Rosser Reviews Required Reading

Cicero: The Most Important Writer You’ve Never Read

2012-09-04T07:49:00.000-07:00

I’ve horribly neglected this blog. It’s been a tough year with plenty of ups and downs and dramatic demands on what little time I have. I’m doing my best to get back at it, and I think a good way to start is with this post. I’m willing to bet dollars to donuts that you haven’t read anything by the author I’m about to mention. Nonetheless, he may be the most important author of the last twenty-one hundred years, or maybe ever. (I’m speaking from a secular perspective. Clearly, those who penned the main holy books have had a greater impact on civilization for both the bad and the good, but in many cases, just barely.)

Target: College
Type: Ancient Literature
Listen Up: All of My Reviews Are Loaded with Spoilers.

I’m talking about Marcus Tullius Cicero. See; I told you that you haven’t read his works. It’s amazing, too. If you had to read only one work of Cicero’s, I recommend the Cataline Orations. (They go by many names, depending on which stuffy scholar is referencing them. A Google search on “Cicero Cataline” will get you to the speeches.)

The One Sentence Plot

Cicero speaks against another Roman senator who plots violence for political gain.

Why Cicero Is Required Reading

I said a moment ago that you probably haven’t ever read him, and I said it was amazing. I said that because more than one societal, literary, and historical expert believes Cicero was responsible for the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. Since he’d been dead for more than thirteen-hundred and sixteen hundred years, respectively; you can imagine what that says about his written works. The Catholic Church declared him a “righteous pagan.” That meant his works, although secular in some cases and pagan in others, were preserved along with the Scriptures. Despite this, I didn’t even hear about him (except as a character in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar) until my third year in college when I took a classical rhetoric class. Unfortunately, what I believe should be required reading in junior high or high school is really only required reading in advanced college courses.

But Is It Any Good?

Good doesn’t cover it. His ability to string words together was so incredible that popular tradition holds that Mark Antony’s wife repeatedly jabbed needles through his tongue while his severed head was on display after his death. Listen the very opening of one of his powerful speeches against the senator plotting against Rome.

When, O Catiline, do you mean to cease abusing our patience? How long is that madness of yours still to mock us? When is there to be an end of that unbridled audacity of yours, swaggering about as it does now? Do not the nightly guards placed on the Palatine Hill—do not the watches posted throughout the city—does not the alarm of the people, and the union of all good men—does not the precaution taken of assembling the senate in this most defensible place—do not the looks and countenances of this venerable body here present, have any effect upon you? Do you not feel that your plans are detected? Do you not see that your conspiracy is already arrested and rendered powerless by the knowledge which every one here possesses of it? What is there that you did last night, what the night before— where is it that you were—who was there that you summoned to meet you—what design was there which was adopted by you, with which you think that any one of us is unacquainted?

Shame on the age and on its principles! The senate is aware of these things; the consul sees them; and yet this man lives. Lives! aye, he comes even into the senate. He takes a part in the public deliberations; he is watching and marking down and checking off for slaughter every individual among us. And we, gallant men that we are, think that we are doing our duty to the republic if we keep out of the way of his frenzied attacks.

You ought, O Catiline, long ago to have been led to execution by command of the consul. That destruction which you have been long plotting against us ought to have already fallen on your own head.

What? Did not that most illustrious man, Publius Scipio, the Pontifex Maximus, in his capacity of a private citizen, put to death Tiberius Gracchus, though but slightly undermining the constitution? And shall we, who are the consuls, tolerate Catiline, openly desirous to destroy the whole world with fire and slaughter? For I pass over older instances, such as how Caius Servilius Ahala with his own hand slew Spurius Maelius when plotting a revolution in the state. There was—there was once such virtue in this republic, that brave men would repress mischievous citizens with severer chastisement than the most bitter enemy. For we have a resolution ² of the senate, a formidable and authoritative decree against you, O Catiline; the wisdom of the republic is not at fault, nor the dignity of this senatorial body. We, we alone,—I say it openly, —we, the consuls, are waiting in our duty.

