XIII Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2021

Suspense is a compositional device which consists in arranging the matter of a communication in such a way that the less important, descriptive, subordinate parts are amassed at the beginning, the main idea being withheld till the end of the sentence. So, for example, the reader's attention is held and his interest is maintained:

"Mankind, says a Chinese manuscript, which my friend M. was obliging enough to read and explain to me, for the first seventy thousand ages ate their meat raw." (Charles Lamb)

Sentences of this type are called periodic sentences, or periods. Their function is to create suspense, to keep the reader in a state of uncertainty and expectation.

Here is a good example of the piling up of details so as to create a state of suspense in the listeners:

«But suppose it passed; suppose one of these men, as I have seen them-meagre with famine, sullen with despair, careless of a life which your Lordships are perhaps about to value at something less than the price of a stocking-frame:—suppose this man surrounded by the children for whom he is unable to procure bread at the hazard of his existence, about to be torn for ever from a family which he lately supported in peaceful industry, and which it is not his fault that he can no longer so support;—suppose this man, and there are ten thousand such from whom you may select your victims, dragged into court, to be tried for this new offence, by this new law; still there are two things wanting to convict and condemn him; and these are, in my opinion,—twelve butchers for a jury, and a Jeffreys for a judge!» (Byron)

Here the subject of the subordinate clause of concession ('one of these men') is repeated twice ('this man', 'this man'), each lime followed by a number of subordinate parts, before the predicate «dragged» is reached. All this is drawn together in the principal clause — «there are two things wanting...», which was expected and prepared for by the logically incomplete preceding statements. But the suspense is not yet broken: what these two things are, is still withheld until the orator comes to the words «and these are, in my opinion».

Suspense and climax sometimes go together. In this case, all the information contained in the series of propositions-statements preceding the statement-decision are arranged in order of gradation, as in the example above from Byron's first speech in the House of Lords.

The device of suspense is especially favoured by oratorsThis seems to be due to the strong influence of intonation, which contributes to the creation of the desired atmosphere of expectation and the accompanying emotional tension.

Suspense always requires long stretches of speech or writing. Sometimes the whole of a poem is built on this stylistic device, as it is the case with Kipling's poem "If" where all eight stanzas consist of if-clauses and only the last two lines make up the principal clause.

«…If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!»

This device is effective not only in one respect, but also in preparing the reader for the only logical conclusion of the utterance. It is a psychological effect which is aimed at in particular.

A series of parallel interrogative sentences containing subordinate parts is another structural pattern based on the principle of suspense, since the answer is held for a while, as in Byron's the Bride of Abydos":

"Know ye the land where the cypress and myrtle... Know ye the land of the cedar and vine...

'Tis the clime of the East — 'tis the land of the Sun."

The end of an utterance is a specially emphatic part of it. Therefore if we keep the secret of a communication until we reach the end, it will lead to concentration of the reader's or listener's attention, and this is the effect sought.

One more example to show how suspense can be maintained:

"Proud of his "Hear him!" proud, too of his vote,

And lost virginity of oratory,

Proud of his learning (just enough to quote)

He revell'd in his Ciceronian glory." (Byron)

It should be noted that suspense, due to its partly psychological nature (it causes a feeling of expectation), is framed in one sentence, for there must not be any break in the intonation pattern. Separate sentences would violate the principle of constant emotional tension that is characteristic of this device.

Difference Between Suspense and Mystery

Mystery and suspense are interrelated. Sometimes it becomes difficult to distinguish them. For example, the author exposes the same information for his readers in the mystery narrative that a detective may know. In a suspense narrative, on the other hand, the protagonist gradually becomes aware of the peril and dangers, which readers already know. Secondly, in a mystery, a major event such as a murder or robbery happens at first and then the protagonist solves it, whereas in a suspense story, a major event occurs at the end, and various events unfold, twist, turn, and surprise the readers prior to that event.

List of references:

Galperin I. R. – English Stylistics, M.: Либpoком, 2014

Гуревич В.В – Стилистика английского языка, М.: Флинта : Наука, 2008

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