What is an example of suspense in part 1 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

An example of suspense from part one is the fire at Miss Maudie’s house.

Suspense is the creation of interest and excitement, where the reader wants to know what is going to happen.  The first part of the book comprises of chapters 1 to 11.

The fire in chapter eight is suspenseful because there is a danger, and also because we learn something new about an important character: Boo Radley.

At the front door, we saw fire spewing from Miss Maudie's diningroom windows. As if to confirm what we saw, the town fire siren wailed up the scale to a treble pitch and remained there, screaming. (ch 8)

The fire is suspenseful because Miss Maudie is in danger, and so is the whole neighborhood.  During the escapade, Scout realizes that there is a blanket on her shoulders.  She does not know what it means at first, but Jem does.

"You're right. We'd better keep this and the blanket to ourselves. Someday, maybe, Scout can thank him for covering her up."

"Thank who?" I asked.

"Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn't know it when he put the blanket around you." (ch 8)

Thus the suspense is created on two levels.  The fire is exciting.  However, we are also excited because we realize that Boo Radley has reached out to Scout and the Finches.  The blanket is a gesture of friendship and caring.

Thus suspense is important both for plot and character development.  The blanket incident at the fire is a thematic turning point.

In part one of To Kill a Mockingbird, suspense is often created surrounding the character Boo Radley.  We know little of this character other than the children's fears and the townsfolk's mistrust.  We are given hints of a devious nature but little proof or rational behind it.  This character creates a sense of suspense because we do not know how he will interact with the children.  We see several instances where  he interacts with the children and often behaves in an unpredictable manner.  Of course there are other events which create suspense during part one of the novel.  These events all play on the same technique of unknown information.  All we have are the suspicions and rumors around town without the factual information.  This creates drama and suspense.

How is suspense built in chapter 4 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

Suspense in chapter 4 is created on a small scale for brief moments of suspense, like when something catches Scout's eye in the knot-hole of the tree outside the Radley house, and also on a larger scale when the mystery surrounding the Radley house is compounded and drawn out over a larger time scale. The first quotation, below, provides an example of suspense on a small scale.

One afternoon as I raced by, something caught my eye and caught it in such a way that I took a deep breath, a long look around, and went back. Two live oaks stood at the edge of the Radley lot; their roots reached out into the sideroad and made it bumpy. Something about one of the trees attracted my attention. Some tinfoil was sticking in a knot-hole just above my eye level, winking at me in the afternoon sun. I stood on tiptoe, hastily looked around once more, reached into the hole, and withdrew two pieces of chewing gum minus their outer wrappers.

The Radley house has already been described in mysterious terms in the preceding chapters, so anything to do with the house instantly arouses curiosity and creates suspense. In the quotation above, Harper Lee uses vague language ("something caught my eye . . . Something about one of the trees caught my attention") to arouse the reader's curiosity and then delays revealing what the "something" is, just for a few more lines, by providing incidental descriptive detail ("their roots reached out into the sideroad and made it bumpy"). This is a relatively simple but nonetheless effective method by which suspense can be created. In this instance, it helps us to empathize with Scout, as our suspense echoes her own.

Harper Lee also builds suspense around the Radley House on a larger scale in chapter 4. It is a place which the children associate with danger, as evidenced when Jem tells Scout, "you know you're not supposed to even touch the trees over there . . . you'll get killed if you do!” Later in the chapter, Jem explains that Cecil Jacobs, a schoolboy who lives at the end of their road, "walk(s) a total of one mile per school day to avoid the Radley place." Associating the Radley house with danger renders the motivation behind the gifted chewing gum all the more mysterious. We perhaps wonder if the occupants of that strange house are trying to lure the children into it. The tentative behavior of the children when they find a second "package" adds to the suspense. Jem is described as looking around before "gingerly pocket[ing]" it and then running home.

Chapter 4 ends with a cliffhanger, as Scout reveals that when she was rolled into the Radley yard earlier in the chapter, she heard a sound "so low I could not have heard it from the sidewalk." Here, Lee uses the same method that she uses in the first quotation above. She builds suspense by alluding to something in vague terms (the "first reason" why she wanted to stop playing the Boo Radley game; a "sound") and then adds incidental detail ("all the head-shaking, quelling of nausea and Jem-yelling") to keep the reader waiting for the revelation. When the revelation comes, that the sound was "laughing," it is all the more mysterious, or suspenseful, because we have come to associate the Radley house exclusively with danger. The laughter thus seems out of place, and the reader's curiosity is piqued.

How does the author build suspense in Chapter 6 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

In Chapter Six of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, the suspense is delivered gradually, hinting in Scout's commentary that something that may take place—based on Scout's intuition and the unusual behavior of Jem and Dill.

The evening starts casually enough, as Jem asks his father for permission to  visit the fishpool. Scout becomes uneasy when Dill suggests that they go for a walk.

Dill stretched, yawned, and said altogether too casually, "I know what, let's go for a walk."
He sounded fishy to me. Nobody in Maycomb just went for a walk.

When Jem is closed-mouthed about the boys' plans, Jem tells Scout she can go home if she wants to: something is definitely up if Jem shoos his sister off.

