How do authors write stories that make you want to read on? This is called suspense. Authors use different kinds of suspense techniques to keep the reader engaged in the story. The short story, “Lather and Nothing Else,” by Hernando Tellez is about a barber who has a hard time deciding whether or not to kill Captain Torres, the rebel executioner. The barber thinks that killing the Captain will make him a murderer, but a hero at the same time. Hernando Tellez creates suspense by foreshadowing, showing the character’s thoughts, and by using descriptive words.
The first way the author creates suspense in the story is by foreshadowing. When Captain Torres walked into the barber’s shop, the barber, “Started to shake,” (Tellez 1) indicating that the barber felt instant fear, when his enemy approached. This foreshadows that the barber knows the man and that he will be deciding to kill him or not. Foreshadowing creates suspense because it is a clue given to the reader. It is the reader’s job to guess what is going to happen in the story and that is what makes it interesting. Without foreshadowing the reader won’t be able to prepare what is going to happen next. Another scene where the foreshadowing technique is used was when the barber came up with his reasons to not kill Captain Torres. The barber contemplated in his mind, “Don’t want to stain myself with blood. Just lather, and nothing else,” (Tellez 2) which foreshadows that the barber is not going to commit murder.
Suspense is defined as the author withholding information or when the unexpected happens, leaving you guessing and wanting more. In the story “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, he has inserted much suspense in this short (long) story, for the reason that it makes the reader want to know more and having to mindset of excitement or surprise. Another reason he added many suspense is so that it wouldn’t be so blunt, it wouldn’t just tell us what happened it would give us details and how he got or how he did that and more.
In both the excerpts "Jams" and "Swimming with Nightmares" by Peter Benchley, the author creates suspense in many ways. The author utilizes descriptive words, character's choices, and dangerous situations for creating suspense.
Suspense is a detail that many horror writer use to catch the attention of many readers and keep them holding on till the end. Just as W.F. Harvey does when creating suspense in his story August Heat. Mr. Harvey used three methods to create his suspense for his story, foreshadowing, withholding information, and reversal. With these three methods he is able to make the reader feel like, “ We may even hold our breath without realizing it as we read on eagerly to find out how the story ends”(Source 1).
What makes a good story? Most people would say, a good story is one that entertains, inspires, and connects the reader to the plot. In order for these things to be achieved an author needs to engage their reader. How? Suspense. Many authors use suspense in their stories in order to keep readers engaged and on the edge of their seat while incorporating their message. Different styles of suspense reveal different aspects of the story including characterization, theme, and plot development. In the short story “Lather and Nothing Else” by Hernando Tellez, the author develops suspense by establishing a lofty view of the plot, setting time constraints on characters, and showing the character's inner conflict. These techniques keep readers on
Writers can use many tricks to make a story seem more interesting to the reader. From the words they pick to the setting to the time of the day... the possibilities are endless. In the story "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allen Poe, the use of light and darkness, the description of the mans eye and the time frame make the story more scary than anything else. Poe also uses suspense at the end to make the readers heart beat faster.
“For some time I sat in silence. Then a cold shudder ran down my spine.” That would be one example of how suspense is created throughout a horror story. There have been multiple authors which have made frightening stories and put a lot of work into them.Furthermore, as in the story, “August Heat” by W.F. Harvey, it is composed of suspense around the piece. A prime example would be the use of foreshadow, reversal, and being unpredictable. Therefore, combining the three makes the completion of a story with frightening scenes, along with the suspense.
