Suspense in Literature
Explore the methods by which suspense is created in literature.
Read a selection of novels from the following list of authors:
Raymond Chandler |
lan Fleming |
Edgar Allan Poe |
Agatha Christie |
Dashiell Hammell |
Ellery Queen |
James Hadley Chase |
Francis Iles |
Dorothy L Sayers |
Arthus Conan Doyle |
John le Carre |
Mickey Spillane |
Erle Stanley Gardener |
E Phillips Oppenheim |
Dennis Wheatley |
How effectively did each novel create suspense?
What techniques did each novel use to build and maintain suspense?
• Did the author make use of clues as a means of maintaining suspense?
• In what ways did the atmosphere of the novel help to create the suspense?
• Did the characters contribute in any way to the atmosphere of suspense?
Did the novel focus on the unravelling of a crime? What was the effect of this?
Extension
Use some of the techniques you have identified in your study to write your own suspense story.
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