However, the tension increases as the children make their way under the garden fence. The suspense arises as sounds are described which would give away their presence:

Don't get in a row of collards whatever you do, they'll wake the dead.

When the fence is noisy, Jem takes care of it:

We came to the gate that divided the garden from the bacy yard. Jem touched it. The gate squeaked.
Spit on it, whispered Dill...
"Sh-h. Spit on it Scout."

As the children move around the house, Dill peers into a window, but sees only curtains. They decide to move to another window. Jem's foot causes more noise:

When Jem put his foot on the bottom step, the step squeaked.

When the children start to run, the plants make a sound—the same collards Jem had cautioned the other two about:

He flung open the gate, danced Dill and me through, and shooed us between two rows of swishing collards.

Scout is almost paralyzed by the next sound:

...as I tripped the roar of a shotgun shattered the neighborhood.

In all these instances, when the suspense is most heightened, the reader finds him-/herself on the edge of the seat because of the sensory details used by Lee—specifically auditory sounds. As they get louder, they become more frightening. The sounds parallel the movement of the children—the more dangerous their circumstances, the more sounds there are that frighten them until they find themselves fleeing the scene as if they were moving targets—with the shotgun sound still ringing in their years.

How does Harper Lee create suspense before the jailhouse confrontation in chapter 15 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

In her classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee slowly builds suspense leading up to the trial of Tom Robinson. Lee's portrayal of Maycomb's racial tensions gradually sharpens as the trial date approaches. We see the effect of this tension on the Finch family and the townspeople through the eyes of the story's narrator, Scout Finch.

About halfway through the story, Lee uses a plot device called “foreshadowing” to heighten the suspense of the story. Sheriff Heck Tate shows up at the Finch house, expressing worry over the fact that Tom Robinson was being moved to the county jail in preparation for the trial scheduled to begin in a couple of days.

Scout and Jem eavesdrop on the conversation:

“. . . movin' him to the county jail tomorrow,” Mr. Tate was saying, “I don't look for any trouble, but I can't guarantee there won't be any . . .”

A moment later the situation starts to sound a little scarier:

“—besides,” Atticus was saying, “you're not scared of that crowd, are you?”

“. . . know how they do when they get shinnied up.”

When a writer foreshadows, they are giving the reader a hint of something that might possibly happen in the future. This usually causes the reader to wonder what will happen next, thus creating suspense. In this case, the reader doesn't have to wait too long. In the same chapter, Atticus will find himself facing an angry, drunken gang who want to drag Tom Robinson out of jail and lynch him. The situation is grim for Atticus until Scout shows up and, through her innocence and naivete, inadvertently shames the group into leaving.

How does Harper Lee create tension in Chapter 20 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

Chapter 19 ends when Scout takes Dill outside after getting sick while listening to Mr. Gilmer's cross examination of Tom Robinson. So, the tension has already been building inside the courthouse.

Dolphus Raymond helps Dill calm down with some Coca-Cola. Mr. Raymond pretends to be a drunk to give people a reason to hate him, a reason other than the fact that he is in an interracial relationship. Although Scout's and Dill's conversation with Mr. Raymond continues the theme of racism in Maycomb, this interlude actually interrupts the tension created by the trial in court. 

The tension resumes when the kids go back into the courtroom to hear the closing arguments. This is the moment of rising suspense and tension because this signals the end of the trial. One of the most rousing points in Atticus' closing speech is near the end when he challenges the jury to be fair. 

Gentlemen, a court is no better than each man of you sitting before me on this jury. A court is only as sound as its jury, and a jury is only as sound as the men who make it up. I am confident that you gentlemen will review without passion the evidence you have heard, come to a decision, and restore this defendant to his family. In the name of God, do your duty. 

The chapter ends with Atticus' speech and Calpurnia approaching to tell Atticus the children are missing. But the suspense increases with the rising action of the closing arguments of the trial. The trial is one of the, if not the most, significant event in To Kill a Mockingbird. The tension is also augmented by the fact that the jury is challenged to put aside any thoughts of racism. In a sense, the courtroom is a crucible, a testing ground. In that same sense, the jury is also on trial; they are being challenged to think objectively, to go against the social traditions and residual racism of Maycomb. 

How is suspense built in chapters 22-27 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

Chapters 22-27 in Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird come after the trial of Tom Robinson is over. These chapters chronicle the effects of the trial on certain people who were involved in it. For example, Tom Robinson's death is reported in chapter 24, which ends any possibility for Atticus to make an appeal on his behalf. Another character who doesn't recover from the trial is Bob Ewell. As a result, he seeks revenge on people whom Ewell feels disgraced him during the trial, such as Helen Robinson, Judge Taylor and Atticus Finch. Helen doesn't do anything to Ewell except becomes Tom's widow; but since Tom dies in prison, Ewell takes it upon himself to harass her just because he thinks he can. He follows her to work, chunks at her, and shouts obscenities at her. It takes Link Deas to threaten him for Ewell to back off.

Then, Ewell threatens the Judge by slicing the Taylors' backdoor screen with a knife one Sunday night. Ewell doesn't like Judge Taylor because he appointed Atticus to defend Tom in the trial against the Ewells. This proves to Ewell that Judge Taylor isn't exactly on his side, so Ewell threatens him a little to spook him. He doesn't dare do much more where Judge Taylor is concerned, though.

