Reading books that we are uncertain about and unfamiliar with will cause an atmosphere of fear because we aren’t certain how the story will unfold. Several stories show that. Those stories are Where is Here by Joyce Carol Oates, My Feather Pillow by Horacio Quiroga, Why Some Brains Enjoy Fear by Allegra Ringo, and In the Fall of House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe. All of these stories have a few things in common, they all cause uncertainty because the readers aren’t sure about the ending of the stories. A sense of uncertainty helps make stories more frightening and unsettling because the reader doesn't know what will happen and due to suspense, that will make the story more unsettling. In some cases, the ending makes us frightened because it …show more content…
And with no vomiting, nothing.If she wakes tomorrow as she did today, call me at once”(Quiroga IL7). She has a great weakness, and the doctor isn’t able to cure her illness. This all creates suspense because we don’t know what was causing Alicia’s illness and why she was suddenly ill when she was fine a bit ago. The readers are curious about what this mysterious illness is and when the readers find out that it was caused by a parasite draining her blood, the readers are completely shocked and the suspense was created due to that. Suspension can also be caused by huge plot twists, as shown in the story “In the Fall of House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe. The suspension in the story is that Usher, the brother, is acting very strange and that makes the readers suspicious of his intentions, we later find out that it's due to his sickness at First and he also believes that all objects around him are alive(This opinion, in its general form, was that of the sentience of all vegetable things. But, in his disordered fancy, the idea had assumed a more daring character, and trespassed, under certain conditions, upon the kingdom of organization. Poe …show more content…
Suspense can also be caused by the feeling of uncertainty, which is very closely related to fear because fear is the result of not knowing the unknown, curiosity, or a feeling such as anxiety and excitement. According to Dr. Kerr, an expert on fear who is a psychologist and occasionally works in scary houses, stated that some brains enjoy fear because “This speaks to the fact that things that violate the laws of nature are terrifying. And anything that doesn’t make sense or causes us some sort of dissonance whether it is cognitive or aesthetic will be scary”(Ringo 93). The plot twist in The Fall of House of Usher was surreal to the readers and it may not be associated with monsters but it still caused fear and suspense because of how bizarre the story was. Fear and suspense are closely related. Fear as shown in the stories listed, Fear is the feeling of being scared of the unknown, while suspense is the feeling of excitement and anticipation. Suspense and fear can be both caused by huge plot twists in a story that completely startles the reader. In the story Where is Here by Joyce Carol
First, a key method used to create suspense is the usage of the setting. When a character is in an unwelcoming or uninviting location, uneasy or tense feelings can be formed. When there is a sense of not knowing what is around the corner or lurking in the shadows, suspense is created. Also, ominous weather, such as threatening thunderstorms, can lead the reader to anticipate an unfortunate event occurring. An example of an uncomfortable setting is the secret passageway, which is dark, dirty, and most often only occupied by a single individual. Under these conditions many people become anxious, and because of these uneasy feelings that one may encounter, when a character is subjected to these conditions, the reader may become apprehensive, which leads to the formation of suspense. When Dan Needham shuts John Wheelwright in the secret passageway while both are in a drunken stupor, a high level of suspense is created. The description of the secret passageway adds to the suspense of the scene, "The passageway was dark; yet I could discern the scurrying of spiders.
Fear is a powerful emotion. Wikipedia.com describes fear as “an emotion induced by threat perceived by living entities, which causes a change in brain and organ function and ultimately change behavior, such as running away, hiding or freezing from traumatic events.”Most people tend to avoid fearful situations, not realizing that something positive may come out of the event or experience. Victor Villaseñor focuses on the topic of fear in his novel titled Burro Genius. Villaseñor demonstrates to readers how growing up he was extremely fearful of any situation. Victor also tells his readers how he turned his fear into motivation into motivation to keep going and reach his ultimate goal of becoming a published author.
Human's fears should not be taken lightly. Fear could do anything to one's minds, though without fear, man can be as savage as animals. In the book Lord of the Flies, William Golding presented fear of the unknown to be a powerful force in a man's mind. Fear of the unknown is a powerful force, which can turn to either insight or hysteria. The kids feared of not being rescued off of the island, so they made signal fires on top of the mountain. Then, there and gone, Roger's fear of the old rules he abided to. Also, there were the fears of the beast which confused and isolated the kids from the top of the mountain.
