Year 8 · English · Gothic fiction · Lesson 2
Building tension
The techniques writers use to build tension, from short sentences and ellipsis to fear of the unknown, with Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart.
25-minute video lesson
Teaching, worked examples and 20 practice questions solved step by step.
Watch free for a monthWhat your child will learn
- Explain what tension is
- Identify techniques that build tension
- Explain the effect of each technique
- Analyse tension in Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart
- Use tension techniques in your own writing
The method
- Name the technique (short sentences, questions, ellipsis, pathetic fallacy, senses, delay).
- Quote the example.
- Explain how it builds tension for the reader.
- Use precise words: fear, unease, shock, suspense.
Key words: tension, suspense, ellipsis, rhetorical question, pathetic fallacy, unreliable narrator, cliffhanger.
Worked examples
The first three practice questions from the lesson, with every step.
Question 1
Which technique is used to build tension here, and what is its effect? “The door creaked. Slowly. Inch by inch.”
- Step 1: Technique: short sentences and fragments
- Step 2: Effect: they slow the action down so the reader waits nervously
Answer: Short sentences and fragments: they slow the action down so the reader waits nervously
Question 2
Which technique is used to build tension here, and what is its effect? “What was that noise? Who else was in the house?”
- Step 1: Technique: rhetorical questions
- Step 2: Effect: they make the reader share the character's fear and confusion
Answer: Rhetorical questions: they make the reader share the character's fear and confusion
Question 3
Which technique is used to build tension here, and what is its effect? “The wind howled and the rain lashed the windows.”
- Step 1: Technique: pathetic fallacy
- Step 2: Effect: it creates a threatening, violent mood that suggests danger
Answer: Pathetic fallacy: it creates a threatening, violent mood that suggests danger