Short Story #1

Hey students! As we discussed, one of the best actions you can take to challenge yourself and to start building vocabulary is to read more English short stories. This first story is a very popular story for middle and high school American students, "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson. It's kind of creepy and uses a good range of new words. Read the story over the next two weeks and we'll meet to discuss the questions included at the end.

While you read, do two things:

1) Circle or underline any words or phrases that are new. This will help me understand how complex your vocabulary is in a way that essay writing doesn't allow.

2) It's good practice to write your ideas, questions, and reactions to stories as you read. If something strikes you as shocking, write it down! If you have a question about something that happens in the story, write that down, too. As you practice reading, you'll start to understand which parts of a story/ text are important to remember for tests like SAT, IELTS, and TOEFL.

Here's the site:
http://sites.middlebury.edu/individualandthesociety/files/2010/09/jackson_lottery.pdf

Check back with me when you've finished!