Other events in these chapters show Ewell blaming Atticus for his losses in life, spitting in Atticus's face in chapter 23, and also threatening to kill him. Ewell is most offended by Atticus because it is Atticus who proves to the town that Ewell is a liar. Therefore Ewell can't let things go because he feels his has been completely insulted and must seek revenge.

All of these minor events follow one upon the other in chapters 22-27 in an effort to build suspense leading up to the night when Atticus's children are attacked in chapter 28. Lee shows her villain grow progressively worse in his behavior with each chapter until Ewell's attack actually gets himself killed rather than the kids. 

How is apprehension and suspense conveyed at the end of chapter 25 in To Kill a Mockingbird?

By the time Chapter 25 of Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird comes to a close, the reader is well-acquainted with the characters, especially with Bob Ewell. Ewell, of course, is the virulently racist and perpetually inebriated man who forces his daughter Mayella to accuse Tom Robinson, an equally poor and physically disabled African American man, of rape. While Tom is convicted following his trial despite considerable evidence pointing to his innocence, as well as Mayella’s questionable honesty on the witness stand, and while Tom is now dead, having been shot trying to escape prison, Ewell remains a threatening presence in the town of Maycomb.

For much of the previous chapter and the current one, Lee’s young narrator, Scout, describes the experience of living with her aunt, Alexandra, who is determined to feminize the young tomboy irrespective of Scout’s wishes. Scout and Jem, meanwhile, go about the business of childhood, playing with insects and enjoying the warm September day. As Chapter 25 comes to an end, however, the story takes a decidedly negative tone. The menacing figure of Bob Ewell reenters the narrative. It is an abrupt shift. Scout describes the aftermath of Tom’s death, including the editorial published in the town newspaper that decried the injustice of Robinson’s conviction. Then, Scout raises concerns about Ewell:

“The name Ewell gave me a queasy feeling. Maycomb had lost no time in getting Mr. Ewell’s views on Tom’s demise and passing them along through that English Channel of gossip, Miss Stephanie Crawford. Miss Stephanie told Aunt Alexandra in Jem’s presence (“Oh foot, he’s old enough to listen.”) that Mr. Ewell said it made one down and about two more to go. Jem told me not to be afraid, Mr. Ewell was more hot gas than anything. Jem also told me that if I breathed a word to Atticus, if in any way I let Atticus know I knew, Jem would personally never speak to me again.”

The sense of foreboding that develops with the above end of Chapter 25 is a prelude to the climactic scene that occurs later in the novel when Jem and Scout are physically attacked by Ewell. The reader does not know how the plot involving Bob Ewell will develop, but the feeling of apprehension has been established.

How does Lee create suspense at the end of chapter 25 in To Kill a Mockingbird?

By chapter 25 in To Kill a Mockingbird, the trial is over. Tom Robinson had been found guilty. In the previous chapter, the reader finds out that Tom had been shot while trying to escape from the prison. He died from his gunshot wounds.

Bob Ewell is an unsavory character in the book. He is portrayed as being crass and coldhearted. After news of Tom's death spreads around town, word gets out that Bob Ewell is not satisfied. He does not just want Tom to be dead. He wishes for Atticus to be dead, as well.

It is Miss Stephanie, their gossipy neighbor, who tells Aunt Alexandra what she had heard about Bob Ewell. She heard that when Bob Ewell found out about Tom's death, he "said it made one down and about two more to go."

Bob Ewell's statement creates an element of suspense. Jem, Scout, and Aunt Alexandra are fearful. Jem makes Scout promise not to tell Atticus. The reader wonders if Bob Ewell is serious or just talking. What will happen next? Bob's statement also foreshadows the scene where he attacks Scout and Jem later on.

How does Lee create tension and suspense in chapter 26 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

1.  Setting - It is the beginning of a new school year, and Scout and Jem start passing by Boo Radley's house again, creating suspense. Some of this chapter takes place in the school where a current event article prompts a discussion of Hitler hating the Jews. Scout becomes confused because Miss Gates criticizes Hitler for hating the Jews but Scout remembers her racist comments about blacks outside of the courthouse after the trial. The setting here creates suspense and tension because it is foreboding. One gets the sense that additional evil events will soon take place in the novel.

2.  Dialogue - We see that the Radley place still fascinates Scout and we see Atticus warning her to "stop the nonsense" regarding the Radleys. This creates suspense because again, we can sense the author using foreshadowing to hint at future events.

"The Radley Place had ceased to terrify me, but it was no less gloomy, no less chilly under its great oaks, and no less uninviting. Mr. Nathan Radley could still be seen on a clear day, walking to and from town; we knew Boo was there, for the same old reason-nobody'd seen him carried out yet."

"Besides, it's dangerous. You might get shot. You know Mr. Nathan shoots at every shadow he sees, even shadows that leave size-four bare footprints. You were lucky not to be killed."

