Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a British physician and writer, mostly well known for his stories “Sherlock Holmes”, which are generally in the field of crime fiction. He was a prolific writer whose other works include science fiction stories, historical novels, plays and romances, poetry, and non-fiction.
In the following paragraphs I will be talking about the three stories ‘Red Headed League’, ‘Silver Blaze’ and ‘scandal in Bohemia’.
The story ‘Scandal in Bohemia’ starts of very odd, “To Sherlock Holmes, she is always the woman’. This has already given the reader a hint of suspense as it is something unusual. It was always thought that Holmes had no feelings and no emotions for anyone, but according to this opening the above phrase is incorrect. Conan Doyle has already captured the reader’s attention in a different kind of way, whereas in his other stories such as ‘Red Headed League’ He has the reader interested in a different style. ‘And found him in deep conversation with a very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair.’ This is one part from the opening, notice how it differs from Scandal in Bohemia, yet you still want to know what happens next-why Holmes was in such ‘deep conversation’ and why Doyle has described the elderly gentlemen in a very descriptive way.
However, in ‘Silver Blaze’, Doyle grabs the reader’s attention by shocking them, making it seem that there is going to be a change. ‘I’m afraid Watson, I shall have to go’. This opening may worry the reader to thinking that something has happened to Holmes resulting him in leaving hence it makes the reader want to read on.
Doyle knows how to have the reader questioning till the end, by giving clues to the final conclusion and not giving all the inf...
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... expected to see, said Holmes.’ All throughout the story the Red-headed League, Watson cannot grasp the concept of what Holmes is thinking. This is what creates the suspense.
One of the main ways that Doyle creates suspense is by giving that eerie and mysterious effect in his description. Not only does this bewilder the reader, but it also wants the reader to read until the end. The Red-headed League best describes the puzzling experience. Jabez Wilson is basically getting paid a lot of money for doing practically nothing; he also has strict orders which baffle the readers mind with questions. “Well you have to be in the office or at least in the building the whole time”. Already this has brought up questions, but that is how Doyle wants the reader to feel, he wants them to feel this way so they keep on reading to get the correct answers hence it creates suspense.
In this particular case, the plot is satisfying particularly due to the presentation and buildup of suspense throughout the book and also due to the usage of foreshadowing of future events. In detail, Anthony Horowitz’s use a particular presentation of suspense in the manner of building up one’s urge to read more and then releasing the demand in a series of decisive events. In other words, Anthony Horowitz builds up such urgency in the reader by first presenting events that do not reveal many details other than the environment and the character actions, which leads to the reader wanting more action. In an example, such style is used when Alex first meets the Aussies at the barbecue. The Australians, who are SAS recruits, invite Alex to an afternoon barbecue at a beach after Alex meets up with ASIS. The men, however, act strangely during the gathering and command Alex to perform bizarre acts that one would simply not think of. Furthermore, the crew landed on a restricted military operation zone, which is off limits for non-military personnel. Secondly, the same style is brought about when Alex explores the cargo ship of Scorpia entirely by himself with only his thoughts and statements. And lastly, such suspense is built up when Alex is formulating a plan to escape the snakehead hospital alone and with no M16 assistance. Evidently, by describing the character's thoughts and environment, Horowitz creates a sense of urgency and vagueness within the reader that wants the full truth of the situation. Correspondingly, Horowitz releases the urgency that is built up within the reader by disposing of the vagueness in a series of petrifying events. In this situation, Horowitz releases the suspense that is built up within the barbecue scene by allowing the area
In John Irving's novel titled, A Prayer for Owen Meany, suspenseful events are of abundance, and there are multiple ways the author creates this suspense. Among these methods of creating suspense, four that stand out are the use of setting, the pace of the story, the involvement of mysteries to be solved, and the ability of the reader to easily identify and sympathize with the protagonist. By placing a character in a gloomy or solitary place, uncomfortable feelings are created, which append to the suspense. Pace and structure of the story also play into the foundation of suspense, as shorter sentences and stronger, more cutting verbs and adjectives are often used to keep the reader highly interested and reading at a rapid speed. Of course, suspense could not be considered what it is if there were no mystery involved. The element of not knowing what is in store for the future and having the urge to find out is the essence of suspense. Also, if the reader cannot easily relate to and sympathize with the character in the suspenseful situation, a loss of interest can arise, and therefore spoil the spirit of the tension. Uncomfortable settings, pace and structure, use of mysteries, and capability to relate to the main character are four techniques that John Irving uses to create suspense.
What the author is doing is letting the reader foreshadow. A technique which creates suspense, a vital element in any action story. The author then explained what was being hinted at;
Green drags the reader right into the text from the very beginning, and very skilfully keeps the reader engaged to the end of the introduction. With varied techniques to convey his message, Green is able to summarize the novel and grab attention in the few opening pages.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle made Sherlock Holmes’s into one of the most famous detective fictional character the world has seen. Sherlock Holmes has all the qualities and more to be the best at what he is,a detective although he is an amateur. I think that Sherlock Holmes is the best fictional character because of all of his unique and outstandingly shocking techniques.
