How is language used to create atmosphere in The Red Room and The
Signalman?
In this essay I will be comparing two stories The Signalman and The
Red Room, I will be looking at the language techniques and how they
are used throughout the stories. All language techniques are used for
a reason and in this case it is used to create atmosphere and also
keep the readers attention. The stories are both Victorian and
remembered for their supernatural content as well as the actual story.
The Signalman and The Red Room are both Victorian stories. The
Signalman first appeared in 1866 in a Christmas magazine. Since then
the story has become very popular, this was because the Victorians
enjoyed supernatural stories. They liked reading ghost stories and
stories in which there were mysteries to be solved. The story itself
had a very modern setting for its time, and it being at a railway
station was different because in those times it had just become
popular. Charles Dickens saw trains as dangerous and destructive,
which is why in another story, ‘Dombey and Son’, a train killed a
character in it. He may have seen them as dangerous because in 1865 he
was in a train crash but luckily survived.
Archaisms are used throughout both stories. Archaisms are works which
are old and not used today. Words such as ‘apopelexy’ and ‘alcoves’
aren’t used today but are likely to still be found in the dictionary.
The language used throughout both stories is rather complex and many
sentences are deeply detailed. A well descriptive sentence in The Red
Room is
‘Their very existence was spectral; the cut of their clothing,
fashions born in dead brains’.
This sentence is very descriptive as after reading it you get a clear
picture ...
... middle of paper ...
...e reader a
better picture so they know what things looked like. The use of
adjectives is very important as they describe the subject so we know
what it looks like. Similies were also useful we get a clearer picture
of what things looked like.
The language techniques were very effective in both stories. The use
of each of them was good as it helped give the reader a better picture
of the subject. Adjectives are helpful as they give a good insight
into what something looks like. Tension was successfully created in
the red room as it used repetition. It really helped as it made the
reader want to know what was going to happen, as it was repeated so
many times. In the signalman tension and suspense was created with the
use of adjectives. Objects are the railway station were given great
detail so the reader can get a good picture of what things looked
like.
Many characters have hopes and dreams which they wish to accomplish. Of Mice and Men has two main characters that go through obstacles to get what they want. In the beginning it is George and Lennie running away trying to get a job. Once both George and Lennie have a job they try to accomplish their dreams. Unfortunately they both can't get their dreams to come true since lennie does the worst and George has to shoot Lennie. Steinbeck uses characterization, foreshadowing, and symbol as rhetorical strategies to make George's actions justified.
In comparison The Red Room was written only thirty years later in 1894 by HG Wells although it feels more timeless. At that time technology had improved intensely, nevertheless Wells still imitated the old fashion gothic literature style writing, which is ironic, due to the time. Both stories have managed to engage its audience by creating suspense and tension. Besides that both stories have been written in first person, this in sequence makes it sinister, in a way because we get to know the narrator’s impressions and feelings. The authors of both stories have selected discomforting places in which to set their story, they are made more eerie because that in the 19th century time many people believed in ghosts and the supernatural.
The similarities are prolific in their presence in certain parts of the novel, the very context of both stories shows similarities, both are dealing with an oppressed factor that is set free by an outsider who teaches and challenges the system in which the oppressed are caught.
Also if I look at the genre of the story, suspense is built at the
The books Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, and The Last Book in The Universe, written by Rodman Philbrick, are similar in plot and theme. Both books highlight the negative effect of technology in futuristic dystopian worlds. The ideas of censorship play a big role in the two stories. While the ideas of both books may be similar, the way they have been written are very differently. Fahrenheit 451 has a unique style, full of symbolism, figurative language, and rich vocabulary which is Bradbury’s trademark. On the other hand, The Last Book in The Universe has a more informal style, that would be a target novel for young readers. Symbols still plays a big part in Philbrick’s book, but it is more overt. Philbrick’s use of dialogue is less
This line from the “short story,” The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time reveals that the narrator has a close parent, is very formal and straightforward, doesn’t like hugging people, and knows that they’re loved. Diction in this particular situation is fairly odd because the sentence looks intended to be emotional, but instead turns on quite regular and bland. The vague pronouns “we... me...I...it...he”(16) suggest that the writer doesn’t care about extravagant pronouns and would much rather get straight down to the point than perfect the use of ablatives. Along with the vague pronouns, an extreme lack of adjectives shows that our narrator wants to continue with the trend of plain sailing. Using words like “Father”(16) exhibit a
Lastly all three of the poems are reasonably long and go into a lot of
The Importance of Use Logic Emotions and logic play an important role in the decision making process. In the play “Twelve Angry Man” these factors are used to determine the future of a young teenager. At first, the jurors used emotions to conclude the boy’s guilty of his father’s murder. However, throughout the play, the jurors start to use logic to expose the mistakes they made in the first decision. They used logic and analyzed the evidence, realizing they dismissed important details.
1. I don’t think there are rough spots where the sentences do not flow smoothly and clearly, and most of them seem clear to understand, especially the body paragraphs.
How does the writer create tension and suspense in The Red Room? The writer is able to create tension and suspense through various ways in the short story ‘The Red Room’. The opening sentence in the story immediately mentions the supernatural, which immediately tells us that this is a gothic story. The first sentence is dialogue, but we do not know who is speaking.
...ce, although both writings are interesting in their own ways, the most interesting aspect of both writings together is that they both have a similar plot and theme. It is rare that two
questions. O, and we did read on and yes we did find all the answers
Traditional ghost stories are usually set in a gloomy old castle with a haunted room. There may also be an element of darkness in the castle. These features are common in most pre 20th Century gothic literature. It is ironic that the story is titled ‘The Red Room’ when there is mainly an element of darkness in the room. Wells may have used the title ‘The Red Room’ to create an image of blood.
H.G. Wells: ‘The Red Room’ and ‘The Cone’ The short stories ‘The Red Room’ and ‘The Cone’ by HG Wells both heavily feature tension and suspense. The author of the two stories, HG Wells, uses a number of techniques to create this mood and atmosphere to keep his readers interested. HG Wells immediately creates an air of mystery from the outset of ‘The Red Room’ when he introduces the ‘man with the withered arm’. This grotesque description of the man’s features, combined with his ambiguity due to having no name given to him, helps create this air of mystery and suspense. The term ‘tangible ghost’ helps create suspense too, as you normally associate the term ‘ghost’ with the supernatural, which sets up an expectation within the reader.
...iked the first one. Due to this, the reader holds more responsibility than the author.