1. Suspense and Foreshadowing
Freak the Mighty – Chapters 18-20

2. Plot Structure Review
As the characters try to solve the conflict and as the story nears the climax, the suspense increases.

3. Suspense
Suspense is the uneasy, anxious feeling a reader gets when they do not know what is going to happen next.
Examples:
The feeling you get when you start to hear the Jaws theme music—you know something bad is going to happen, but you aren’t sure what.
The feeling you get when it seems certain that the protagonist will die and you don’t know how he’ll escape.

4. How Do Authors Build Suspense?
Slow Down the Passage of Time
The action of the story is slowed down and every action is explained clearly, not leaving any detail to the imagination. This prolonging of the action makes the reader acutely aware of everything that is happening.
Example: Lord of the Rings scene.

5. How Do Authors Build Suspense?
Challenges or Choices for Characters
The characters are faced with a difficult situation or must make a difficult choice. Suspense is created as the character prolongs that choice.
Example: Aladdin – What is his third and final wish going to be? Is he going to tell Jasmine the truth? Etc.

6. How Do Authors Build Suspense?
Tension is Created
The author slowly introduce events that could potentially lead to peril for the characters.
Example:
The scene shows a car full of teenagers driving a reckless speeds through a neighborhood with the music blaring.
A child is seen playing with a ball in his yard.
The teens are shown again. The driver loses focus and swerves to miss a mailbox.
The child’s ball rolls into the street.
The teens’ car, turning a corner on two wheels, starts down the road where the child is playing.
The child chases his ball into the street.

7. How Do Authors Build Suspense?
The Element of Surprise
The characters are going about their business and everything is fine, when BAM! Something terrible happens.
Example:
Sears Commercial

8. Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is the author’s leaving hints or clues to suggests events that will occur later in a work of literature.
Writers use foreshadowing to build their readers’ expectations and to create suspense.
Example: A weapon found in a drawer early in a story might foreshadow a future crime in the story.

9. Freak the Mighty
As you read the climax of the story today, pay attention to how the author creates suspense.
Also think about what previous events in the novel may have foreshadowed this happening. (You may want to look through previous chapters to find the clues and what hinted towards this event.)