Hello. This question is incomplete. The full question is:
How has Stevenson created an air of mystery in the extract and in the novel as a whole?
It chanced on one of these rambles that their way led them down a by-street in a busy quarter of London. The street was small and what is called quiet, but it drove a thriving trade on the week-days. The inhabitants were all doing well, it seemed, and all emulously hoping to do better still, and laying out the surplus of their gains in coquetry; so that the shop fronts stood along that thoroughfare with an air of invitation, like rows of smiling saleswomen. Even on Sunday, when it veiled its more florid charms and lay comparatively empty of passage, the street shone out in contrast to its dingy neighbourhood, like a fire in a forest; and with its freshly painted shutters, well-polished brasses, and general cleanliness and gaiety of note, instantly caught and pleased the eye of the passenger.
Two doors from one corner, on the left hand going east, the line was broken by the entry of a court; and just at that point, a certain sinister block of building thrust forward its gable on the street. It was two stories high; showed no window, nothing but a door on the lower story and a blind forehead of discoloured wall on the upper; and bore in every feature, the marks of prolonged and sordid negligence. The door, which was equipped with neither bell nor knocker, was blistered and distained. Tramps slouched into the recess and struck matches on the panels; children kept shop upon the steps; the schoolboy had tried his knife on the mouldings; and for close on a generation, no one had appeared to drive away these random visitors or to repair their ravages.
Answer:
The author created an air of mystery through the description of the scenarios and through the use of adjectives.
Explanation:
The author used adjectives that create a sense of suspense and mystery in reading, especially when he describes scenarios and situations, which leave the reader in doubt about what happens in a certain place.
As an example of this, we can say that when the author uses the adjective "sinister" to refer to the house, he suggests that there is something mysterious, something dark and unknown in that place, showing the atmosphere of mystery and suspense. The same happens when he quotes "bell nor knocker", showing that there is a mystery about those who dared to visit the place.