3.  Note the use of the verbs in the above quoted text: "terrify", "shoots", "killed". These are strong action verbs which create tension and suspense. Nathan Radley might very well shoot the children! Also, the novel is told in first person narrative by Scout, adding to the realism and suspense because the events really happened and Scout was there.

You mention verbs, but also pay attention to the author's use of adjectives and adverbs to create suspense. I am not sure but this, too, may be part of your assignment.

This should get you started. Read the dialogue carefully and look for "action" verbs. See the analysis right here on enotes.

What elements at the end of chapter 27 in To Kill a Mockingbird create a feeling of apprehension?

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, the element that provides most of the apprehension at the end of Chapter 27 is found in the literary device of foreshadowing which we, as readers, do not recognize until the event referred to in the future has taken place.

Dr. L. Kip Wheeler defines foreshadowing as:

Suggesting, hinting, indicating, or showing what will occur later in a narrative. Foreshadowing often provides hints about what will happen next...Often this foreshadowing takes the form of a noteworthy coincidence or appears in a verbal echo of dialogue.

There are several examples of foreshadowing in this chapter. First, we can sense, in hindsight, that Bob Ewell must have been extremely angry, even though the jury found in his favor in Tom Robinson's court case.

The first thing was that Mr. Bob Ewell acquired and lost a job in a matter of days...I suppose his brief burst of fame brought on a briefer burst of industry, but his job lasted only as long as his notoriety: Mr. Ewell found himself as forgotten as Tom Robinson...Ruth Jones, the welfare lady, said Mr. Ewell openly accused Atticus of getting his job.

Atticus tells Ruth not to worry; if Bob Ewell has a problem, he can come to see Atticus at his office. However, now knowing that Bob Ewell was a coward with murder on his mind, he would never have tried to speak in a civilized way to Atticus, especially when his accusations meant nothing. Bob Ewell lost the job because he was lazy, but he wanted to blame someone else.

The fact that another member of the court is nearly accosted when someone tries to break into his home gives the audience the idea that there is something going on. At the end of the book, we can assume it had everything to do with the court case and Bob Ewell, a twisted character at best.

Next, Link Deas (Tom's old boss) give Helen Robinson a job, but she cannot walk the public road past the Ewell's property, or they throw things at her. Link Deas threatens Bob Ewell once; then when Helen takes the public road:

...when she was a few yards beyond the Ewell house, she looked around and saw Mr. Ewell walking behind her...[his] soft voice behind her, crooning foul words.

Deas puts pressure on Ewell again, this time threatening to get the "Ladies' Law" after him. This time, Ewell backs off.

Even Aunt Alexandra is worried:

I don't like it, Atticus, I don't like it at all...That man seems to have a permanent running grudge against everybody connected with that case.

Although Atticus tries to brush it aside, he has to admit Judge Taylor made Ewell look like a fool in court—like a "three-legged chicken or a square egg."

When Scout describes her costume for the pageant, she points out that she cannot move her arms in it, and someone needs to take it off of her, for she cannot do it herself...we see this in the attack.

Later, Aunt Alexandra opens her mouth to say something: nothing comes out...unusual for Scout's aunt. When Scout asks her if she is all right, she responds:

Oh nothing, nothing...somebody just walked over my grave.

And if these examples are not enough, Scout's famous line is enough to give one goosebumps, especially after reading the story's ending:

Thus began our longest journey together.

This also is foreshadowing; it sounds portentous, as if there is more at stake here than walking to and from the schoolhouse: and that is exactly what it ends up meaning...it is much more than a simple walk for these kids: it is a "matter of life and death."

As Jem and Scout are about to leave for the Halloween pageant, Aunt Alexandra has a strange intuition. She stops mid-sentence, opens her mouth, but does not say anything. When Scout asks her, "'s matter, Aunty?" She says, "Oh nothing, nothing . . . somebody just walked over my grave." She ignores this "pinprick of apprehension" and goes on as usual.

As Jem and Scout leave the house, Scout's narration also foreshadows that something bad is coming when she says, "Thus began our longest journey together." When they emerge from the pageant, Bob Ewell will be waiting for them.

How does Harper Lee create suspense in chapter 27 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

First, it becomes clear that the Ewells are not finished being rotten. When Mr. Link Deas provides a job to Helen Robinson because he feels "right bad about the way things turned out," the Ewells "chunk" at her when she walks by their house on the way to work. Link Deas goes to the Ewell home to confront their behavior, and they all hide. Since Bob Ewell has threatened Atticus for his work on Tom's behalf, it is clear that he could retaliate against anyone who defends blacks in their community. This increases the tension.

Then Bob shows up at Link's store and says he "ain't about to go with no nigger." Link threatens him and Bob leaves. Even so, even Aunt Alexandra feels that things aren't settled with Bob.

Neat the end of that chapter, Aunt Alexandra suddenly feels that "somebody just walked over [her] grave," furthering the feeling that there is something ominous on the horizon in Maycomb.

In the last line of this chapter, Scout reflects that she and Jem are about to begin their "longest journey together" and that it centers on the upcoming pageant. Although it is not clear at this point what conflict they will face, there is certainty that the siblings will face a challenge. And since there seems to be so much unresolved and growing conflict in the town with Bob Ewell--combined with his previous threat to "get" Atticus if it takes the rest of his life--increases the tension in this chapter and creates a building suspense about what the children are about to face.

