How Does Dowd Create Tension and Pace in Chapter 46, Building Up to the Climax at the End?
How does Dowd create tension and pace in chapter 46, building up to the climax at the end?
Dowd creates tension by using short sentences. She says, “I live. I work. I pump.” It creates tension by mimicking the sound of Mel's heartbeat which lets you know her situation is very pressured. With the use of short sentences Dowd has been able to give away very less information and so it makes you want to read on to find out out more about the three sentences. Dowd also uses adjectives to create tension, “The faces were cruel,solemn,pitying,triumphant,sad,anguished.” This list of adjectives uses a semantic field of negative emotions, even though 'triumphant' is usually known as a positive emotion it is turned negative because they are rejoicing the victory and success of Mel's death (sacrifice). This is a bad thing because it wasn't even Mel's crime; it was Brennor who had committed such a deed. Dowd involves the reader throughout the book by making us feel sorry for Mel when everyone around her was against her, this is brilliant because it helps us to sympathise with Mel. We already know she is dead but Dowd writes so empathetically that we want to know the cause of such a disaster; we want to follow Mel through her journey.
Another quote Dowd uses is, “Love fell in particles, like snow.” This is a very effective abstract idea because love doesn't fall as it's an emotion, by using this it creates tension by slowing down the pace of the book, it does this by splitting the action up and creating an image for the reader. This quote also creates an individual image for each reader because there is no detail given, so it depends on how you would picture love to fall in particles and also the pace of the snow. Generally if the readers image was of sleet it would slow down the pace of the book but if it was heavy you would want to read on as the pace would appear faster to you.. This quote is also a simile. In Mel's story, “Padum, Padum, Padum” is used as a way of
Dowd creates tension by using short sentences. She says, “I live. I work. I pump.” It creates tension by mimicking the sound of Mel's heartbeat which lets you know her situation is very pressured. With the use of short sentences Dowd has been able to give away very less information and so it makes you want to read on to find out out more about the three sentences. Dowd also uses adjectives to create tension, “The faces were cruel,solemn,pitying,triumphant,sad,anguished.” This list of adjectives uses a semantic field of negative emotions, even though 'triumphant' is usually known as a positive emotion it is turned negative because they are rejoicing the victory and success of Mel's death (sacrifice). This is a bad thing because it wasn't even Mel's crime; it was Brennor who had committed such a deed. Dowd involves the reader throughout the book by making us feel sorry for Mel when everyone around her was against her, this is brilliant because it helps us to sympathise with Mel. We already know she is dead but Dowd writes so empathetically that we want to know the cause of such a disaster; we want to follow Mel through her journey.
Another quote Dowd uses is, “Love fell in particles, like snow.” This is a very effective abstract idea because love doesn't fall as it's an emotion, by using this it creates tension by slowing down the pace of the book, it does this by splitting the action up and creating an image for the reader. This quote also creates an individual image for each reader because there is no detail given, so it depends on how you would picture love to fall in particles and also the pace of the snow. Generally if the readers image was of sleet it would slow down the pace of the book but if it was heavy you would want to read on as the pace would appear faster to you.. This quote is also a simile. In Mel's story, “Padum, Padum, Padum” is used as a way of