The most powerful way Stevenson had used to create suspense was by withholding information which keeps the reader reading on. Also he used his scene setting as a way to build tension and suspense. Like in Dracula it was Dracula’s castle, in this novel it is the dark, lonely, dangerous streets of London. The name of the chapter also creates suspense to keep reading because it is called “The Last Night”. This makes the reader think is it the last night in the book, the last night for someone or the ending of the book?
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is the creator of the character Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. He was a Scottish writer and physician, he wrote many things in his life. Doyle did not just write detective mysteries he also fantasy and science fiction stories, plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction and historical novels. Even though he wrote many other thing he is mostly well known for writing all of the canon Sherlock stories. Doyle himself had a career in the medical field there he meet many influential people to base his characters from. A letter was found where he wrote to one of his colleagues whose name was Joseph Bell that the most important traits of his character Sherlock was mostly based on him. Bell himself had the career title of forensic
...r Conan Doyle loathed writing Sherlock Holmes. He would write the wrong name for major reoccurring characters and not care if the reasoning in his stories was completely illogical, yet he ironically created his own genre of mystery novels that are recognized even to those who have never read them. Doyle unwillingly created the most insane fanbase that is still alive and thriving today. Doyle’s stories are still popular even eighty-four years after his death because they keep readers enthralled with the story. He wrote war stories based on his own exciting experiences, stories that he believed brought him to the height of his writing capabilities, and stories that sent him crashing back down when a frenzy into Spiritualism crumbled his prestige as a writer. His stories manage to capture the reader’s attention, making them timeless classics in the world of literature.
Cox, J. R. (1988). Arthur Conan Doyle. In B. Benstock & T. F. Staley (Eds.), Dictionary of Literary Biography: Vol. Vol. 70. British Mystery Writers, 1860-1919. Detroit: Gale Research. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1200002740&v=2.1&u=miamidade&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w&asid=195f77572a41d90d4e0074cb8695c7ea
E. Arthur Robinson feels that by using this irony the narrator creates a feeling of hysteria, and the turmoil resulting from this hysteria is what places "The Tell-Tale Heart" in the list of the greatest horror stories of all time (94). Julian Symons suggests that the murder of the old man is motiveless, and unconnected with passion or profit (212). But in a deeper sense, the murder does have a purpose: to ensure that the narrator does not have to endure the haunting of the Evil Eye any longer. To a madman, this is as good of a reason as any; in the mind of a madman, reason does not always win out over emotion. Edward H. Davidson insists that emotion had a large part to play in the crime, suggesting that the narrator suffers and commits a crime because of an excess of emotion over intelligence (203).
This website provides many facts about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: his parents, marriages, job etc. Each stories are divided into different pages which becomes easier for the fans to find what they want to know about Doyle. With all the details, this site helps the readers to learn what could possibly make him the person he became.
Sherlock Holmes, one of the most famous fictional characters in literary history is a detective capable of solving the most complex mysteries. The author behind the character, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a very successful British writer. The majority of his literary success is due to his crime-fiction tales such as the Sherlock Holmes series. However, Mr. Doyle and Mr. Holmes himself must not take all the credit because there is another character that plays a major role in the stories success. He goes by the name of Dr. Watson, Holmes’ sidekick. The importance of Dr. Watson is evident in many of Doyle’s stories such as A Scandal in Bohemia and A Study in Scarlett.
Holmes may be one of the most popular and recognized characters of English Literature. On May 22nd, 1859, Arthur Conan Doyle was born at Picardy Place, in
belittling characteristic "He used to make merry over the cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late." Bohemia. Holmes has a great store of knowledge that he has acquired over many years at his disposal, and this helps him greatly in his cases. " special knowledge of tobacco ashes enabled me to pronounce as an Indian cigar" (The Boscombe Valley Mystery). This yet again proves
The suspense is created by the different characters and many mysterious setting. In this story suspense is presented in a way to keep the reader engaged in the story. The main suspense begins with Helen Stoner telling her story to Sherlock Holmes. Helen told Holmes about the mysterious and strange events that occurred. The events such as, whistling in the middle of the night, as well as her sister’s mysterious death. Doyle describing the dark bedroom that Watson spend the night in, made the reader feel the suspense as if they were in the same room. He uses descriptions such as “...This is very interesting. You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where the little opening for the ventilator is” as well as “Holmes as we sat together in the gathering darkness” (Conan Doyle) made the reader more engaged into the story. Foreshadowing is also created in the story to give clues that suggest events that will occur later in the story. Foreshadowing is seemed to be seen when the pole rope was connected to a ventilator and the ventilator went to the next room. The poisonous snake was the weapon used to kill the daughter, by traveling through the