How does Harper Lee create tension in chapter 28 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

Tension, or suspense, is built through a series of events that involve Scout and Jem walking home alone at night and Boo Radley saving them from Bob Ewell.  Many little hints are dropped throughout the chapter that foreshadow this event.

• It is very dark, and there is no moon.
• Boo Radley, and the fact that the children used to be afraid of him, is mentioned.  The children seem a little scared.

“It is a scary place though, ain’t it?” I said. “Boo doesn’t mean anybody any harm, but I’m right glad you’re along.” “You know Atticus wouldn’t let you go to the schoolhouse by yourself,” Jem said. (Ch. 28)

• The children laugh at how they were afraid of things in their childhood.
• It is quiet, but they hear a mockingbird.
• Scout asks Jem how he knows where they are.  They say they should have brought a flashlight.
• Cecil Jacobs scares them.
• Scout misses her cue at the pageant.
• Scout decides not to take her costume off.
• The children decline a ride home.
• Scout realizes she forgot her shoes.
• Jem tells Scout to be quiet because he thought he heard something.
• Scout asks Jem if he is afraid.  He says he isn’t, but it is obvious he is.  He thinks someone is following them.  They wonder if it is Cecil Jacobs again.
• The children realize they do hear someone.

Our company shuffled and dragged his feet, as if wearing heavy shoes. Whoever it was wore thick cotton pants; what I thought were trees rustling was the soft swish of cotton on cotton, wheek, wheek, with every step. (Ch. 28)

• They realize it is not a child.  Jem screams for Scout to run.
• Scout feels someone attack her costume.  Jem screams. She can’t see what is happening because of her costume.
• Jem is “jerked backwards and flung on the ground” and Scout thinks he is dead.
• Scout hears a violent cough and sobbing.
• Scout hears a man groan and pull something heavy across the ground.
• Scout feels someone with prickly stubble and whisky on his breath.
• Scout realizes that there is a man carrying Jem.
• Aunt Alexandra calls for Dr. Reynolds.  She looks for Scout and then calls Sheriff Tate.
• Scout asks Atticus if Jem is dead and is told he is not.  She is unable to tell him what happened.
• Dr. Reynolds arrives and tells Scout that Jem just has a bump on the head and a broken arm. Scout has a bump on her head too.
• Scout tries to talk to Jem, but he’s unconscious.
• Heck Tate tells them he found a little girl’s dress and Bob Ewell lying under a tree, dead.

This is a great question as Harper Lee actually uses a false climax in this Chapter to lull us into a false sense of security before the real danger reveals itself. This chapter then deals with the events before, during and after the pageant. Note how from the start the darkness is emphasised through the absence of any moonlight and the "sharp shadows" that are cast on the Radley house by the streetlight. Also, reference to their previous childish beliefs in scary stories is referred to, even though it is said that their belief in such things was now past:

Haints, Hot Steams, incantations, secret signs, had vanished with our years as mist with sunrise.

However, when they start walking across the school yard in the pitch black, Cecil Jacobs leaps on them to try and scare them. This is the false climax that Lee uses to give a deceptive sense of calm. It is when Jem and Scout walk back home after the pageant however, that suspense is built. Jem thinks he hears something in the darkness, and this is something that makes both Scout and Jem afraid:

"Thought I heard something," he said. "Stop a minute."
We stopped.
"Hear anything?" he asked.
"No."
We had not gone five paces before he made me stop again.
"Jem, are you tryin' to scare me? You know I'm too old-"
"Be quiet," he said, and I knew he was not joking.

References to "the stillness before a thunderstorm" and the stopping and starting serves to create great suspense as we, like Jem and Scout, wonder who is out there and why. As they keep on moving and they are sure that "shuffle-foot" is following them and they can hear him draw close, suspense is raised to fever-pitch, until this figure attacks.

Therefore suspense is raised through the false climax used by Lee, and then by the darkness of the setting, the isolation of Jem and Scout and the sounds of the figure that is approaching them.

How does Lee create suspense in chapter 28 when Jem and Scout walk home in the dark?

Suspense is a feeling of excitement, created by foreshadowing and mood.

Lee creates suspense first because it is dark.  It’s Halloween, which is a kind of creepy time of year for kids.  She never directly describes anything.  It is just heavy breathing and bumps when the kids are attacked.  We never know what has really happened until they get home, and then we find out the true story.

When Scout and Jem are attacked going home from the pageant, Lee does not give us specifics.  Instead, she gives us the mood.

Still but for a man breathing heavily, breathing heavily and staggering. I thought he went to the tree and leaned against it. He coughed violently, a sobbing, bone-shaking cough.  (Ch. 28)

 This creates suspense, because we do not know exactly what is happening.  Who is the man?  Why is he breathing heavily?  Are Scout and Jem in danger? 

 There actually is a deadly fight going on, between Boo Radley and Bob Ewell, but we do not have details. They are fed to us in inches.

 Lee foreshadows the danger that Scout and Jem are in when Bob Ewell threatens Atticus and his family.

