Irony
Use the PowerPoint for definitions and examples of the three types of irony.
irony.ppt |
Suspense
Definition:
Suspense is the intense feeling that an audience goes through while waiting for the outcome of certain events. It basically leaves the reader holding their breath and wanting more information. The amount of intensity in a suspenseful moment is why it is hard to put a book down. Without suspense, a reader would lose interest quickly in any story because there is nothing that is making the reader ask, “What’s going to happen next?” In writing, there has to be a series of events that leads to a climax that captivates the audience and makes them tense and anxious to know what is going to happen.
Example: A cliffhanger is a great way to create suspense. You remember when you were a kid and very excited to watch those Saturday morning shows. You can probably recall the feeling you had at the pit of your stomach when, after about 25 minutes and lots of commercials, you were hoping to find out what happened to your favorite character. However, you didn’t get to find out. Instead they would make the “Tune In Next Week” announcement and you already knew that you would be there. Same time, same place. Suspense is a powerful literary tool because, if done correctly, you know your audience will be back for more and more.
Dramatic irony creates suspense because we, the readers, sometimes know things that the characters don't know. That knowledge holds us in suspense because we can see difficulties coming before the characters can.
Point of view in a story also creates suspense. If a novel is written in third person omniscient point of view, for example, the reader can learn the thoughts and emotions of all character. Much like with dramatic irony, this knowledge lets us foresee future events or issues.
Suspense is the intense feeling that an audience goes through while waiting for the outcome of certain events. It basically leaves the reader holding their breath and wanting more information. The amount of intensity in a suspenseful moment is why it is hard to put a book down. Without suspense, a reader would lose interest quickly in any story because there is nothing that is making the reader ask, “What’s going to happen next?” In writing, there has to be a series of events that leads to a climax that captivates the audience and makes them tense and anxious to know what is going to happen.
Example: A cliffhanger is a great way to create suspense. You remember when you were a kid and very excited to watch those Saturday morning shows. You can probably recall the feeling you had at the pit of your stomach when, after about 25 minutes and lots of commercials, you were hoping to find out what happened to your favorite character. However, you didn’t get to find out. Instead they would make the “Tune In Next Week” announcement and you already knew that you would be there. Same time, same place. Suspense is a powerful literary tool because, if done correctly, you know your audience will be back for more and more.
Dramatic irony creates suspense because we, the readers, sometimes know things that the characters don't know. That knowledge holds us in suspense because we can see difficulties coming before the characters can.
Point of view in a story also creates suspense. If a novel is written in third person omniscient point of view, for example, the reader can learn the thoughts and emotions of all character. Much like with dramatic irony, this knowledge lets us foresee future events or issues.
Point of View
There's a separate page for point of view--it juts out from this page on the menu.
Activity - "Story of an Hour"
POINT OF VIEW QUESTIONS
SUSPENSE QUESTIONS
IRONY QUESTIONS
- What point of view is this story told in?
- How does the narrator view and speak about the events, ideas, and people in the story?
SUSPENSE QUESTIONS
- What is one example of suspense in the story?
- How is this example of suspense created--through irony or point of view?
IRONY QUESTIONS
- Mallard has a heart trouble because of her husband's hold on her, yet the family is afraid of making her heart trouble worse. What type of irony is this?
- She whispers "free, free, free!" after her husband dies. Which type of irony is this?
- When Brently walks in--alive--at the end, which type of irony occurs?
- If we--the readers--had known that Brently was alive, what type of irony would that have been?
- What type of irony is it when the doctors say that she had died of "the joy that kills"?
- Pick one of these examples of irony and explain how the author's use of irony created suspense for the reader.