Question

Read the excerpt from a short story. The young docent welcomed the class to the museum, explaining that the east wing was under construction and he’d be leading them to the first exhibit. His fingers leapt to his name tag as he nervously introduced himself as "Liam, a student of the arts." Then he bade the group follow him. They traversed a vaulted hall lined with hulking objects, each one obscured by a faded tarpaulin. Some of the items stretched across the floor, others cast long shadows on the museum walls. What technique does the author use to build suspense in the excerpt?

Answer 1

This question is missing the answer choices. I have found them online. Since the passage is the same, I will omit it:

What technique does the author use to build suspense in the excerpt?

A. word choice

B. quickening the pace of the story

C. intentionally omitting setting details

D. making the outcome of events uncertain

Answer:

The technique the author uses to build suspense is:

C. intentionally omitting setting details

Explanation:

The setting of a story is the place where and the time when the story happens. When an author wishes to make the setting clear, he will give out details and descriptions to help readers visualize it.

However, that is not what happens in the excerpt we are analyzing here. The author intentionally leaves out details to build suspense. He does not offer a description of the museum and, most importantly, of the objects inside the museum. What are the "hulking objects" he mentions? Mummies? Old statues? What do they look like? We do not know. All we know is that they cast long shadows and stretch across the floor. By describing them so poorly, the author creates suspense, leaving readers wondering about these objects and their role in the story.