ENG 105 Final ExamSuspense can be defined as the tension
ENG 105 Final ExamSuspense can be defined as the tension
ENG 105 Final ExamSuspense can be defined as the tension created in a narrative when a reader anticipates a characters action but neither knows exactly how the character will act nor knows the results of the anticipated action. Good storytellers like Tobias Wolff know how to use suspense to keep readers not only focused on the story, but also to help emphasize a narratives theme. Try to also explain how his use of suspense helps to emphasize one of the stated themes of this narrative about power relationships: Power can be enjoyed only when it is recognized and feared. Be sure to illustrate/support your analytical points with examples from Wolffs article.Evaluation CriteriaAnalytical thesis is clear and is a focused response to the prompt aboveAnalytical points are adequately developed and insightfulEvidence from the article is used to support analytical pointsMaterial is organized effectively, using paragraphing and transitions to achieve clarityExpression is clear and conciseMaterial is relatively free from errors in punctuation and grammarTobias Wolff is probably best known for his short stories and for a novel, The Barracks Thief, for which he won the 1985 PEN/Faulkner award. Wolff has written two autobiographical works, In Pharaoh’s Army (1996) and A Boy’s Life (1989), which was made into a movie in 1993 and from which “On Being a Real Westerner” comes. Reflecting on his writing process, Wolff has said that it is “part memory, part inven-tion. I can no longer tell where one ends and the other begins. The very act of writing has transformed the original experience into another experience, more ‘real’ to me than what I started with.”The story Wolff tells here is based on an actual experience that occurred when he was ten years old. He and his mother had just moved west from Florida to Salt Lake City, followed by Roy, his divorced mother’s boyfriend. “Roy was handsome,” Wolff writes, “in the conventional way that appeals to boys. He had a tattoo. He’d been to war and kept a silence about it that was full of heroic implication.” As you read, notice how Wolff’s storytelling skills make this event come to life in the reader’s imagination.