Cicero was quite possibly the greatest orator of all time. He also proposed that the power of speech was so profound that no person should undertake to learn it without first being a “good” person. (Take a look at charismatic people in our history, at the evil they were able to accomplish by swaying a populace if you doubt that.)

Granted, with my background in rhetoric, I’m biased. Still, five stars isn’t enough for Cicero.

Five New Year's Resolution Reads

2011-12-30T07:10:00.000-08:00

One of my New Year resolutions is to keep this blog updated. Well, I'm a day or two ahead of schedule, but I thought it would be good to start out with an easy (at least in scope) list of five books everyone who loves reading should put on their list of 2012 goals. There are many other choices, but I think this is a good start toward literary literacy. I admit that some of the list is more about my favorites than about absolute must reads, but...well, it's my blog. So there. Here are five, in no particular order, though I think Adler's book provides a foundation for the rest.

How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren

Mortimer Adler was the brilliant mind behind the Great Books series from Encyclopedia Britannica. If you're not familiar with the series, you should go online and take a look. You can get a set from an auction site online for only a few hundred dollars and it will include nearly every significant book in the Western literary cannon from the ancients to the modern. (In this case, the modern is early 1900s.) This is the book Adler wrote to explain how to read the great classics. It's fabulous.

Plato's Republic

This is the foundation work of all of Plato's philosophy. Read it. Almost all of the study of logic and philosophy is predicated on Plato, and this work specifically. It's remarkable to consider current trends in thought and concept in relation to this book and to realize how little of it is new despite throngs of half-wits mooning over current gurus as though they offered something original.

The Lord of the Flies by William Golding

This is the lightest read on the list, at least in terms of reading difficulty. It's themes, though, make it one of the hardest. There may be no better exploration of the darkness in the collective heart of humanity. A number of children thrown by accident onto an island where the strong end up preying on the week. It's brilliant and terrifying, and it's worth your time.

Shakespeare

Okay, I'm cheating a little bit, but there are a dramatic (pun intended) number of choices here. I don't care which one of his plays you read, but read one. Almost every film, TV show, play, or...well nearly any visual entertainment finds its origins in the Bard. Let's not forget that he also helped codify the English language. You can find Shakespeare on Amazon or your library or just about anywhere. Choose a play and you're likely to be amazed at how many movies are just cheap imitations of Shakespeare's work.

Mark Twain's Short Stories

You've probably already read his novels, and they're brilliant. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is often described as the greatest American novel of all time. His short stories, however, have a remarkable satirical flavor that reveals the brilliance of this author. Read "The Man Who Corrupted Haddlyburg" and you'll be laughing for days.

Happy New Year to everyone. As I said, this isn't the definitive list, but it's a great start for great literature. If you know me, you know that I love reading all books, not just the classics. Still, reading for enjoyment doesn't preclude reading for enrichment. Make it a point to spend some time this year with quality works.

The Telltale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe

2011-09-08T16:18:00.000-07:00

Target: Ninth Grade
Type: Short Story
Listen Up: All of My Reviews Are Loaded with Spoilers.

There are so many brilliant stories by Poe, that it’s almost impossible to offer a review of any particular one. However, any reader should know that Poe created the concept of detective fiction in Western literature, codified what a “short story” was, and contributed to literary criticism in astounding ways that no author has matched. The Tell Tale Heart was released in 1843

The One Sentence Plot

A man believes the ticking of a watch is his murder victim’s heart beating, so he confesses.

Why The Tell Tale Heart Is Required Reading

This story created the entire genre of crime confessions as short stories. The examination of a guilty man slowly and inexorably driven by his conscience to a dramatic confession is the stuff of term papers. Teachers have a field day assigning for this one. I think I’ve answered “why did he think he heard the heart beating?” about a million times. Realistically, you can’t teach American literature without teaching Poe, and this is one of his most approachable stories.

But Is It Any Good?

This story is better than good. It’s remarkable. The killer starts out with “Okay, listen, I know you’re going to think I’m crazy, but let me tell you how carefully I plotted the vicious murder…There! That’ll show you I’m not crazy!” That’s a paraphrase, and Poe can write circles around me, but you get the point. What follows is an incredible account of a man driven to obsession over his victim’s eye deformity until he kills him. From there, he goes crazier believing a watch’s ticking is really his victim’s heartbeat.

