One of the most common ways to enhance suspense is the use of words with cataphoric semantic elements. Cataphora is a trope, which refers to early cues within the narrative, while the opposite trope anaphora means the recall of these clues (cf. Shaul 2012, 39). Cataphora refers to the subsequent information in the text. The subsequent information are cohesive relationships to advance one (Wulff 1996, 2-3). Cataphora helps to create dramatic effect and it builds suspense by keeping the reader to wait for the outcome (Donnelly 1994, 100). Donnelly (1994, 100) notes that generic terms, which start high up the ladder and work to more specific names build suspense e.g. personal pronouns (I, we, you, she), relative pronouns (that, which), demonstrative …show more content…
These are as follows: intertextuality, free indirect discourse, metanarration, internal monologue, digression (cf. Fill 2003a, 272; Fill 2003b, 22). Intertextuality refers to the interdependence between literary texts (Cuddon and Preston 1999, 424). Intertextuality can be made up of variety of functions such as quatations, plagiarisms, and allusions (Genette 1997b, XVIII). Every intertextual reference is a deviation from the usual text. Intertextual reference draws the attention of the reader in one direction, which is outside the prior reading direction and thus it initiates in reader the experience of suspense, which motivates him to process the intertextual reference in order to resume the original reading order (Sánchez Penzo 2010, …show more content…
the additional text that surrounds the main text within the book (peritext) and outside the book (epitext). Paratextuality invloves such elements as titles, subtitles, pseaudonyms, forewords, dedications, epigraphs, headings, prefaces, acknowledgements, footnotes, illustrations, and etc. Epitextual elements are authorial correspondences, oral confidences, diaries, pre-texts, etc. (Genette 1997b, XVIII). Metatextuality refers to the relationship that “unites a given text to another, of which it speaks without necessarily citing it (without summoning it), in fact sometimes even without naming it” (Genette 1997a, 4). Genette identifies metatext as commentary on other text (Genette 1997b, XIX). Architextuality denotes “the entire set of general or transcendental categories – types of discourse, modes of enunciation, literary genres – from which emerges a singular text.” (Genette 1997a, 1). Architextuality is “the most abstract and implicit of the transcendent categories, the relationship of inclusion linking each text to the various kinds of discourse of which it is a representative” (Genette 1997b, XIX). Hypertextuality denotes “any relationship uniting a text B (hypertext) to an earlier text a (hypotext), upon which it is grafted in a manner that is not that of commentary” (Genette, 1997a,
Even though some suspense doesn’t let the audience know anything, real suspense involves the audience being aware of everything that occurs. In the essay, it states, “The fact that the audience watches actors go blithely through an atmosphere that is loaded with evil makes for real suspense.” (6) This shows that whenever the audience watches the characters don't know anything that’s going on
An example of intertextuality is in West Side Story. Although this is a play, I could connect it back to Romeo and Juliet. The musical is a modern day version of the Shakespeare book, so there was a lot of intertextuality between the two. When watching the play, I noticed that two gangs have always been enemies and are fighting for control over the area. This is much like the on going battle between the Capulets and Montagues. Knowing this helped me see the rivalry between the two gangs. On top of this, one of the gang members falls in love with a rival’s sister. Again, having read Romeo and Juliet,I could relate this part to it. The both have the same theme of wanting something you can’t have. Another example
My second claim is that personification is the best literary device that gives suspense because it uses descriptive words to compare human like qualities with non-living things to explain what’s going on in the story. It uses such detail that the reader ponders about what will happen next. In
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.
Everyone at one point has been captivated and intrigued by the plot of a movie or a book. This captivation is generated by the one tool that authors and directors love the most, suspense. Authors want their audience and readers of their writing to be enthralled by creating tension and thrill in their plot. The usage of style, characterization, point of view, and foreshadowing allows authors and directors to create suspense in their work. Suspense is a very difficult approach to master but with the correct tools it can be as simple as a walk through the park.
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
In How to Read Literature like a Professor one of the new literary skills I learned was intertextuality. Intertextuality is a connection between different literary sources, such as “the ongoing interactions between poems and stories” (Foster 29). Similar to intertextuality, the
The writer uses structures and features of the text to manipulate the reader’s experience of the text and the reader being immersed in the novel has changed through the author’s use of structures and features of the text. Characters in the text use different vocabulary to reflect on how smart they are, this gives the reader a good understanding of the characters. The author’s use of direct speech throughout this text gives the reader a good understanding on what the characters are doing.
Effectively using these elements in a piece of literature enhances the reader’s curiosity. One prime example of such usage of these elements is seen in Kate Chopin's writing. Her use of foreshadowing and use of emotional conflicts put into few words in the short piece "The Storm" adds an element that is alluring, holding the reader's interest. In this short piece of literature, a father and son, Bobinot and Bibi, are forced to remain in a store where they were shopping before the storm, waiting for the storm to pass over them. In the meantime, the wife and mother, Calixta, whom is still at home, receives an unexpected visit from a former lover named Alicee. The two have an affair and the story starts to come together. The story shows us how we tend to want what we beli...
Abrams, M. H. A Glossary of Literary Terms, 7th ed. New York: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1999.
In novels there are many literary devices that an author may use. Suspense is one that is used to grab the reader’s attention and keep reading. Mary Higgins Clark demonstrates suspense throughout her novel, A Stranger Is Watching by giving only so much information then she will direct your attention to something else so the reader keeps reading. Some suspenseful scenes that the author demonstrates in the novel are when an intruder is in the Peterson home and is pointing a gun at Sharon’s head, another is when Sharon is in the kidnapper’s car and cleverly puts her ring in the seat so maybe someone would find it, and when Mrs. Perry comes to the Peterson home and tells everyone that she knows the voice of the kidnapper.
Wheeler, Kip. "Literary Terms and Definitions M." Literary Terms and Definitions "M" Carson-Newman University, n.d. Web. 12 May 2014.
...ing, not literary genres, which belong to the broader mode of fictional writing. In the same way, meta-metafiction belongs to the broader mode of metafictional writing. These modes of writing are not mutually exclusive to each other, but indicate different degrees of self-reflexivity that can be simultaneously present within the same text. In order to shift from one degree of self-reflexivity to another, the text alternately exposes and conceals the frames of reference—the literary structures—that organise the reader’s experience and interpretation of fictional texts. These frames can range from literary conventions such as the “happily ever after” ending in a fairy tale, to narrative techniques such as stream of consciousness narration in modernist novels like Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse (1927), to the framing device of stories within stories in metafiction.
Suspense is the feeling that you don’t know what's gonna happen next. You are on the edge of your seat ready for something about to happen, but you just don’t know what is about to happen. It has kept audiences coming back to the theaters for a long time. It makes a scene more entertaining, impactful, and it makes the audience anxious, and excited to see what comes next. Plus, you can put suspense in any genre of movie. Horror, Mystery, Crime, Whodunits, Romantic, Comedy and many others. The TV show “Stranger Things”, it’s opener is a fantastic example of suspense. It contains foreshadowing, mystery, dilemma, and mood. In the beginning, it has someone running away from something that is chasing him in a lab, he runs into an elevator thinking
It may be time to consider a literary work not as a predetermined product cast in a deterministic mold, but as a dynamic system that transcends the prevailing assumptions that are supposed to define its identity. The formal definitions can be just external to the composition of the text since we cannot expect the reader to know exactly what the author intended to write without falling into the trap of intentional fallacy.