Suspense Analytical Paragraph

Story: Monkeys Paw

Suspense Analytical Paragraph
In Monkeys Paw, there is not much suspense in the beginning. It starts off as a normal
snippet of Whites life., but when Sergeant-Major Morris appears at their house and the
conversation turns to the monkeys paw, the author describes Morris anxiety and fear toward
the paw. It makes us feel nervous about the paw they are talking about, because we dont really
know what it is--only that it must be something bad.
The author uses this technique again after Mr. White made his wish for 200 pounds. A
dreadful silence falls over the Whites (evidently they are nervous). This unusual behavior of the
Whites create tension.
The author also used vivid words to add suspense to the story. When Mr. White makes
his wish, he gives a shuddering cry, saying that the paw moved like a snake. I thought that
describing the paws movement as a snake was vivid, although it seems rather simple. But after
you realize that the snake may symbolize betrayal, like in the Garden of Eden, you start to see a
deeper, scarier meaning inside that one word.
There is another example of vivid description when Herbert looks into the fire, alone: He
sat alone in the darkness, gazing at the dying fire, and seeing faces in it. The last face was so
horrible and so simian that he gazed at it in amazement. This is very scary to imagine and it
foreshadows something bad happening to Herbert, adding to the suspense. After a while he
throws a glass of water to distinguish the fire, and grasps the paw, and wipes off his hand on his
coat. This scene expresses his nervousness very well, and it gave us readers another reason to
dislike and fear the paw.
As for the last technique, repetition, I didnt notice much in this story.
This is why I think the description of the characters anxiety and fear and the authors
vivid word choice helped build suspense in Monkeys Paw.

Header

1/1

Title

1/1

Indent

1/1

TS- topic sentence

3/3

IQ - introduce the quote

5/5

Q - quote correctly and

effectively

5/5

SD- supporting details

5/5

T- transitions

3/3 (use at least two!)

FL - formal language rules

3/3

DS - double space

1/1

Proofreading errors
Total

28/28