It’s pure brilliance. Poe writes in ways nobody has ever touched. In some ways, I wish Poe wasn’t introduced so early in school. Elementary children get abridged versions of his stories, and by the time a person graduates college, this brilliant author can seem almost passé. He’s not, though. His work is remarkable and deserving of every accolade. Five Stars.

The Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum in Baltimore has lost its funding from the city. You’d imagine something like that can’t happen, but it did. Some friends and I are putting together an anthology of short stories to help. Visit the Literary Landmark site and help by ordering the book or making a donation.

A Review of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

2011-09-01T06:29:00.001-07:00

Target: 10^th – 11^th Grade
Type: Novel
Listen Up: All of My Reviews Are Loaded with Spoilers.

Charles Dickens is alternately brilliant and irritating. My wife and I have a joke we share that basically suggests reading one Charles Dickens book gives you all of the themes of any other Charles Dickens book. It’s our little pompous and pretentious let’s-feel-good-about-how-smart-we-are conversation. We’re wrong, of course, but we started saying it when we were in college and it’s hard to get past twenty good years of building a life, raising children, and feeling superior than other people who read Dickens and just don’t get him. Great Expectations was published serially from 1860 to 1861.

The One Sentence Plot

Pip helps a hiding convict and feels guilt during his rise from poor urchin to respectable gentleman, from scum to snob.

Why Great Expectations Is Required Reading

Shakespeare might be slightly more required than Dickens, but just barely. If the book has his name on the cover, it will be required reading somewhere. This isn’t to say it’s on the list just because of the name, though. Great Expectations explores the themes of class disparity, snobbery, personal transformation, love, and…well, the list keeps going, but for SEO purposes, I really want articles in the 400-600 word range. A teacher could, were he or she willing, teach this book for an entire year and focus on one theme at a time.

Great Expectations is probably the easiest of Dickens’ books to teach and to read. (A Christmas Carol might be a bit easier, but seasonal books are difficult to integrate into classes.) The classic Dickens satire is still there, but the really devastating language and situations aren’t as visible as they are in David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, and A Tale of Two Cities. This means that a student’s first introduction to Dickens (other than via cinema or television) will probably be Great Expectations.

But Is It Any Good?

This isn’t as simple of a question as it might seem. Great Expectations is a brilliant novel. There’s no question about that. Dickens wrote a great many novels, and every one of them is brilliant. He also wrote plays, nonfiction, short stories, and essays. Again, all brilliant. When a writer is that prolific and that good, his work inevitably is judged against his other works. As popular as this novel is (and I think there have been something in the neighborhood of two-hundred or more movies, plays, etc. I've gathered a number of choices for you below.), it’s right in the middle of the pack in terms of Dickens’ output. It’s slightly softer approach and subtle transition of Pip from urchin to snob makes it an easier read and an earlier introduction in class. However, the same moderation keeps it from some of the more brilliant and biting observation Dickens did so well.

If you judge the work against his others, you might rate it a little lower. Judging it against required reading in general, I give it five stars.

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

2011-08-30T08:35:00.000-07:00

Target: 9^th – 10^th Grade

Type: Novel
Listen Up: All of My Reviews Are Loaded with Spoilers.

It’s hard to review a novel that’s almost instantaneously successful, wins the Pulitzer Prize, and was written by an author who steadfastly refused to write another. My wife and I often talk about how many great writers, poets, filmmakers, and artists should have stopped after their greatest work. Harper Lee gave us only this work to judge, but it’s a doozy.

The One Sentence Plot

Atticus Finch is seen by his daughter in a new light as he defends a man unjustly accused of rape because of the color of his skin.

Why To Kill A Mockingbird Is Required Reading

This novel is just filled with pedagogical applications. The opportunity for debate on various subjects is so great, I wrote an article on teaching students about To Kill a Mockingbird using the Toulmin Model of Argumentation. The book deals with race, of course. However, it’s not that simple. It also deals with the relationship between a daughter and her father, between a son and his father, and about gender roles. It discusses the nature of preconceived notions above and beyond race, especially in regards to Boo Radley. It also speaks to greatness in general and meekness in particular. Atticus Finch is a great man in an understated and unspoken way. Scout sees the understated man and comes to realize who her father really is in the course of the book.

