Question

Select the most plausible reason why Jackson includes the following sentence in "The Morning of June 28, 1948": "I had written the story three weeks before, on a bright June morning when summer seemed to have come at last, with blue skies and warm sun and no heavenly signs to warn me that my morning's work was anything but just another story."
a.) This sentence explains the setting of "The Morning of June 28th, 1948" to readers.
b.) Jackson attempts to persuade readers into believing that "The Lottery" is "just another story"
c.) Jackson explains that her writing process for the "The Lottery" was no different than that of her other stories.
b.) The cheerful setting mimics the beginning in "The Lottery", creating surprise at the end of both selections.
I chose B, but I'd love to know for sure.

Answer 1

The answer is between B and D.

The 300 villages in the Lottery are blindly obedient to a tradition that is years and years old. Some things have been dropped and others added and nobody quite knows why.

The beginning of June 28 is just as serene. There are all sorts of interpretations, but nothing hides Jackson's anger about blind tradition that would even sacrifice young children and accept it as being a "good sport."

Tilly is the only one who is justifiably upset. The stones are going to be about her and they will kill her. Being stoned in the Bible was a slow painful process. You weren't killed by being hit. You died by suffocation because the weight of the stones eventually was greater than what the lungs could push up and let down so you could continue breathing.

This stoning is less biological and more what you think stoning should accomplish -- death by loss of blood.  It is a horrible death. Everyone seems to take it for granted -- everyone but Tilly who had to endure it.

If you were writing an essay, you could easily defend A, B and D.  My choice is D, but I wouldn't discount B at all.