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An atmosphere of suspense
The War of the Worlds by H G Wells. Choose ONE question. EITHER. In this extract the narrator and the artilleryman leave the house and begin to make their way to Leatherhead and London.
Explore how Wells presents an atmosphere of suspense, in this extract and elsewhere in the novel.
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Marking points
- 1 Explain how Wells creates suspense in the extract and wider novel.
- 2 Use precise textual references to the extract and wider novel.
- 3 Analyse methods such as silence, uncertainty, setting, pace, imagery, and semantic fields.
- 4 Relate ideas to relevant contexts of evolution, imperial anxiety, modernity, science, or fin-de-siecle change.
Why this answer loses marks
The scene is suspenseful because it is scary.
This asserts atmosphere without showing how Wells creates it through textual methods or linking the effect to wider threats and context.