Final answer:
In Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery', literary devices such as symbolism and irony play significant roles, with the black box symbolizing blind tradition and the title providing a fatal ironic twist. Kate Chopin's 'The Storm' utilizes the setting and metaphor of a storm to parallel the characters' turbulent emotions, and the author's diction hints at the progressive nature of the story's themes.
Step-by-step explanation:
The short story 'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson is an excellent example of the effective use of literary devices. One of the prominent literary devices Jackson uses is symbolism. The black box used in the story symbolizes tradition and the unquestioning adherence to it, despite its harmful outcomes. This becomes clear as the characters in the story are bound to this tradition even though none of them seem to know why it is continued. Another critical literary device employed by Jackson is irony. The title 'The Lottery' suggests a positive outcome for the winner, which is ironic because winning the lottery in the story leads to a tragic end.
When analyzing another short story, let's take, for instance, 'The Storm' by Kate Chopin, Chopin uses setting and metaphor to enhance the narrative. The storm itself is not only a physical occurrence but also represents the emotional and sexual surge the characters experience. The setting intensifies the story's drama and the internal conflict of the characters. Moreover, the detailed description of the characters' actions further reveals the author's use of diction which contributes to the overall sensual tone of the story, which was quite progressive and controversial at the time it was written.