FREE ESSAY ON SHIRLEY JACKSON

SHIRLEY JACKSON

Born-San Francisco, California-December 3, 1919
Died-North Bennington, Vermont- August 8, 1965-45
Have published novels, humorous fictionalized autobiographies, and children books
Many have remained uncollected
1961, Edgar Allen Poe Reward, "Louisa, Please"
1965, Syracuse University Arents Pioneer Medal for Outstanding Achievements
Moved to NY at 16
After enrolling in Syracuse, beginning of independent life for author
At Syracuse, met Stanley Edgar Hyman-would marry in 1940
Hyman Achieved notoriety in his own right as a teacher, writer, critic
After marriage and birth of 4, literary production increased markedly
Agoraphobic, depressive
Contributing to by asthma and arthritis
Hymans extramarital affair in early 1960's
1963, husband made new commitments to marriage
Helped her work with agoraphobia
Obese, chain smoker
Stories center of one concern
Almost every story, protagonists discovering
Protagonists were mostly women
Failing to discover
Successfully ignoring an alternate way of perceiving set of circumstances or the world
CRITICAL SURVEY OF SHORT FICTION
BOOK WORKS 
1948 "The Lottery"
1954 "The Bird's Nest"
1957 "Raising Demons"
1958 "The Sundial"
1959 "The Haunting of Hill House"
1962 "We Have Always Lived in the Castle"
1966 "The Magic of Shirley Jackson"-published after she died
-original sories about lonely or mentally distrubed people who have experiences with
supernatural events
published first book at age 18
age 29 New Yorker magazine publish "The Lottery"
"The Lottery" was the book that made her famous
fascinated with black magic
in 1919 (born)-1919 prohibition introduced to US
1926 British scientist John Baird Demonsrtates TV
1927 Joseph Stalin Becomes dictator of Russia
1931 Empire State Building in New York City Completed
1933 Nazi Party, led by Adolf Hitler, gains control of Germany
1935 Italy invades Abyssinia (Ethiopia)
1939-45 WWII: allies, led by US and Great Britian, fight axis powers, led by Germany and
Japan
1941-Germany invades USSR
1945-US drops first atomic bombs on Japan
1945-United Nations (UN), organization working for betterment of humanity, founded
1950-53 Korean war: North Korea and china fight South Korea, the US, and United Nations
troops
1957 Eisenhower sends troops to little rock, arkansas, to ensure school desegration
I believe that in shirley jacksons writings, a lot had influenced her. One of the major
things i think that had influenced her and her writing were the problems that she had
with her husband. Her huband had had an affair in the 1960 which would have caused her a
great deal of either sadness, grief, or pain. Maybe it was all of these that she had
felt. In the story Cluique, she had her husband as being mentally disturbed and needing
to go to a psychotrist. However, i believe that it may have been herself coming out in
her own story. A lot of times, an author will do this just to get his/her story across
about what is happening but changes the characters names to make it a story that the
readers will not conect to the actual author. I also believe that the world happenings
also planned a major role on her writing. While she was alive, a lot of dark things have
happened expecailly with the atomic bombs first drop.
Bibliography
public journal 1956 la times vol#2