Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The lotterysetting
What if you were to be the next big lottery winner? What would you do with all that money? Well, if you are anything like me you will have no problem imagining things that you could do - things that you have always dreamed of like buying that new sports car or travelling around the world. The question is however, in this game of pure luck, are there any possible strategies you could adapt to increase your chances of winning? In this article we will discuss some basic strategies that many people use when playing the lottery. Some people will use these strategies simply because they have always used them in the past, other people use them in pure belief that these strategies actually do work and eventually will bring them a fortune. Although …show more content…
Let me clarify by an example. A very popular method of playing the lottery is to pick the very same numbers in each and every draw. The theory behind this strategy is that eventually, that particular winning combination of numbers simply must occur, maybe not in 10-20 draws - but surely in let us say 100-200 draws? Sadly, nothing could be more wrong. The lotto balls simply have no memory, and each time they are drawn in the lottery, the odds for that particular winning combination to appear remains the same. Yes, the odds are actually the same in each and every draw. This means that you will stand an equal chance of winning by randomly picking the required amount of numbers in each draw! Having this said, this does not rule out the use of such a strategy. There are several lottery systems available that actually can increase your chances of winning if indeed a certain amount of numbers of your chosen combination do appear in a particular draw. I will try to explain more in detail what this means. Let us assume that you have picked a combination of the following numbers to win in a draw: 5-17-22-31-33. Now, if you were to play this combination at all times you would have had the same chance of winning as if you would have picked any random numbers, as I have described
“Why We Keep Playing the Lottery”, by freelance journalist Adam Piore takes a very in depth look as to what drives millions of Americans to continually play the lottery when their chances of winning are virtually non-existent. He believes that because the odds of winning the lottery are so small that Americans lose the ability to conceptualize how unlikely it is that they are going to win, and therefore the risk of playing has less to do with the outcome, and more to do with hope that they are feeling when they decide to play. It 's essentially, "a game where reason and logic are rendered obsolete, and hope and dreams are on sale." (Piore 700) He also states that many Americans would rather play the lottery thinking ,"boy, I could win $100 million" (705) as opposed to thinking about all of the money they could lose over time.
However the Lottery is setup, it takes a lot of money and does not give back evenly distributed. ‘’the poorest members of society tend to spend (and, by design lose) the most on lottery tickets. ’’ ("Case Studies", 2012). This is where the monster part comes in.
Winning the lottery is a dream most people have; it is magical thinking, believing that you, the ticket buyer will be the one defying all the odds. The only ones, from the hedonistic utilitarian standpoint whosehappiness will increase are those who actually win the lottery, a very small number from among all the players. The hedonistic utilitarian standpoint is not ethically recommendable because the lottery is only selling the dream of winning it while filling the state coffers with people’s hard earned money. (Brusseau, J. 2012)
Those who participate can only remember certain parts of the ritual of the lottery, and even then, these parts are not performed the same. Other parts have been completely done away with and forgotten.
The meaning of the word “Lottery” is a “gambling game or method of raising money, as for some public charitable purpose, in which a large number of tickets are sold and a drawing is held for certain prizes” (“The Definition of Lottery”). In the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, published in 1948, the word “lottery” takes on a whole new meaning. The lottery is a game of chance but not the chance that the winner will be rewarded greatly if you win. It’s the chance of having the townspeople chase and throwing stones at the “winner.” “Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her. “It isn’t fair,” she said. A stone hit her on the side of the head” (Jackson 144). On top of this short story being an interesting read, it is also depicts many literary terms, the main
The word lottery is almost always paired with the word winner. However, winner usually means receiving an award of some sort,
Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery.” The Lottery and Other Stories. Ed. A. M. Homes. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005. 291-302. Print.
To start with, the lottery is the way of life for the townspeople since it has been around for years. Most people who are very eager and willing to participate in the lottery gives the impression that it was something they all are familiar with and looking forward to despit...
Nebeker, Helen E. “The Lottery: Symbolic Tour de Force.” American Literature 46.1 1974: 100-7. Academic Search Complete EBSCO. Web. 23 Apr. 2011.
When people think of a “lottery,” it always involves a grand prize. Something like money or cars. In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” the “grand prize” being awarded is not one's everyday prize of money or cars. It is actually opposite of what one really thinks a prize is. In the end of Jackson’s short story, the “prize” is being stoned to death by the entire village. Shirley sets up the resolution by foreshadowing events throughout the story. It is not until the resolution that readers find out what the “lottery” really is.
“The Lottery” was quite disturbing to read. It is an very unusual story that has an ending that will have you baffled. You will want to reread certain parts to see if there is anything thing that you could have missed. The title of the short story is also misleading. In most cases the lottery is a good thing. People don’t win punishment and lotteries don’t hurt them. But in this story it does just that. The author did a great job of telling how anyone and everyone can follow tradition blindly. It is dangerous not to have a mind of your own and to just follow the crowd even if you don’t understand on agree on why something is happening.
When you buy a lottery ticket, your chances of winning depend on the number of possible combinations of numbers, not on whether you pick your favorite lucky numbers. Every time you buy a ticket, day after day, you have the same chance of winning, so your chance may always be, for example, one in a million. Nothing you or anyone else can do, short of cheating, can change that chance.
“The Lottery” is a story written by Shirley Jackson. By looking at the title you may think about money prize. In this story takes the readers expectation to another level. By the two words of the title there is no way the reader did not get hook to reading this story. In “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson, uses symbolism, irony, and imagery.
The lottery is something everyone wants to win no matter what the prize. People buy their tickets and await their fates. Some people win the lottery and many more lose. Losing the lottery causes something inside of us to die, but it is almost impossible to quit playing. The gambling becomes an addiction. The reason why people are constantly drawn to these lotteries is because deep down, the people who play them are convinced they can win.
Understanding the Symbols in The Lottery. Elton Gahr, 5 Jan 2012. Web. The Web.