Suspense is the build up of anxiety or excitement in a story. It is an incredibly useful literary element. People like to read suspenseful stories, and/or watch suspenseful shows and movies because suspense gets their hearts racing. Suspense in movies and books might keep the audience intrigued and make them wonder what will happen next. People also like suspense because they might like trying to figure out what will happen on their own. This will keep the audience intrigued because they want to know how close they were to the exact answer. There are many stories that display suspense and many different authors who wrote them. One book that used suspense was Cujo, by Stephen King. Cujo was a dog that was bitten by a bat. He then turns into
Gothic literature and magical realism are similar because they have a spooky feel to them. In Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where is Here” the brother believes that something or someone has moved into their house which happens multiple times in this story. Another instance is when the brother and the sister have to move out and leave all the belongs behind. TFor example, o prove the The theory of someone takexing over the house on a page page thirty-nine paragraph six it states that “...when I heard something in the library or dining room” (#). Tthis showsn that the family is hearing something strange in the rooms. However, in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” is indistinguishable because it takes place in a house and something weird
In “The Fall of The House Of Usher” Edgar Allen Poe depicts the degrading effects of vacancy. An old friend visits Roderick’s family home, where they bury more than just a dead body. The remote
Fear brings forth a certain atmosphere which compels us to act upon it. The era in which the book was published allows us to see how common these fears were. Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House is an excellent portrayal of how fear controls the human mind by using the characters as examples. In the book Eleanor, Theodora, Luke, and Dr. Montague have all been influenced by fear in the story, whether it be the fear of love, the unknown, family, rejection, expression, or loneliness. These different types of fear plagued their minds causing their actions to reflect upon them. Jackson explores the theme of fear in The Haunting of Hill House by creating a cast of characters that in turn are manipulated by the inner workings of their minds and the
When writing a story that is meant to scare the reader, authors use a variety of different literary elements to intensify fear. This is apparent in the stories “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “beware: do not read this poem,” and “House Taken Over”. It is shown through transformation in the character, setting, and sometimes even the story or poem itself, adding to the scariness that the reader feels when reading it. While there are some examples of transformation not being scary or not playing a role in stories meant to scare us, transformation plays a crucial role in making the reader of these stories scared.
In the story “The Fall of the House of Usher”, Poe presents the history of the end of an illustrious family. As with many of Poe’s stories, setting and mood contribute greatly to the overall tale. Poe’s descriptions of the house itself as well as the inhabitants thereof invoke in the reader a feeling of gloom and terror. This can best be seen first by considering Poe’s description of the house and then comparing it to his description of its inhabitants, Roderick and Madeline Usher.
For a writer, stylistic devices are key to impacting a reader through one’s writing and conveying a theme. For example, Edgar Allan Poe demonstrates use of these stylistic techniques in his short stories “The Masque of the Red Death” and “The Fall of the House of Usher.” The former story is about a party held by a wealthy prince hiding from a fatal disease, known as the Red Death. However, a personified Red Death kills all of the partygoers. “The Fall of the House of Usher” is about a man who visits his mentally ill childhood companion, Roderick Usher. At the climax of the story, Roderick’s twin sister, Madeline, murders him after he buries her alive. Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories employ the stylistic decisions of symbolism, dream-like imagery, and tone to affect the reader by furthering understanding of the theme and setting and evoking emotion in readers.
In “The Fall of the House of Usher”, Edgar Allan Poe writes of psychic and supernatural occurrences that the narrator and both Madeline and Roderick experience. Poe writes these scenes with a fair amount of ambiguity and horror so that the true reason for the family’s dismay is unclear. Being the man that he is, a horror expert who invokes fear and new phenomenon in the mind of the reader, “The Fall of the House of Usher” does just that. The greatness of Poe is that he is able to raise an unearthly terror, which comes from a vague and unclear source. The couple has been secluded for an extended period of time with little visitors, which could drive anyone insane. Insanity is the first impression the reader interprets from reading the short
2. In paragraph form and with reference to the story, discuss the role of fear in creating suspense.
Edgar Allan Poe is undoubtedly one of American Literature's legendary and prolific writers, and it is normal to say that his works touched on many aspects of the human psyche and personality. While he was no psychologist, he wrote about things that could evoke the reasons behind every person's character, whether flawed or not. Some would say his works are of the horror genre, succeeding in frightening his audience into trying to finish reading the book in one sitting, but making them think beyond the story and analyze it through imagery. The "Fall of the House of Usher" is one such tale that uses such frightening imagery that one can only sigh in relief that it is just a work of fiction. However, based on the biography of Poe, events that surrounded his life while he was working on his tales were enough to show the emotions he undoubtedly was experiencing during that time.
Dark Romanticism was very popular in 19th century America. It is literary genre that emerged from Romanticism and Transcendentalism. Tenets of Transcendentalism included finding God in nature, and seeing beyond the physical world. Dark romanticism examines the conflict between good and evil and the psychological effect of sin and guilt in the human mind. One very famous Dark Romantic writer is Edgar Allen Poe. Poe is very well known for his many poems and short stories. He is also well known for the recurring theme of death in his stories and poems. In the short story “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe, setting is used to create the mood of the story, foreshadow future events, and to portray the characteristics of characters and show who they really are.
Fear is the emotional state that someone goes into when they feel threatened or endangered. The fact that we do not know everything makes us think that everything we do not know is feared. There are many stories that include the fear of the unknown. Each poem, story, and drama include some type of fear. In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, “Hills Like White Elephants”, and “Poof” there is an extensive amount of fear for the unknown. Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Ernest Hemingway, and Lynn Nottage all used the fear to their advantage while writing and making an entertainment for the readers.