But Is It Any Good?

To Kill a Mockingbird is a fine novel. It’s harshest critics criticize it for non-literary reasons. It has been banned for antiquated word choices. Some argue that it’s a children’s book, as though that should keep it from prestige. Some claim that it represents a shallow perception of African Americans. I believe that the book accurately represents the perspective Scout would have had about the world around her.

The book is extraordinary. Lee develops the setting and the strange comingling of innocence and dread in ways few writers have accomplished since. It makes my list of top ten American novels, and it’s nowhere near the bottom. Five Stars.

A Review of The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper

2011-08-26T10:25:00.000-07:00

Target: 11^th-12^th Grade

Type: Novel
Listen Up: All of My Reviews Are Loaded with Spoilers.

Most people don’t know that James Fenimore Cooper essentially invented the historical romance genre. He was wildly popular in his day. Critics have called him everything from the Stephen King of his day to the John Grishom of the 19^th Century. He was no starving artist who died in obscurity only to have his work discovered later. Many consider The Last of the Mohicans (officially subtitled, A Narrative of 1757), published in 1826, to be his finest novel.

The One Sentence Plot

Hawkeye (Natty Bumpo) leads an effort to rescue a colonel’s daughters from hostile Indians.

Why The Last of the Mohicans Is Required Reading

In many ways, Cooper’s book represents the beginning of a genre, and as such it has secured a permanent place in literature classes. The extensive descriptions of distinct Native American tribes and the conflicts and cultures is also worthy of note. To a great extent, the novel is required reading because to ignore it would be to ignore an obvious force in early American literature.

But Is It Any Good?

This is one of my top ten most overrated required reading books. The language is extraordinarily ornate for a book designed primarily to be a romantic adventure. In addition, the author uses multiple names for characters and inconsistently paints many of them. (A charge he admitted himself in relation to the character Munroe.) The plot wavers between simple adventure and epic history, and Cooper never really decides which he’s going for. It would be similar to make a film such as Rocky but simultaneously try to give it the significance of Raging Bull. If he’d made the decision one way or the other, he could have ended up with a fabulous book.

The decision was made for him in the 1992 film adaptationwhich eliminated almost all of the pretentiousness of the novel and emphasized (and even invented) romantic elements in the plot. If Cooper had done what Michael Mann did to the novel, I’d be able to give it more than just two stars.

Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters

2011-08-23T05:10:00.000-07:00

Target: 11^th Grade
Type: Poetry
Listen Up: All of My Reviews Are Loaded with Spoilers.

"Spoon River Anthology" was partially serialized in Reedy’s Mirror and released as a collection in 1915 and in a second edition in 1916. It was an immediate commercial success as it explored the comically dark side of small town life in a manner that hadn’t previously occurred. The poems range from funny to dark to bitter to sweet, and they add depth and flavor to the previously bland picture of one-dimensional caricatures that made up depictions of small town life previously.

The One Sentence Plot

Small town life, love, loss, and betrayal is revealed by the poetic epitaphs of citizens in its graveyard.

Why “Spoon River Anthology” Is Required Reading

"Spoon River Anthology" has two things going for it from a pedagogical standpoint. First, it’s a prime example of free form verse without the trappings of most poetic convention that came before. Thus, teachers can focus on structure and form in contrast to previous American verse. Second, the interrelationships between the characters allow for a deep exploration of the work. There are more than two-hundred and forty of them, and that makes for a whole lot of practice determining the way the characters link. Add to that classic plot (yes, plot in poetry) devices such as dramatic irony, and the collection is a smorgasbord of learning possibilities.

But Is It Any Good?