One technique Richard Connell uses to create suspense is foreshadowing because in the beginning of the story he talks about how the island has a bad reputation, and he talks about how General Zaroff and Rainsford hunt together. First in the beginning of the story, Whitney and Rainsford talk about an island the yacht they are on is passing by and how it has a bad reputation. According to the text Whittney tells Rainsford, “‘It’s rather a mystery’... ‘The old charts call it ‘Ship-Trap Island’... ‘The place has a reputation--a bad one’” (Connell 1). The author is clearly using foreshadowing because he writes about an island that Rainsford will later get trapped on and how the Island has a bad reputation. This creates suspense because it makes the reader nervous about the island, making the reader want to know what makes the mysterious island so scary and dangerous. Next, toward the middle of the story, during dinner at General Zaroff’s mansion General Zaroff and Rainsford talk about the hunts General Zaroff like to go on and how Rainsford should join his next one. According to the text General Zaroff says to Rainsford, “‘Tonight,’ said the general, ‘we will hunt---you and I” (10). The author is clearly using foreshadowing because he writes about how Rainsford and General Zaroff will go on a hunt together where General Zaroff will hunt Rainsford. This creates suspense because it makes the reader want to know what General Zaroff likes to hunt and how
People reads books and they get their captured by the suspense the authors use to write their stories. Suspense is a key point for most readers it keeps them reading the book to see what happens next. Both Edgar Allan Poe and Richard Connell are very good authors that use a lot of suspense throughout their short stories. Poe’s “Cask of Amontillado” and Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game” are two stories full of suspense. It’s unpredictable, surprising that we can’t figure out what happens next. .Through conflict, setting, and diction Poe and Connell are able to build suspense.
In the short story, “Lather and Nothing Else”, the author, Hernando Tellez, creates suspense using a few different techniques. This short story takes place in a revolutionary barber’s shop, where the barber contemplates murdering an executioner by the name of Captain Torres. In order to create suspense, Tellez uses the key elements of limiting information and narrative point of view.
element that contributes to a great horror story, it intrigues the reader into the piece of literature
Suspense is a vital part of keeping readers on the edge of their seats, yearning to know what will happen next. Suspense isn't created easily, however. Anyone could write a story with a simple problem and resolution, but if one were to utilize the use of suspense, literary devices such as setting, irony and point of view are essential to accomplish this. Correspondingly, in the short stories written by Lucille Fletcher and Edgar Allen Poe titled, ¨Sorry, Wrong Number,¨ and ¨The Tell-Tale Heart,¨ these literary devices are used and successfully achieved the goal of making these suspenseful short stories live up to their name.
He sat there, huge and elephantine, the sweat pouring from his scalp, which he wiped with a red silk handkerchief. But though face was the same, the expression was absolutely different” (Harvey 63-66). Harvey created suspense in this lines by making the story more interesting. In a specific way all horror writers make suspense other wise their stories wouldn’t be the same. “Writers may create suspense by withholding information from the reader for instance, how a crime was committed or who committed it”.
Have you ever read a book so suspenseful that it keeps you at the edge of your seat the whole time? I have. Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell - Tale Heart” was mysterious. In this story, the narrator stalked and carefully killed the old man with the vulture eye. He was proud of the meticulous way he cut up the body up and and hid it under the floorboards. Later, the narrator to the murder because he thinks he hears the old man’s heartbeat when in fact it was his own. This proves how crazy the Narrator is. Poe’s writing techniques that build suspense include: pacing, and dialogue.
The suspense in this story started when the barber recognized Captain Torres as he entered the barber shop. It is an indication that he knows something frightening about the man. His fear of the man was justified when he recalled how humiliatingly he killed the rebels for all the town people to see. The suspense escalated when the barber revealed that he is a rebel too. The barber’s every thought, every move, and every stroke makes the reader wonder if he is going to take advantage of his position to kill Captain Torres. It intensified when he described that the soap is drying and he had to hurry – hurrying to do what?! And then he started to imagine how swiftly the sharp the razor would cut his skin and how the blood would slowly ooze and
As A Glossary of Literary Terms explains, suspense is “a lack of certainty on the part of concerned reader about what is going to happen, especially to characters with whom the reader has established a bond of symphaty” (Abrams and Harpham 2014, 294). There are two ways of describing and explaining suspense. The first is text-oriented, which focuses on various characteristics of the narrative