 It was Miss Stephanie's pleasure to tell us: this morning Mr. Bob Ewell stopped Atticus on the post office corner, spat in his face, and told him he'd get him if it took the rest of his life. (Ch. 22)

 Atticus is not worried about this, and apparently thinks Ewell is harmless.  He underestimates the wound to Ewell’s pride.  Yet it foreshadows Ewell’s attack and builds suspense.  Another element building suspense is the fact that Scout is not escorted to the pageant by her father, or any adult.  Not only that, Lee has Scout herself tell us that there was trouble that night.

 After that, it didn't matter whether they went or not. Jem said he would take me. Thus began our longest journey together. (Ch. 27)

 Suspense?  Check.

 So it’s dark.  There are no adults around.  There is a known threat made against the family, and Scout’s movement is inhibited.    

 Then, Jem also thinks they are being followed.

 ""I hear it when we're walkin' along, but when we stop I don't hear it." (Ch. 27)

 Scout calls and no one answers.  Then Scout hears breathing.  We don’t know who it is.  There is a scuffe.  Scout is dressed in a ham costume, so her vision is obscured, in addition to it being night.  She also cannot move very well (or run).  She is basically a sitting duck. 

 After the children return to the house it transpires that Ewell attacked Jem and broke his arm, and Boo (Arthur) Radley killed Ewell to protect the children.  Atticus is very flustered by the situation, at first thinking that Jem killed Ewell.

 Heck Tate and Atticus decide that, to protect Ewell from publicity, they will say that Bob Ewell fell on his knife.  Boo does not like the spotlight.  He was protecting the children, and he came out despite the fact that he never comes out, at great personal risk.

The reader knows that Jem is going to break his arm from the beginning of the book.  Now we know when, and why.  This incident brings all of the plot lines of the book together in an exciting and memorable way, and shows that Scout has grown up as she greets Boo Radley and thanks him for saving her life.

How does Harper Lee create suspense in Chapter 28 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

This chapter has an overall feeling of eeriness and ominous foreshadowing both before and after the children attend the annual Halloween pageant. It all begins at the end of the previous chapter, when Aunt Alexandra has a sudden feeling that

"... somebody just walked over my grave."

Atticus and Alexandra have already decided not to attend the pageant--they are both tired--so Jem and Scout are left to walk by themselves in the darkness to and from the school. The children talk of "Haints" and other scary subjects, and they try to laugh off their old worries about walking by the Radley house at night. The wind is blowing, ther are many shadows, there is no moon, and the children trip over unseen tree roots. Scout wishes that Jem had brought a flashlight: After all, it is Halloween! When Cecil Jacobs jumps out of the darkness to scare them, Jem yells, "God Almighty!"

The two children turn down a ride home--another ominous decision--and begin their walk home. Scout, still in her ham costume, has forgotten her shoes, making the journey even more cumbersome. When the children begin hearing more unusual noises, they hope it is merely a dog or, possibly, Cecil about to scare them again. But they soon find that it is neither.

Harper Lee's builds suspense using gothic elements of the unknown and supernatural that includes a false climax (when Cecil jumps out to scare them) which also foreshadows Bob Ewell's own unexpected appearance. It's a perfectly drawn scenario for the creepiest night of the year--Halloween.

What is the ending of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird?

The final chapter of To Kill a Mockingbird begins with Scout taking Boo Radley up to Jem's room to say a silent goodbye to Jem.  Scout tells readers that she was getting good at reading Boo's "body English," so she could tell when he was ready to leave.  She leads him downstairs, and Boo asks Scout to take him home.  

I led him to the front porch, where his uneasy steps halted. He was still holding my hand and he gave no sign of letting me go.

“Will you take me home?”

He almost whispered it, in the voice of a child afraid of the dark.

She and Boo walk arm in arm from the Finch house to the Radley house, and Scout is proud of being escorted along the way. 

I slipped my hand into the crook of his arm.

He had to stoop a little to accommodate me, but if Miss Stephanie Crawford was watching from her upstairs window, she would see Arthur Radley escorting me down the sidewalk, as any gentleman would do.

Scout and Boo arrive at his front door, and he heads inside.  Scout tells readers that is the last time she ever saw him. As she turns around to head home, Scout sees the neighborhood in a new light.  She realizes that Atticus was right about standing in someone else's shoes and walking around in them. 

Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough.

Scout then makes her way home through the rain.  Everybody in the house is asleep except for Atticus.  He is silently reading a book in Jem's room. Scout asks Atticus to read it aloud to her, and she quickly falls asleep.  

I willed myself to stay awake, but the rain was so soft and the room was so warm and his voice was so deep and his knee was so snug that I slept.

Atticus then leads a half sleeping Scout into her room for bed.  Scout sleepily narrates about the parts of the story that she heard before falling completely asleep.  She ends by saying that when the people finally saw the Stoner's Boy, they realized that "he was real nice."  

Atticus responds by saying, “Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them.”  It's a great quote because it applies to the story he was reading, and it applies to Boo Radley as well.  The chapter ends with Atticus returning to Jem's room where he will remain the entire night. 