There aren’t a great many poetry books that you can give to someone who despises poetry as a Christmas gift. This is one. "Spoon River Anthology" is remarkable, not just good. Consider this passage:

In life I was the town drunkard;
When I died the priest denied me burial
In holy ground.
The which redounded to my good fortune.
For the Protestants bought this lot,
And buried my body here,
Close to the grave of the banker Nicholas,
And of his wife Priscilla.
Take note, ye prudent and pious souls,
Of the cross--currents in life
Which bring honor to the dead, who lived in shame

That’s Chase Henry, the town drunk, who’s quite happy that in denying him the Catholic burial, he’s been accidentally afforded an honor in death. That’s a funny, ironic twist in its own right, but here comes Edgar Lee Masters with a better punch line as Judge Sommers complains:

How does it happen, tell me,
That I who was most erudite of lawyers,
Who knew Blackstone and Coke
Almost by heart, who made the greatest speech
The court-house ever heard, and wrote
A brief that won the praise of Justice Breese
How does it happen, tell me,
That I lie here unmarked, forgotten,
While Chase Henry, the town drunkard,
Has a marble block, topped by an urn
Wherein Nature, in a mood ironical,
Has sown a flowering weed?

The collection is simply filled with these interrelationships between poems. It’s a brilliant collection and a powerful read.

“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce

2011-08-16T08:33:00.000-07:00

Target: 10^th – 11^th Grade
Type: Short Story
Listen Up: All of My Reviews Are Loaded with Spoilers.

Ambrose Bierce is one of those authors who receives less notice than he deserves in modern times. His language choice is beautiful, and his plots are so well crafted that many of them have become standard devices in today’s entertainment. Surprise endings like those in “Shutter Island” (where a substantial portion of the plot is revealed to have occurred completely in the mind of one of the characters) are easy to trace back to this story.

The One Sentence Plot

Peyton Farquhar is hanged, escapes when the rope snaps, and makes his way toward freedom only to finally appear swinging dead from the rope as the reader learns the snap was all in his mind.

Why “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” Is Required Reading

This story is required reading because it represents one of the first surprise endings, of course. Still, there is more. Ambrose Bierce wrote against the backdrop of the Civil War, and that backdrop makes for even more pedagogical opportunity. While creating assignments about the story and the language choice, instructors can also help students explore the political and cultural background involved. Bierce wrote a number of Civil War soldier stories. Published in 1890, this one was only twenty-five years after the fact. His contemporary audience was not unlike a modern reader enjoying a story about Vietnam or about the 1990 Gulf War.

But Is It Any Good?

In many ways, this story is brilliant. Anyone who reads it for the first time and claims to have guessed the surprise ending is probably lying. Bierce brings you along for Farquhar’s mad escape, and the details expressed intensify the experience. We see the blades of grass with him. We can almost feel the urgency he feels to escape the river and the men shooting at him. We sympathize with his overwhelming desire to get away and to his home. As he traverses the thirty-miles and finally comes in sight of his family, we are at the edge of our seat. “He’s going to make it.” We are almost looking behind our own shoulders to see if the mob has reached him.

And then he’s dead. He is swinging from the bridge.

It’s brilliant writing. Five Stars.

Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner

2011-08-11T07:14:00.000-07:00

Target: Advanced College

Type: Novel
Listen Up: All of My Reviews Are Loaded with Spoilers.

There are some books you read for enjoyment and some books you fight. You wrestle them to the ground and find them fighting back until you are the one being pinned. Far too often, you give up on a book that is so much work to read, but when you hang on, you are bettered by it. Nearly all of William Faulkner’s works are battles, but the benefits of the fight are remarkable. Absalom, Absalom! is a remarkable and worthy battle, indeed.

The One Sentence Plot

Thomas Sutpen arrives in a small southern town and attempts to create a family empire despite a history that eventually becomes his undoing.

Why Absalom, Absalom! Is Required Reading

Faulkner won the Nobel Prize, which pretty much makes his work required, but there are reasons for that. Many make the case that Faulkner’s work is the most important American literature of all time. His style of writing is a strange combination of stream-of-consciousness, simplistic and stark, and adjective-laden, heavily descriptive, poetic prose. This combination is such a unique literary talent, that it has to be in the classroom. One sentence in the book is more than eleven-hundred words long. I have not done it, but I think it would be fun to have students diagram that monster.

But Is It Any Good?

