3.07: Surprise!

1. Read one of the following stories on page 3 of lesson 3.07

Options are:

“The Boarded Window” by Ambrose Bierce

“Beware of the Dog” by Roald Dahl

“The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty

2. Answer the following questions.

1. Which story did you read? The story I chose to read was “The Boarded Window”

2. Describe the physical setting of the story. Which words or descriptions contribute to the
emotional setting or mood? What is the mood that results from the author’s use of
description? The physical setting of this story took place “only a few miles away from
what is the great city Cincinnati.” A description from text that helps demonstrate the
theme of the story is “He lived alone in a house of logs surrounded on all sides by the
great forest, of whose gloom and silence he seemed part, for no one had ever known for
him to smile nor speak a needless word.” The mood that was demonstrated from this
quote is sad and dark.

3. What is the theme? How do the final lines of the story influence the meaning or theme of
the story? The theme of the story is quite mysterious, dark and always has you
questioning everything and wondering what will happen next as you read. The final lines
of the story influence the mood quite a bit in the story because the last line in the story
said that there was a body laying by the window, which is mysterious, scary and dark just
like how death is both, dark and scary.

4. What techniques does the author use to create a surprise ending? I found two techniques
that the author used which was foreshadowing and flashback. By the author using these
techniques it leaves the readers pulled in and interested and wanting to read more and
more of the story.

5. Were you surprised by the twist? If so, why? If not, what should the author have done to
make the ending more surprising and effective? I was somewhat surprised in the ending
because for a second I thought his wife was actually dead but then I thought about it a
little more and from all the thriller and suspense movies I watch I had a feeling she was
going to gain back consciousness.

6. What was your experience in reading this story? Did it evoke fear or physically have an
effect on you? Why or why not? My experience while reading this story was overall
good, I like reading things like this because it leaves me thinking and in suspense about

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 what’s going to happen. It did not evoke anything on me but I tried imagining what I
would’ve done if I was in that position and felt what the character was feeling.

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