Events in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird do not end happily for all, but they do end satisfactorily. By Chapter 24, after Tom Robinson is declared guilty and sentenced to execution by the jury, we learn that Tom Robinson decided to try to escape from federal prison and was shot and killed by the security guards. We also know Bob Ewell blames Atticus for any bad reputation he has and that he especially blames Atticus because Bob recently lost a job as soon as he was hired. All throughout, Lee foreshadows Bob's desire for revenge.

By Chapter 28, Scout participates in a Halloween pageant dressed as a ham. On the way home, she and Jem get the sense they are being followed but think it's only their friend Cecil Jacobs. They are instead attacked by a heavy man. Then, a mysterious man carries Jem into the children's home, with Scout following. Their attacker turns out to be Bob Ewell, and attacking Atticus's children turned out to be Ewell's idea of revenge. Also, the mysterious man who rescued the children turns out to be Boo Radley.

While the ending is not happy for the Robinsons, it is satisfying due to all that Scout learned throughout the book, particularly with respect to learning to accept all people, that "there's just one kind of folk. Folks." (Ch. 23) As Scout reflects after walking Boo Radley home, "Jem and I would get grown but there wasn't much else left for us to learn, except possibly algebra" (Ch. 31).

Which sensory details build suspense when the children peek into the Radleys' window in To Kill a Mockingbird?

In Chapter Six of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, the author makes excellent use of imagery, especially in the form of sensory details, to create suspense and foreboding when the Finch children and Dill try to look in the Radleys' window.

As the children enter the yard, descriptions heighten a feeling of anxiety for the children's safety, making this one of the story's most exciting chapters.

At the rear of the property where "we stood less chance of being seen," there is "a narrow wooden outhouse." The kids have to wiggle under the wired fence. "It was a tight squeeze for [Jem]." In these descriptions, we have a sense of trying not to be caught, but there is also the sense of confined spaces, something that frightens many people.

When Jem warns, "Don't get in a row of collards whatever you do, they'll wake the dead," Scout moves cautiously and, obviously much too slowly, for as she looks up, she "saw Jem far ahead beckoning in the moonlight." This brings to mind a ghost, especially with the words "beckoning" and "moonlight."

When the kids arrive at the gate that separates the yard from the garden, "the gate squeaked" when Jem touches it.

As they move forward, Scout complains.

"You've got us in a box, Jem," I muttered. "We can't get out of here so easy."

A description of the house is given:

The back of the Radley house was less inviting than the front: a ramshackle porch ran the width of the house; there were two doors and two dark windows between the doors.

Above a Franklin stove, "a hat-rack mirror caught the moon and shone eerily."

Creeping to the side of the house, there is a "hanging shutter." While it may only be a sign of disrepair, it brings to mind a haunted house. As they try to raise Jem up to look in the window, he says,

Hurry. . . we can't last much longer.

Time is running out. A need for speed creates tension.

When the boys decide to try the back window, Scout's fear is palpable.

When Jem put his foot on the bottom step, the step squeaked. He stood still and tried his weight by degrees. . . He crawled to the window, raised his head and looked in.

In a split second, the entire mood of the scene changes:

Then I saw the shadow. It was the shadow of a man with a hat on. At first I thought it was a tree, but there was no wind blowing, and tree-trunks never walked. The back porch was bathed in moonlight, and the shadow, crisp as toast, moved across the porch toward Jem.

Dill. . . put his hands to his face. . . Jem saw it. He put his arms over his head and went rigid.

At that point, the kids dive off of the porch. Scout explains,

As I tripped the roar of a shotgun shattered the neighborhood.

The reason that sensory details are so effective is because they appeal to our senses, which are very sensitive. When the author appeals to the senses, words on a page come to life. The senses in this chapter are mostly of sight, sound, and touch: visual, auditory, and perceptual.

Whether general imagery is used that evokes mental pictures or feelings that cause fear and suspense, or the specific use of sensory details are employed, Lee has a true gift to be able to transport the reader into that dark backyard, on a hot summer's night—when kids are apt to be up to something thrilling—and frightening—in Maycomb, Alabama.

How does Harper Lee create suspense on page 63 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

Chapter 8 of To Kill a Mockingbird is a pivotal chapter because of the foreshadowing by Harper Lee that something isn't right in Maycomb.  An unusual winter storm comes in and temperatures drop.  Scout comments that Maycomb is experiencing the worst weather since 1885.  "Bad" children are blamed for the sudden cold snap by the superstitious Mr. Avery.  Although the day starts out as a fun day with a warm atmosphere of joy when Scout and Jem build a snowman, the mood of the story quickly changes when it starts to get dark.  Calpurnia lights all of the fireplaces in the house in hopes of getting rid of the chill; however, the cold remains in the home.  The joyful mood of the day is lost, and the people of Maycomb are left wondering what the storm may predict.  

This sudden change of weather is a technique that Harper Lee uses to build suspense in the novel.  As readers, this foreshadowing can be mean that something ominously bad is going to happen, or that Maycomb may never be the same again.  The sleepy, dusty town described at the beginning of the novel is beginning to change, and perhaps the change in weather symbolically shows this.  We know that the town will go through an upheaval with the trial of Jim Robinson and the attack of the children by Bob Ewell.  Chapter 8 sets up a foreboding, suspenseful atmosphere, and the rest of the novel takes on a darker mood after the unexpected storm.   

