How Lee Builds Tension

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In chapter six of ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, Harper Lee uses numerous, different language techniques to create a sense of tension. Examples of such language techniques are: the setting, short sentences, long sentences, repetition and use of the first person. As the tension starts to escalate, Harper Lee uses the short sentences ‘Then I saw the shadow’ and ‘Dill saw it next’ which create a very dramatic effect as she uses them in contrast with long sentences, such as ‘Jem … long moment’. This juxtaposition creates a sudden change in pace which elicits an increase in tension. Lee manipulates this contrast to exemplify the pace at which the children were forced to think and the fear they felt. Lee engages the reader in the action through his use of the first person and expression of the characters’ thoughts. Seeing the events occur through the eyes of the narrator, Scout, causes the reader to sympathise closely with Scot, Jem and Dill. By hyperbolising the children’s fears, Harper Lee is able to use the reader’s emphases to her advantage, building up and destroying tension as and when she sees fit. As the tension approaches its climax, Lee begins to use repetition to illustrate the children’s fear. For example, the repetition of the command ‘Sh-h’ creates tension as it illustrates the children’s terror and anxiety. This and the repetition of the command ‘spit on it’ both illustrate the rapid pace at which the events occurred. Harper Lee uses repetition to, ominously, The climax of tension is created by the onomatopoeia ‘roar of the shotgun’, which shocks the reader as it illustrates the intensity and enormity of the sound. Also, it expresses the fear it imposed on the children and it erects the worry that this sound would have, undoubtedly, alerted the whole neighbourhood. Lee uses this onomatopoeia to illustrate the seriousness of the event and,
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