already certain of death. I felt both upset and relieved that it was correct since I didn't want the story to end in such a morbid way, but I was glad the author didn't include any details about the stoning. I strongly believe that if we were able to open the letter sooner, I would've had a closer prediction since the cliffhanger distracted me from the pile of stones and forced it to the back of my mind. The author purposely left these voids because it's more effective than just telling us that she was killed. Shirley Jackson gives the reader an opportunity to leave it to their imagination, which makes the story only more frightening. I think this was a great way of using Show-Not-Tell, but it still annoyed me nonetheless.
Like the band concert, this story really focused on "the power of the void". Mrs. Psillides made it even worse (Grr.) by covering the title of the story with the sticker. I think she did this to make us think about the story and come up with a title ourselves like how we had to name each chapter in Shadow of the Minotaur since writing your own title shows your understanding of the story. Making us actually get a slip of paper from a box really helped create an even more unbearable void. It put is in the character's position and definitely added to our knowledge and it made me feel that Tessie was going to be ended without a doubt.
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