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Suspense In The Tell-Tale Heart 'And The Lottery'

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Suspense is a powerful tool used in many successful literary works. It is an effective technique used to engage readers. It creates an anxious participation of its audience and can be created in many ways. Withholding information, the knowledge of impending danger and a really good villain are three ways to create and sustain suspense. Three short stories that effectively convey this feeling of suspense are “The Tell-Tale Heart,” and “The Cask of Amontillado,” by Edgar Allen Poe, and “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson. The withholding of information is effective as it instantly creates a craving sensation within a reader. They want to know more. Many of the details in “The Lottery” foreshadow its violent conclusion. Jackson creates a seemingly …show more content…

He is obsessed over the eye of an old man who admittedly did no wrong to him. By revealing to the reader his plans of taking this old man’s life, Poe increases our feeling of suspense by also having us, the reader, stalk the old man alongside the narrator. We are placed in the very shoes of the murderer. Tension is high. This effectively creates a mood of suspense as we know the innermost thoughts of the killer himself.
Suspense can also be enhanced by creating a very good villain. This character is a vital ingredient. In “The Cask of the Amontillado,” Poe, introduces us to the villainous narrator, Montresor, is out to address and vow his revenge to a man named Fortunato.
“The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge.”
The hatred that he harbors towards Fortunato is discreetly told to just the audience. Fortunato remains in the dark of ill will to come. Insult pushed Montresor over the edge and described early his intentions of murder. It was the only way to resolve it. Montresor is the perfect villain as Fortunato trusts him and allows him to guide him through the catacombs. He has no reason to suspect his friend. This technique helps build up the suspense and

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