Transcript Suspense, sequencing, mood

The Pit and
the Pendulum
SUSPENSE & SEQUENCING
SUSPENSE
A feeling of curiosity, uncertainty, dread
about what’s going to happen next.
 Since we know that
the narrator survives,
how does Poe
maintain interest in
the story?
 Why keep reading when
you know the guy is going
to live?
 He endures one
torture after another
– each worse than the
one before it.
 As we read about his
torture and know he
escaped, the reader
wants to know how.
SUSPENSE
“It seemed evident that mine was not,
at least, the most hideous of fates.”
 (page 253)
 What is the
significance
of this
statement?
 He’s heard stories (that
he thought were
fables) of the tortures
others had
experienced. Being in a
dark room is not nearly
as bad as some
punishments he’s
heard of.
On your own paper…
How does the
complete darkness in
the dungeon create
suspense?
 Write in complete sentences.
SUSPENSE
“The mode and the hour were all
that occupied or distracted me.”
 Page 254
 Because the only
 How does
thing he has to
focus on is his
when he’ll die.
 He doesn’t know
when it’ll be and
neither do we.
this sentence
build
tension?
On your own paper…
 How do the opening and
closing of an overhead door
help create suspense?
 “At the same time there came a sound resembling
the quick opening , and a rapid closing of a door
overhead, while a faint gleam of light flashed
suddenly through the gloom, and as suddenly
faded away.” (page 255)
SEQUENCING
The order of events in a story.
 Chronological  Interrupted
 Time order –
retelling events
in the exact
order in which
they happened.
 Using
flashbacks
and flashforwards to
tell the story.
SEQUENCING
“Then a pause…Then again sound…Then the
mere consciousness of existence…Then, very
suddenly, thought…”
 Page 252
 How many
times does the
transition word
then appear in
this paragraph?
 Then is used 7
times to start
sentences in
this
paragraph.
SEQUENCING
“Then a pause…Then again sound…Then the
mere consciousness of existence…Then, very
suddenly, thought…”
 What does this
repetition tell you
about the stages
the narrator goes
through as he
gradually regains
consciousness?
 He alternates
between awareness
and blankness, full
senses and senseless,
remembering what
has happened and
forgetting what’s
going on.
On your own paper…
 Why does the author
alternate periods of
activity and periods of
inaction?
 “…but when, once again, I unclosed my
eyes, the objects around me were
visible. “ (page 255)
DEUS EX MACHINA
(day-us eks mah-kee-nuh)
Latin
term (God
out of the
machine)
DEUS EX MACHINA
 Name comes
from Greek
theater in
which a god
was dropped
onto the stage
to solve the
problems of
the humans.
DEUS EX MACHINA
 Literary term used to
describe how difficult or
impossible situations are
solved suddenly.
 Often solved with some
unexpected character, power,
or object that is introduced.
On Your Own Paper…
 How does Poe use “deus ex
machina” in “The Pit and the
Pendulum”?
 Do you think such an ending is
the most effect way of
explaining how the prisoner
escaped certain death? Why or
why not?