You cannot really judge a book like this in terms of good and bad. It is almost like a puzzle or a logic problem. There’s a sense of satisfaction upon completing it and understanding it that almost transcends the question of quality. You close the book, overwhelmed with all that you have read and all that it took to do it; and you know something significant has happened. Still, to call it good or bad is an oversimplification.

Faulkner masterfully lays out the plot developments and reveals the family history in tiny bites, and we gobble them up desperate for more. Still, he gives us the morsels in a measured and restrained way, so that although we’re reading long sentences and thousands of words, we’re still ravenous! When the meal is complete and the hunger abated, it is almost like sitting down after a big meal. We are full, we are sedate, and the thought of more food is rejected out of hand.

It’s a fine novel, an incredible novel, and it’s definitely not to everyone’s taste. I once climbed to the summit of a small mountain in the desert. I was heaving and choking dust the whole way. I can’t think of one activity in my life I’ve hated more. When I got to the summit, though, I’d forgotten almost instantly the work it took to get there. Alsalom, Absalom! is a mountain, but it is worthy of the climb.

Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut

2011-08-07T13:31:00.001-07:00

Target: 12^th Grade
Type: Novel
Listen Up: All of My Reviews Are Loaded with Spoilers.

Kurt Vonnegut is an interesting author in that he’s alternately loved and vilified by educators, all of whom tend to have an intense opinion about him and his work, specifically about this novel in particular. The novel is remarkable in its tone, its subject, and the method of delivery in the plot. It’s not easy to teach, though, because in many ways it defies easy categorization, and teachers in general (of course, that doesn’t include you) tend to prefer grading multiple choice rather than essays.

The One Sentence Plot

Billy Pilgrim experiences several events in his past, present, and future concurrently, but always focusing on the bombing of Dresden while he sat in Slaughterhouse Number Five as a prisoner of war.

Why Slaughterhouse Five Is Required Reading

This novel is required reading because it is the primary and best example of metafiction in existence. Just so you know, the works ranked two to four on that list were also written by Vonnegut. In simplistic terms, metafiction is the “gonzo” journalism of fiction, blurring suspension of disbelief with “nudge, nudge, wink, wink” interaction between author and reader. Some critics will add the exploration of themes surrounding the bombing of Dresden as an important anti-war element, but there are hundreds of better anti-war novels. In addition, Vonnegut believed World War II to be a just war, although he opposed the Vietnam War and later the Iraq War.

But Is It Any Good?

That isn’t an easy question to answer. It’s a remarkably easy question to answer. Slaughterhouse Five is a remarkable book with so many cultural and pedagogical applications that one might come to the conclusion that it couldn’t be enjoyable. Not true. The book is engaging and entertaining and works in both an academic and a recreational sense. The irreverent tone can actually get a reader to explore the dark and brooding themes involved and the tragedy of human loss that the truly informs all of Billy Pilgrim’s existence while all the while the reader chuckles before realizing the misery causing the mirth. That’s brilliant writing.

The book faced censorship for its profanity and sex scenes. Interestingly, it was one of the first works in print (novel or otherwise) that mentioned that the Nazis killed homosexuals (Vonnegut called them “fairies” in the novel) among their other victims. The really profound aspect of the book is the complete sense of helplessness, the inability to act of one’s own volition, the absence of choice that characterizes the novel. The aliens on Trafalmadore have no concept of free will. Billy Pilgrim, unstuck in time, has no control of his experiences. And always, there is Vonnegut himself, breaking the metafiction wall to say, “So it goes.”

Five Stars.

“The Lady or the Tiger” by Frank R. Stockton

2011-08-04T12:39:00.000-07:00

Target: 11^th Grade

Type: Short Story
Listen Up: All of My Reviews Are Loaded with Spoilers.

This story is really a fairy tale or a fable, and it has become an idiom referencing an unsolvable situation or impossible dilemma. The Century published it in 1882 and it has been in textbook after textbook for more than a hundred years. If you haven’t read this story, you should. It’s short and easy, and it does inspire conversations (and, I suspect, lies from lovers about the choice they’d make or prefer.)