How does Harper Lee build tension leading up to the trial in To Kill a Mockingbird?

The word tension, as a literary term, can be defined as the "dramatic or even melodramatic elements of plot, setting, or character" that move a story towards its climax (University of Richmond Writing Center, Writer's Web: First Drafts, "Tension"). By "melodramatic," we mean excessively dramatic. Such dramatic and melodramatic elements serve to intensify the action, the uncertainty of the outcome of events, and even the emotions of the audience. Author Harper Lee uses many narrative elements to create a web of tension leading up to Tom Robinson's trial, and some of those elements are specific events.

Author Lee first creates a web of tension by weaving into the story the mystery surrounding the Finch's neighbor Arthur (Boo) Radley. Arthur Radley behaves contrary to society by never leaving his house, and his contrary behavior has led to the development of many rumors and myths about him, aimed at trying to explain his behavior. The neighborhood children have become so terrified by these rumors and myths that they believe him to be a dangerous but also curious person. As the children try to assuage their curiosity by trying to find out what he looks like, they put themselves in situations in which they feel they must run for their lives, which leaves the reader feeling tense.

Aside from the mystery surrounding Arthur Radley, tension begins to be built once Atticus accepts the role of Tom Robinson's defense lawyer, and the children begin being subjected to ridicule from the people of the town. One of the tensest moments is when Mrs. Dubose insults the children by saying, "Your father's no better than the niggers and trash he works for!," a comment that infuriates Jem to the point that he destroys Mrs. Dubose's garden of camellia bushes (Ch. 11).

The moment of greatest tension prior to the trial is when Atticus is approached by mobs, first one led by Sheriff Heck Tate in front of the Finches' house and the second led by Walter Cunningham Sr. in front of the jail. Though Atticus tells Jem the first mob was made up of nothing more than a group of their friends, it is very clear that the mob's members disapprove of Atticus's determination to defend Robinson, as they move in on him in anger the moment he asserts, "[Robinson's] not going [to the chair] till the truth's told ... And you know what the truth is" (Ch. 15). The members of the second mob, led by drunken Cunningham Sr., intended to take justice into their own hands by lynching Robinson before he could stand trial and probably would have hurt Atticus to accomplish their goal. However, Scout with her innocent neighborly comments directed to Cunningham reminds him of his humanity, and the tense situation diffuses as Cunningham breaks up the crowd, telling them all to go home.

Since all of these events intensify the action and the reader's emotions, we know Lee is using these events to weave a web of tension that leads up to the trial.

How does Harper Lee show Scout's maturity at the end of To Kill a Mockingbird?

Perhaps the most poignant examples of Scout's maturing occurs at the end of the novel, when she maintains her composure at Aunt Alexandra's tea party after Atticus reports that Tom Robinson is dead.  She observes that if her aunt, who was clearly upset, could maintain her dignity "at a tiime like this" then she would as well.  Finally, at the novel's very end, Scout walks Boo Radley home after he saves her and Jem from Bob Ewell's savage attack; however, showing a true understanding of human dignity, Scout tucks her arm into Boo's as if he were escorting her home, refusing to lead him as if he were a child--even though of the two of them, Arthur definitely had more childlike qualities after years of virtual house arrest.  Standing on the Radley porch, Scout replays the scenes of her youth in her mind, seeing them as Arthur/Boo might have seen them, bringing the novel to a full circle closing. 

How does Harper Lee use Maycomb citizens to build suspense in To Kill a Mockingbird?

One citizen of Maycomb that author Harper Lee uses to build suspense in To Kill a Mockingbird is Miss Stephanie Crawford.

It is through Miss Stephanie Crawford's gossip that we learn of rumors and myths surrounding Arthur (Boo) Radley. For instance, it's through Miss Stephanie that the children learn Arthur had spent time with a rowdy crowd of boys as a young teenager. Upon arrest, all the boys but Arthur had been sent to the state industrial school to receive excellent educations; however, Arthur's father had considered the school to be a disgrace and kept him under house arrest. The children further learn through Miss Stephanie the rumor that, after having served many years under house arrest, Arthur had stabbed his father in the leg with scissors. Finally, the children learn from Miss Stephanie the myth that Arthur only comes out at night "when it's pitch dark," and she had woken up in the middle of the night once to find Arthur "looking straight through the window at her" (Ch. 1). According to Jem, Miss Stephanie described Arthur's head as looking "like a skull" (Ch. 1).

A second citizen Harper Lee uses to create suspense is Bob Ewell. Atticus reveals through his cross-examinations of Mayella and Bob Ewell that Bob is a drunkard who is guilty of physical abuse. The day after the trial, Miss Stephanie informs the children that Bob had "stopped Atticus on the post office corner, spat in his face, and told him he'd get him if it took the rest of his life" (Ch. 22). While Atticus doesn't take the threat seriously, Aunt Alexandra and the children do, fearing for Atticus's safety. Hence, not only do Bob's actions create suspense, but also Aunt Alexandra's and the children's fears help feed the suspense.  Little do they know that Bob will try to fulfill his threat by attempting to kill Atticus's children.