SUSPENSE “There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.” Alfred Hitchcock

SUSPENSE TOOLBOX A sympathetic character with a fear to face A threatening setting Foreshadowing builds anticipation of future events. Cliffhangers help build suspense by causing delay. Questions raised peak reader’s curiosity Flashbacks can provide important info and also cause delay. Red Herrings can confuse readers and keep them guessing. Obstacles: stand in the character’s way of reaching a goal. Situational irony: reality is opposite of expectation. Dramatic irony: reader knows more than character. Time constraints: a ticking clock adds tension. Distance: create distance between character and goal. Isolation: an isolated character is more vulnerable. Language and punctuation.

SUSPENSE WRITING ASSIGNMENT You will create a suspenseful story that incorporates some of the strategies for building tension in the Toolbox on the previous slide.

STORY FEATURES 3 - 4 pages in length (Times New Roman, size 12) Sympathetic character with a particular fear he or she must face. Setting with a well-established mood. Dialogue that reveals important information about characters and events. Consistent point of view. Plot includes: Conflict (internal, external, or both). Rising action with built-in delays. Climax worth waiting for. Satisfying resolution that wraps things up!

RUBRIC: 100 POINTS Focus (10 points): Consistent point of view Content (50 points): 3-4 pages (12 size font, Times New Roman) Sympathetic character with a fear to face. Well-paced plot that incorporates suspense-building techniques. Organization (10 points) Well-sequenced events. Narrative transitions.    Style (10 points) Vivid imagery/descriptive language. Variety of sentence beginnings and types Conventions (20 points) Consistent verb tense Well-edited for spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.

PREWRITING: STORY PREMISE Character with claustrophobia gets trapped in a elevator or lost in a cave… and perhaps he’s not alone! Character afraid of rejection worries her fiancé will not show up on wedding day…will she be ditched at the alter? Character with fear of heights gets trapped at the top of a ferris wheel…with his very pregnant wife! Character who is afraid of disappointing his father tries out for the baseball team…will he make it? Afraid that she is as crazy as her father who is in a mental institution, a young character does not want to tell a soul when her dolls start talking to her. Character with fear of flying experiences severe turbulence in a storm…or is it something else? Character with fear of spiders gets bit by one in his basement and it’s not your average daddy longlegs…will he get the anti-venom in time? Character with a fear of the dark is not happy to be lost in the woods as darkness begins to fall…especially with his creepy stepbrother. Character who is generally overprotective regrets allowing her son to go to that party…where is he? Character who fears death is devastated to learn about her own…four days after it happened.

PREWRITING: CHARACTER SKETCH Sympathetic character: give your reader someone to care about. Give this character a fear to face to add tension. TASK: Write a character sketch that includes details the reader needs to know to make predictions and understand motivations. Be sure to only include details that are relevant to the story.

CHARACTER SKETCH Jimmy Winters 14-year-old boy Just moved from New York City to Last Run, a remote mountain town in Colorado where his parents plan to renovate a old ski resort. A city boy and not much of a nature lover, Jimmy is ill at ease in his new mountain home. He misses the sights and sounds of NYC and can’t stand the quiet. This move is his parents’ last ditch effort to save their marriage and Jimmy feels like a third wheel. What worse and incredibly ironic, Jimmy is afraid of heights and not at all excited about living at a ski resort. He does not plan to go anywhere near the lifts…

CHARACTERIZATION Characters’ thoughts and actions. Remember, there are different ways to learn about characters. Characters’ thoughts and actions. What the narrator tells us. What other characters think and say about them.

SETTING: ESTABLISH A MOOD Rundown farmhouse Lonely cabin in the woods Gothic mansion Abandoned building Park at night Cemetery Empty parking garage Amusement park Crowded train station Turbulent plane Ship in a storm Elevator School after hours Dark basement

Plot Climax: The highest point of tension Rising Action:   Climax: The highest point of tension Rising Action: Develop the conflict Falling Action: What happens after the climax? Resolution: How does the story end? Exposition: Introduce characters, setting, and conflict.

Plot Chart: Narrative Paragraphs EXPOSITION: INTRODUCE CHARACTERS, SETTING, AND CONFLICTLICT RISING ACTION: THE CONFLICT IS DEVELOPED. USE SUSPENSE TOOLBOX TO BUILD TENSION! Event 1: Event 2: Event 3: Event 4: Event 5: CLIMAX: THE HIGHEST POINT OF TENSION. IT BETTER BE WORTH THE WAIT! FALLING ACTION: WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE CLIMAX?   RESOLUTION: HOW DOES THE STORY END?

HANDOUTS Model story Rubric Project description Suspense toolbox Dialogue cheat sheet