sounds, such as the porch swings creaking in the wind and the older people who live in the neighborhood grumbling.

Harper Lee additionally uses short, sharp sentences to build tension, such as, “Dill saw it next. He put his hands to his face. When it crossed Jem, Jem saw it. He put his arms over his head and went rigid.”

Lee writes, “Scout saw a long, black shadow fall over him. Jem felt it and looked up. The shadow retreated.” Lee creates tension by not letting Scout and Jem know exactly what the shadow was. She also keeps the identity of the shadow from the reader. This evokes the same feeling of suspense in the reader as it does in the main characters in the chapter.

Harper Lee creates tension by using characterization and diction to begin. Scout our narrator notes about Jem that "He sounded fishy". The boys want to go get a glimpse of Boo and they use their male superiority to make Scout feel like she doesn't have to do it if she is scared. They also try to keep it a secret for awhile. Anytime an author can keep a secret from the audience makes us wonder what it is too.

Lee uses sounds (sensory detail) in the porch swings creaking and the old people on the street groaning. Then she uses sights at the Radleys' house: a loose shutter, and a "hat-rack mirror [that] caught the moon and shone eerily".

Lee also uses time. For Scout, they moved so slow that every move felt like it took her an entire minute. When things take longer, this builds suspense, and therefore tension.

The tension in this portion of Chapter Six begins long before the chapter begins.  The stories about Boo Radley stabbing his father and their mysterious solitude sets up the fear and intrigue that can be a brutal combination in young, curious children.

However, it isn't just the stories that create tension, but the gifts left in the tree.  This discrepancy in the concept of Boo Radley, ultimately lures the children to the door.

In this chapter, the children create their own tension beyond that of the inherent mystery surrounding the Radleys.  The boys are trying to prove their manly courage, while Scout struggles to check her fear and maintain her status in her brother's eyes, especially after Jem admonishes,

Scout, I’m tellin‘ you for the last time, shut your trap or go home—I declare to the Lord you’re gettin’ more like a girl every day! (Ch 6, 28)

Additional details like the squeaking gate and the creaking boards create classic tension as the reader can actually hear what the residents of the house must also hear.

The tension reaches a peak when the children all see the shadow; Scout, the narrator, sees it first:

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 scene culminates with Jem having to leave his pants on the barbed wire fence to avoid capture.