Chapter 9: In the Nursery Inquiry Question: How does Hill build and sustain tension?

The Calm Before the Storm? You are going to see several images In your exercise books write down what impressions or atmosphere the words create.

1. The Sun was high in the sky

2. The water glittering

3. Sea birds soared and swooped

The Calm Before the Storm? Despite Hill using these positive images, Arthur has just arived back at Eel Marsh House Is the weather likely to stay like this? Why might the weather change? I think…

Climax and Anti-Climax What do these terms mean?

The gravestone... Who might be buried here? What might the missing letters be? In L... .g Mem... ...net Drablow ...nd of He... ...iel...low Bor...

Write this in your books. “All was quiet, there was not the slightest breeze. I could scarcely hear the creeping of the water. Every bird had long since hidden for the night.” What words in this quotation are the most important? What do they have connotations of? Write this in your books.

Analysing Quotations Pick three of the best quotes to describe Spider’s reaction to the events in the chapter and then do the same for Arthur. Challenge! Choose the best quotes for comparison. This means that you should look for good contrasts between the reactions when you are filling out the sheet.

Think about the connotations behind vocabulary choices. Group work In groups of two or three: Compare your quotes. Decide on the best ones (it’s all right to change your choice at this point!). Discuss your choices. Think! Which quotes make for the best comparison between Spider and Arthur? Why? Think about the connotations behind vocabulary choices.

Group and Individual work What comparisons can you make between the quotes? What is different/similar between the reactions of these two characters? Think about the significance of this.

Think! What if Susan Hill had decided not to include Spider in this chapter? What would have been the difference and why? Why do you think she included Spider?

How Susan Hill Creates Tension Short sentences to create pace Use of adjectives (describing words for character and setting) Use of one line paragraphs (to make the reader pay attention) With-holding information from Arthur and/or the reader Use of the senses (what you can see, hear, smell, taste, touch/feel)

How Susan Hill Creates Tension The reactions of Arthur and Spider Feeding the imagination of the reader Use of long and detailed descriptions followed by a tense moment Use of pauses and/or punctuation to create a specific effect Internal conflict or contradiction

Quotation Technique used to create tension Effect on the reader (What the reader thinks / feels when reading that bit) ‘…ahead, at the end of a long straight path, Eel Marsh House beckoned to me.’   ‘We saw no one. No shadow fell across the grass.’ ‘…like me, listening, listening.’ ‘…already the air was turning much colder…’ ‘Down below me on the ground floor of the house, silence, a seething, blanketing, almost tangible silence, and a musty darkness thick as felt.’

Quotation Technique used to create tension Effect on the reader (What the reader thinks / feels when reading that bit) ‘…I was in a calm and quite unexcitable state of mind…’   ‘Every hair on her body was on end, her ears were pricked, her tail erect, the whole of her tense, as if ready to spring.’ ‘…when I awoke – or was awakened – very suddenly…’ ‘...a different kind of silence, ominous and dreadful.’

Quotation Technique used to create tension Effect on the reader (What the reader thinks / feels when reading that bit) ‘Except the sound.’   ‘Nothing. No one. Except, like a wash from far, far away, so that I half wondered if I were reliving the memory, a cry, a child’s cry.’ ‘There was a stronger wind now, whipping off the estuary and going through to my bones, with it’s raw coldness.’ ‘Bump bump. Pause. Bump bump. Pause. Bump bump.’ ‘But, at my feet, the dog Spider began to whine, a thin, pitiful, frightened moan, and to back away from the door a little…’

Quotation Technique used to create tension Effect on the reader (What the reader thinks / feels when reading that bit) “He is mine”   ‘Then the tone changed’ ‘’But he is mine, mine, he can never be yours.” ‘Bump bump. Pause. Bump bump. Pause. Bump bump.’ ‘…there was the sound of splashing water and churning mud, the noise of the pony plunging about in terror.’

Quotation Technique used to create tension Effect on the reader (What the reader thinks / feels when reading that bit) ‘Rocking.’   ‘But no one had been there. The room had been empty.’ ‘They must have been here for half a century, yet they might have been played with this afternoon and tidied away tonight.’ ‘And then there were the children’s toys, so many toys and all of them most neatly and meticulously ordered and cared for.’

