Writing Log 3B

The Lottery

The first hotspot that I noticed was “Pack of crazy fools,’ he said. ‘Listening to the young folks, nothing’s good enough for them.” (59) This is Old Man Warner talking about other towns doing away with the lottery. It seems that he is saying that the only reason that other places have done away with it is because of the younger generation. Instead he should probably be looking at what the lottery exactly is and why they would do away with such a thing. It seems that he is doesn’t want to see any change happen especially if it has to do with his beloved lottery. It made me think about several different things. First off it made me think why is the younger people’s fault that the lottery had ended. Did anyone think most people probably didn’t like the lottery but only went because they had to or it was expected of them. This is creating the illusion that everyone is excited that this is happening until the end result happens. Second, what is the big deal about the change of the lottery ending any way. Most of the starting traditions have been faded out over time and the only thing that really stays the same is when they use the marked paper and the box and then call everyone’s name. It seems as if the whole lottery tradition has changed quiet a bit over time. I guess all this shows that even in today’s world the people that have been apart of something for most of there lives no matter how bad it is still don’t want to see it be done away with.

The second hotspot really got my attention was “A stone hit her on the side of the head.”(62) This is talking about the end result of the lottery when Mrs. Hutchinson got the slip of paper with the black dot on it. Since she got this paper everyone got to throw stones at her even her own five year old son. I would think that this is probably the reason that most other towns did away with their lottery. In the beginning it was looked at as wrong that a women was going to have to draw for her family but then in the end the family has to draw. This hotspot made me mad because at first they made such a deal about the man not being there to draw but at the end its just all fine and dandy that the women is the one everyone is throwing stones at. I think it shows how times have changed and how even women and children are looked at. After this sentence Old Man Warner is egging everyone on to throw stone. The author makes it appear that everyone is excited to do this and the old man is just giddy with joy over getting to do this. This is all just very upsetting to look at.

How to Tell a True War Story

The fist hotspot that I really noticed was “You can tell a true ware story but the way it never seems to end.”(99) This is referring back to the story that he was told by Mitchell Sanders, and how you could tell that there was more to the story that wasn’t tellable. I think he might be meaning that the story never really dies and is with that person forever and that nothing can change that. This hotspot made me think of all the people who live with stories that are really never ending. Because in the middle of the night they wake up with these type of stories playing in their mind, reliving the details, the way that they saw things happen and the way the understood it.

The second hotspot that I found was “And in the end, of course, a true war story is never about war.”(106) This was concluding the whole essay about war stories and seems very fitting. I am sure we have all heard a war story from someone at one point or another in our lives and in the end it is not about the war you are thinking about. Your thinking about all the people and things that happened with in the story, and how all of that lead to present day. This hotspot made me think about all the stories that my grandpa has told me over the years about when he was in the war. And I made me realize the things I remember aren’t the war its self it about the people, the places and even what was going on other than the war. It is something that I think a lot of people over look or just don’t notice at all. This hotspot I think is very truthful and makes you think about a lot.