Question

"But her husband was on his hands and knees groping wildly on the floor in search of the paw. If he could only find it before the thing outside got in. A perfect fusillade of knocks reverberated through the house, and he heard the scraping of a chair as his wife put it down in the passage against the door." Which is NOT a way the author builds suspense in these sentences? A. by alluding to the visitor as being Herbert B. by describing Mrs. White's scraping the chair C. by explaining how the knocks echo through the house D. by making it difficult for Mr. White to find the paw

Answer 1

Answer:

A. by alluding to the visitor as being Herbert.

Explanation:

In this passage, we learn about the scraping of the chair, the knocks that echo through the house and the difficulties that Mr. White goes through in order to find the paw. However, what the author does not suggest is that the visitor is Herbert. In fact, in the only instance in which the author refers to the knock, he says that it was "the thing" that wanted to come in. Therefore, this is not one way in which the author builds suspense.

Answer 2

The correct answer is A.

The author does not allude the visitor as being Herbert. He merely call it "the thing outside". Therefore, this is not a way the author creates suspense in the story.

The rest of the options: the description of the scraping, the echoes of the knocks, and the difficulty to find the object that was needed, are all elements that help build up suspense in this passage.