Sample exam question – WJECPlanning your answer

The question

Higher tier

Read the extract then answer the following question. How does Harper Lee create tension in this extract?

Foundation tier

Read the extract and answer the following question. How do we know there is a lot of tension in this extract? Give reasons for what you say and remember to support your answer with words and phrases from the extract.

Remember, your key priority should be to analyse and comment on the language that Harper Lee has used in this extract only.

Look once again at the extract below and pay particular attention to the highlighted points. Think about how they help Harper Lee to create tension in this extract.

The extract

In ones and twos, men got out of the cars. (1) Shadows became substance as light revealed solid shapes moving towards the jail door. Atticus remained where he was. (2) The men hid him from view.

(3) “He in there, Mr Finch?” a man said.

“He is,” we heard Atticus answer, “and he’s asleep. Don’t wake him up.”

In obedience to my father, there followed what I later realized was a sickeningly comic aspect of an unfunny situation: the men talked in near-whispers.

(4) “You know what we want,” another man said. “Get aside from the door, Mr Finch.”

(5) “You can turn around and go home again, Walter,” Atticus said pleasantly. “Heck Tate’s around somewhere.”

(6) “The hell he is,” said another man. “Heck’s bunch’s so deep in the woods they won’t get out till morning.”

“Indeed? Why so?”

“Called ‘em off on a snipe hunt,” was the succinct answer. “Didn’t you think a’that, Mr Finch?”

“Thought about it, but didn’t believe it. (7) Well, then,” my father’s voice was still the same, “that changes things, doesn’t it?”

“It do,” another deep voice said. Its owner was a shadow.

“Do you really think so?”

This was the second time I heard time Atticus ask that question in two days, and it meant somebody’s man would get jumped. This was too good to miss. (8) I broke away from Jem and ran as fast as I could to Atticus.

(9) Jem shrieked and tried to catch me, but I had a lead on him and Dill. I pushed my way through dark smelly bodies and burst into the circle of light.

“H-ey, Atticus?”

I thought he would have a fine surprise, but his face killed my joy. (10) A flash of plain fear was going out of his eyes, but returned when Dill and Jem wriggled into the light.

1. The word shadows adds tension because it suggests that in the dim light no one is very visible. This adds a sense of confusion over who is there and sets a creepy atmosphere, making the situation more tense.
2. The men hid him from view. This phrase gives the sense that the men have surrounded Atticus. He is simply one man trying to defend Tom Robinson from a lynch mob who are determined to get Tom out of prison in order to lynch him. This adds even more tension to the scene as Atticus is facing the men alone and is in obvious danger.
3. He in there, Mr Finch? Again this is adding to the tension as the men are pressing Atticus for information about Tom Robinson. They want to know where he is but it seems a pointless question as they already know he is in the jail. It seems the question is asked more to alert Atticus to the fact that the men have arrived with the intention of taking Tom, adding further tension.
4. “You know what we want,” another man said. “Get aside from the door, Mr Finch.” Here Harper Lee is injecting even more tension into the scene by suggesting they may use physical force. The imperative Get aside shows that the men in the lynch mob are beginning to grow desperate. They are now telling Atticus to move from the door as they intend to make their next move which is to physically remove Tom from the prison even if Atticus tries to stop them.
5. “You can turn around and go home again, Walter,” Atticus said pleasantly. “Heck Tate’s around somewhere.” The build-up of tension sometimes works best when a writer introduces something which temporarily relieves the action. Here, Atticus has told the men in the mob that Heck Tate the sheriff is nearby. This immediately makes the reader breathe a sigh of relief as they believe there is help nearby should Atticus need it. The fact that Atticus recognises one of the men and calls him by his name also helps to diffuse the tension.
6. “The hell he is,” said another man. This immediately makes the tension rise again as it becomes obvious to the reader that Heck Tate is actually nowhere near Atticus and the jail. The men in the lynch mob have sent the sheriff on a pointless journey into the woods which means that Tom and now Atticus too have been left isolated. The language of the men is getting rougher and more aggressive and this also adds to the tension.
7. “Well then,” my father’s voice was still the same, “that changes things doesn’t it?” The tension rises even further when Atticus begins to recognise the perilous situation he is in. However, the reader is told that Atticus still manages to stop any fear creeping into his voice even though he’s in danger.
8. I broke away from Jem and ran as fast as I could to Atticus. The fact that Scout now joins Atticus causes even more tension as the reader believes she might be putting herself in danger also.
9. Jem shrieked and tried to catch me, but I had a lead on him and Dill. Jem has understood the situation more fully than Scout has and realises the danger of the situation. The shriek is onomatopoeic and dramatic and helps to create more tension in the scene. He is also aware that Atticus will be annoyed at them being there in the first place.
10. A flash of plain fear was going out of his eyes, but returned when Dill and Jem wriggled into the light. Atticus is not a man to typically feel afraid. When the reader is told about the flash of fear in his eyes at the thought of all three children being near the lynch mob, the tension rises as the seriousness of the situation becomes very clear.