Essay analyzing how tension builds

Directions: Horror stories are narratives that elicit feelings of terror from the audience with the purpose of exposing the dark side of human nature or metaphorically exploring cultural fears.

Choose one of Ray Bradbury short stories: (Choose whichever you like more/find most interesting) I think the crowd is the easiest. Your call though. You can find them all online for free, very quick read.

1. The Scythe

2. The Crowd

3. Man Upstairs

4. Jack In the box

5. Small Assassin

Write a multiple paragraph essay in which you thoroughly analyze how the author uses conflict or tension to build terror and explore a specific fear or message. What are the conflicting forces? How do they conflict? How does tension mount? How is the conflict resolved? What fear (or message) do these help illustrate?

You’re basically analyzing how tension builds up in the story through events. 2-3 pages MAX. This is an entry college course, so please don’t over do it. This isn’t a Harvard paper. Just an analyzation for a simple English class. Don’t use sources- but you can quote the story.

Breakdown: First Pick a story you like most/ is easiest to analyze the tension/ climatic events.

How you will break down / write the essay:

Introduction – then body, then talk about the conflicts in the story. tension 1, tension 2, tension 3, keep going and talking about how things escalate, and up to tension 5 max. then talk about the climax/resolution in the story. lastly, describe the theme of the story and how it relates with the tension. And then of course- end with a conclusion summarizing everything

Requirements: Typed, double-spaced, at a twelve-point font. Use MLA format. Sources can not be used or consulted.

Note: An A paper will have a thorough introduction that provides a set up for the analysis, a clear thesis that addresses the essay topic, a strong use of specific examples/quotes throughout the body, clear and distinct body points, a sound theme that provides a backbone to the analysis, well-structured individual paragraphs, a smooth recap at the end. An A paper will also be free of major writing and style errors.