“They stood together, away from the pile of stones in the corner, and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed” (paragraph 3).

“Soon the women, standing by their husbands, began to call to their children, and the children came reluctantly, having to be called four or five times” (paragraph 3).

“The villagers kept their distance, leaving a space between themselves and the stool” (paragraph 4).

“The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green” (paragraph 1).

“...there was a hesitation between two men, Mr. Martin and his oldest son, Baxter, came forward to hold the box steady” (paragraph 4).

“‘Well now, Mr. Summers said soberly, ‘guess we better get started, get this over with, so’s we can go back to work” (paragraph 10).

“The whole lottery took less than two hours, so it could begin at ten o’clock in the morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner” (paragraph 1).

“The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, as born” (paragraph 5).

“’I’m drawing for my mother and me.’ He blinked and his eyes nervously and ducked his head...” (paragraph 16).

“A sudden hush fell on the crowd as Mr. Summers cleared his throat and looked at the list. ‘All ready?’” (paragraph 19).

“...most of them were quiet, wetting their lips, not looking around” (paragraph 20).

“They grinned at one another humorlessly and nervously” (paragraph 20).

“Mr. Adams reached into the black box and took out a folded paper...he stood a little apart from his family, not looking down at his hand” (paragraph 20)

“She held her breath as her husband went forward” (paragraph 26)

“There had been, also, a ritual salute, which the official of the lottery had had to use in addressing each person who came up to draw from the box, but this also had changed with time, until now it was felt necessary only for the official to speak to each person approaching” (paragraph 7).

“By now, all through the crowd there were men holding the small folded papers in their large hands, turning them over and over nervously” (paragraph 28).

“After that, there was a long pause, a breathless pause, until Mr. Summers, holding his slip of paper in the air, said, ‘All right, fellows.’ For a minute, no one moved, and then all the slips of paper were opened” (paragraph 44).

“People began to look around to see The Hutchinsons. Bill Hutchinson was standing quiet, staring down at the paper in his hand” (paragraph 46).

“Mrs. Hutchinson craned her neck to see through the crowd and found her husband and children standing near the front” (paragraph 9).

“‘Seems like there’s no time at all between lotteries anymore,’ Mrs. Delacroix said to Mrs. Graves in the back row” (paragraph 22).

“”I think we ought to start over,’ Mrs. Hutchinson said, as quietly as she could. ‘I tell you it wasn’t fair. You didn’t give him time enough to choose. Everybody saw that” (paragraph 61).

“The crowd was quiet. ‘I hope it’s not Nancy,’ and the sound of the whisper reached the edges of the crowd” (paragraph 68).

“First thing you know, we’d all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns. There’s always been a lottery” (paragraph 33).

“Mr. Graves opened the slip of paper and there was a general sigh through the crowd as he held it up and everyone could see that it was blank” (paragraph 68).