Quotation Technique used to create tension Effect on the reader (What the reader thinks / feels when reading that bit) ‘The door to the room from which the noise came, the door which had been securely locked, so that I had not been able to break it down, the door which there could not be a key – that door was now standing open. Wide open.’   ‘…there was a terrible moment when the waters began to close around it and to gurgle, and then, above it all, and above the whinnying and struggling of the pony, the child’s cry, that rose and rose to a scream of terror and then slowly chocked and drowned; and, finally, silence.

Writing Analytically Explore how Susan Hill builds and sustains tension in the chapter 'In the Nursery’: Character Setting Atmosphere Plot Development

Introduction Hill uses many techniques in her writing in order to build and sustain tension throughout the novel. Through the use of these techniques she creates engaging and intriguing characters, atmospheres and settings and has crafted a novel that few people can put down.

Point Evidence Explanation P.E.E Paragraphs Hill builds up tension by using the perceptive senses of Spider the dog as indications of eerie occurrences. Evidence ‘…Spider took a couple of steps backwards, half lifted her front paws off the ground and began to howl’ Explanation Spider’s sixth sense is used to alert Arthur to the presence of a supernatural being and adds to the tension of the chapter. This makes the reader feel…

Point Evidence Explanation Link Hill builds up tension by using the perceptive senses of Spider the dog as indications of eerie occurrences. Evidence ‘…Spider took a couple of steps backwards, half lifted her front paws off the ground and began to howl’ Explanation Spider’s sixth sense is used to alert Arthur to the presence of a supernatural being and adds to the tension of the chapter. This makes the reader feel… Link This development of tension is sustained throughout the novel and makes the reader feel... Alongside this the use of (adjectives/similes/pathetic fallacy/punctuation) makes the writing more engaging and interesting because…

Explore how Susan Hill builds and sustains tension in the chapter 'In the Nursery’.. Hill builds up tension by using the perceptive senses of Spider the dog as indications of eerie occurrences in Chapter 9 of The Woman in Black. For example Hill writes that ‘…Spider took a couple of steps backwards, half lifted her front paws off the ground and began to howl’. Spider’s sixth sense is used to alert Arthur to the presence of a supernatural being and adds to the tension of the chapter. The tension is built up because it makes the reader feel afraid for Arthur and worried that something bad is going to happen. This development of tension is sustained throughout the novel and makes the reader feel on the edge of their seat when reading the book because we want to know what happens next. Character Atmosphere

Explore how Susan Hill builds and sustains tension in the chapter 'In the Nursery’.. Hill creates and sustains a chilling and tense atmosphere throughout The Woman in Black; In the Nursery is the crescendo of this fear inducing tension and is both engaging and terrifying for readers. ‘Bump bump. Pause. Bump bump. Pause. Bump bump’. The onomatopoeia, one word sentences and repetition are masterfully woven together by Hill in order to create an elaborate tapestry of tension. With every ‘bump’ we begin to actually hear the chair ‘rocking, rocking’ steadily in the nursery. We begin to feel the same fear and trepidation that the protagonist Arthur himself feels. We desperately want to know what is causing this maddening sound… and yet we are gripped with the fear of the unknown – what is making that noise? Moreover, the one word sentence ‘pause’, heightens the tension further; the reader is forced into a moment of silence and hold their breath, fearfully waiting to hear the noise again. Hill does not disappoint. Cleverly using repetition of the verb ‘bump’ Hill elevates the readers anxiety and anticipation and our hearts almost beat in time with the ominous sound. The authorial intention of these skilfully applied techniques is to create a tangible tension in order to ensnare the reader and build concern for the protagonist Arthur Kipps. Hill’s careful crafting of her work ensure this tension and concern are sustained – we imagine, we dread and we long to know what entity is making this haunting sound. Setting Atmosphere

Explore how Susan Hill builds and sustains tension in the chapter 'In the Nursery’.. Hill builds up tension by making Jennet sound angry about her son getting taken away from her. For example Jennet writes in a letter that her son is hers, for example, ‘but he is mine, mine, he can never be yours’. By saying that her son is hers and the he can never be anyone elses we can tell that Jennet is angry. This adds to the tension of the chapter because it makes the reader feel scared about Jennet being angry. This makes the reader think that something bad might happen so this makes us want to read on and find out what happens. Character

Conclusion The Woman in Black, and in particular the chapter In the Nursery, is a literary whirlwind of tension. Readers are engulfed by moments of peace in which they are lost in a sea of serene silence, they feel safe and at ease. They are then catapulted into tension filled maelstroms in which there is seemingly no rest bite from fear and anxiety.