The One Sentence Plot

A princess either directs her lover to a door with a tiger that will kill him or a door with a beautiful woman rival that he will marry.

Why “The Lady or the Tiger” Is Required Reading

This story is required reading primarily because it’s so darned easy to use it for teaching. I think somewhere out there is a great cosmic law that indicates no student may read this work without composing a 3-5 page double-spaced essay on which door the lady chose. Since most students will read it once or twice in high school and once in college, they may have written essays on both sides by the time they're done.

But Is It Any Good?

“The Lady or the Tiger” isn’t all that easy to pigeonhole. Essentially, it’s a remarkably brilliant dilemma and an average or even sub-par story. I wouldn’t call it good literature, but I’d call it brilliant pedagogy. That’s really the crux of it. It’s not all that great. The story is a fable and Andrew Lang brought us hundreds that were better. The story, though, is mere background information for the question, so on that level it’s good, even fabulous.

I think I’d prefer if it was perceived as a philosophical exercise rather than a short story, more of a moral dilemma than literature. I remember having long conversations with my kids about the question posed. They weren’t all that different than the conversations resulting from the questions we discussed about killing one innocent person to save thousands, cannibalism while stranded on a boat, or any of the myriad of questions that make for remarkably effective education but really wouldn’t be considered literature.

I’m especially unhappy about the six or seven paragraphs Stockton offers after the question. If he had left the reader with, “Now, the point of the story is this: Did the tiger come out of that door, or did the lady?” and stopped before writing the four hundred or so words of pedantic instruction about how to engage the question, I think I may have liked the story far more. Ultimately, though, “The Lady or the Tiger” isn’t a short story. It’s an essay assignment. I give it three stars, reluctantly.

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson

2011-08-02T11:46:00.000-07:00

Target: 12th Grade
Type: Short Story
Listen Up: All of My Reviews Are Loaded with Spoilers.

This is a perfect example of a short story whose themes and concepts have become archetype. If you’re an uncultured swine and haven’t ever read it, get a copy now and join the ranks of even the most casual lover of literature. The New Yorker published the story in 1948, and both the author and the magazine received tidal waves of hate mail. That’s funny, really, because the story seems about as tame as a hamster today.

The One Sentence Plot

A town holds a lottery every year after which the unlucky winner(loser) is stoned to death.

Why “The Lottery” Is Required Reading

From a critical perspective, Jackson’s writing is brilliant in its juxtaposition of plot and setting. The town described is so idyllic, peaceful, and utterly evocative of small town perfection that the actual events of the story stand out in stark contrast to the setting itself. Imagine Laura Ingalls and all of her friends on the prairie suddenly engaging in a dramatic and violent act and you’ll get the picture. It’s the shock value of the activity in reference to the setting that makes it a classic. Teachers can use it to teach irony, of course; but the story also lends itself to a literary examination of tradition, generational dissent, and mob rule.

But Is It Any Good?

“The Lottery” is one of the good ones. Jackson’s writing is masterful. Once you know the conclusion, you recognize the hints and clues to the darkness involved; but even foreknowledge doesn’t spare you from her manipulations. At one point, she lists activities in the town and throws the lottery in with square dancing, the Teen Club, and the Halloween Club. Part of this is a device to indicate that the lottery itself is a civic event, a community duty in this anonymous town. The effect, though, is to make the event as much a part of the idyllic landscape as an ice cream social might be. That’s just good writing.

There are issues I have with the tale. Typically, a story about a sacrifice like this is going to have an external force involved, a virgin and a dragon, for example. It’s absent here, and its absence adds on one level to the story. This terrible act is committed annually even though its origins are long forgotten. We hope at one point there was a dragon, but now it’s all senseless violence with no real purpose other than the tradition itself. On another level, though, it detracts from the story. Ultimately, it’s hard to keep up the suspension of disbelief. Jackson even indicates that other communities have ended the practice. It’s hard to believe that any community would find the tradition an acceptable evil without the external threat. The problem, of course, is that the device itself adds to the dramatic impact of the piece. Ultimately, I would have enjoyed it more with some justification for the lottery, but the story would have been forgettable and average.

On the whole, I give the story four stars.