Suspense Essay Example

How Does Richard Connell use literary elements to build suspense and tension? I have recently read Richard Connell’s short story, The Most Dangerous Game, and I loved it! Connell creates a very unique plot and setting. He uses many descriptive words that causes the mood of this story to become quite suspenseful and helps create a mysterious atmosphere. This interesting “hunt” that General Zaroff had created made the story a whole lot more intriguing. Connell uses setting, as well as characterization to build suspense in this story. Setting is one of the main elements used in Connell’s story. Near the beginning of this story Connell uses “moist black velvet.” to allow the reader to get a visionary of how thick the fog was surrounding the boat (3). As Whitney and Rainsford continue to describe how thick the fog is becoming around Ship-Trap Island, it brings suspense to the story by foreshadowing an important event that may be dangerous for either Rainsford or Whitney. The diction in this quote is fenomenal. The word moist really brings out the suspenseful atmosphere. As Connell continues to describe the fog as “black velvet” It really gives me an image in my head about the thickness of the fog. All I can really think is - No wonder Whitney and Rainsford can’t see around the boat. The characterization in this is simply extraordinary! It brings on a lot of suspense for this intriguing story. More towards the middle of this reading General Zaroff describes the perfect quarry as “‘courage, cunning, and, above all, it must be able to reason’”(15). The suspense slowly begins to build as Rainsford Explains “‘no animal can reason’”(15). This may foreshadow that the General’s new animal may not be what Rainsford expected. Reading this conversation allows me to think- Is the General hunting humans as a sport? Is there any guilt or shame felt due to the Cossacks new game? What will Rainsford do to stop this “murder” (15)? “Rainsford did not smile. ‘I