Student Question

What are five new words from Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery"?

Quick answer:

Five words from Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" that might be new to students are "profusely," meaning abundantly; "boisterous," meaning noisy and energetic; "civic," relating to a city or town; "jovial," meaning cheerful and friendly; and "paraphernalia," meaning miscellaneous items needed for a particular activity. Additional words that could be unfamiliar include "perfunctory," meaning automatic or unthinking, and "disengaged," meaning disconnected or pulled away.

Expert Answers

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This is a question that we cannot really answer for you.  We do not know what words you know and what words you do not.  What I can do is suggest some words that are in the story but which you might not know.  I would suggest that you should pick the ones that would work best for you.

Some possible words would be:

  • profusely
  • boisterous
  • civic
  • jovial
  • paraphernalia
  • preceded

If you are a ninth grader, I would think that all of these would be words that at least some of your classmates would not know.

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Are you asking for some new vocabulary words from the story? If so, your teacher probably wants you to find five words you do not know. Since you are in 9th grade, I will take a stab at choosing some words that might be new to you. If this is not what you are asking, please rephrase and ask again.

  1. Jovial - fun-loving
  2. Paraphernalia - assorted things, belongings, "stuff"
  3. Perfunctory - automatic, unthinking
  4. Disengaged - disconnected, pulled away
  5. Petulantly - resentfully, sullenly

Read the text of the story at the link below to find other words if you already know these.

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