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1. Annotate the passage.

2. Write an introduction to the following question:

Discuss how fear and suspense are created here and elsewhere in the novel.

In the subject line, write your name.

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Introductions MUST include:

1. Include name of the novel (underlined)

2. Context of the passage

3. Address the question → why does the author write this (authorial intent)

4. Thesis statement

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Take a screenshot of your annotations and upload it along after you've crafted your body paragraph.

Remember PQRQRL! & the 70/30 rule :)

Body Paragraphs SHOULD:

1. Analyse LITERARY DEVICE (effect of literary device)

1. This refers to technique. It must be used.

2. Address form/genre of the novel

3. Situate analysis in context of the scene/novel/history

4. Address the socio-historical context of the novel (if relevant)

5. Talk about authorial intent

6. Some kind of personal response (effect on reader)

Highlighted points 5 & 6 = try and write this! It will help deepen your analysis :)

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Lost? Here's a helpful planning document:

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Lost? Here's a helpful planning document:

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The person sitting next to you will comment on your body paragraphs [COMMENT ON THEIR POSTS AND INCLUDE YOUR NAMES]:

This is the criteria they will comment on:

Body para:

Topic sentence clearly introduces the point

Includes at least one relevant quote as evidence

Analyses a literary device and explains its effect

Refers to form or genre of the novel (e.g. trauma narrative, historical fiction)

Situates analysis in the context of the scene and the novel

Addresses the socio-historical context (if relevant)

Mentions Tan Twan Eng's authorial intent (what he wants to show or explore)

After commenting on these elements write:

1 strength of your friends’ body paragraph

1 thing they can do to improve on it

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Lidiya who is NOT actually a charismatic duck

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Lidiya who is NOT actually a charismatic duck

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In Garden of Evening Mists, Tan creates fear & suspense to show the lasting effects of war & violence in postwar Malaya. In Chapter 6, Yun Ling is led by a frightened child into the jungle where she finds the bodies of murdered villagers. This scene is filled with fear & tension, built through the dangerous setting, vivid imagery & Yun Ling’s inner thoughts. Fear & suspense also appear in other parts of the novel especially through the characters’ past traumas, uncertain relationships & the political unrest of the time. Tan uses different techniques like detailed descriptions, shifts in tone, dialogues & body languages to show how fear affects the characters’ actions & the mood of the story. His purpose is to show that fear is not just about the present moment but something that lingers with people, shaping how they see the world & respond to it.

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In this extract from Tan Twan Eng’s The Garden of Evening Mists, the passage talks about an unsettling scene where Yun Ling had found a girl who was hiding in the forest. The girl’s family members had been murdered by the communist terrorists (CTs) during the Malayan Emergency; a guerrilla war fought in Malaya between communist insurgents and the military forces of the British colonial government, with the aim to establish a communist state in Malaya. The author crafted an atmosphere of unease and psychological tension in this scene to portray the pervasive and lingering fear that people experienced during the era, especially due to the aftermath of the war. Through literary devices such as evocative language and parataxis, the author builds not only suspense in this scene, but the lingering fear that haunts Yun Ling throughout the novel.

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In garden of the evening mists by tan twan eng,  it is a historical fiction novel revolving about how a war survivor, yun ling, is on a journey to build a japanese garden for her dead sister who died in the war. She approaches the japanese emperors gardener to build one for her, who was also the neighbour of her closed ones, magnus. in this passage however, yun ling was at magnus’s tee farm when she meets a young girl in the forest and helps her to report the murder of her siblings by the communists terrorists. In this scene, tan tries to evoke a sense of suspense and fear in the readers, to emphasize what the little girl felt so that we can sympathise with her on a deeper level. This helps us to understand the fear that people went through during the communist terrorist war, connecting us to the setting of the book. In this thesis statement, i will discuss about how tan mainly uses imagery, hyperbole and diction to create a sense of fear and suspense in the novel.

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Garden of Evening Mist by Tan Twan Eng is a historical novel which brings up the topic of trauma and grieI.In this passage, yun ling encounters a girl and found dead bodies of the girls family.Set in the context of the malaysan emergency,  reflection on yun lings inner psyche.Fear and suspense is explained in detail through yun ling first encounter with the girl as well as her having to reface her trauma in the rainforest during the war.

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In The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng, This passage is centred around Yun Ling who finds herself momentarily alone and disoriented in the malayan jungle, where she found bodies of murdered villages.  Tan uses sensory imagery such as visual and auditory imagery to create a tension and vulnerability. Symbolism of the jungle becomes a manifestation of her unresolved fear, a space where memory and danger are inseparable. Short, fragmented sentences mirror Yun Ling’s disoriented thoughts and build suspense, while the ambiguous movements and sounds create a sense of the unknown, heightening the psychological intensity of the moment. Fear and suspense is created through the use of sensory imagery.

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In the novel garden of evening mist one of the major plot points is the relationship between suspense and fear. In the passage fear and suspense are closely interconnected together as in which they coexist and influence the emergence of each other in a loop. The author uses fear and suspense to reflect the characters turbulent mental state. This mirrors the chaos of The Emergency that is occurring . Thus this essay will talk about how Fear is ever present even when he experience which has caused it had been gone and how

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Tan Twan Eng creates fear and suspense in this historical fiction passage through the use of vivid sensory imagery and a steadily intensifying narrative pace. As the narrator enters the jungle, the author’s use of unsettling auditory imagery“insects ground out metallic clicking sounds” and “birdcalls hammered sharp, shiny nails into the air” this transforms the natural environment into something hostile and threatening. This personification of nature builds an atmosphere of dread, reflecting the narrator’s growing fear as she steps deeper into a place tied to memories of war. The suspenseful pacing, marked by short, tense sentences like “I froze when we came to the jungle fringe,” mirrors the narrator’s inner hesitation and uncertainty, drawing the reader into the immediacy of the moment. In the context of post-war Malaya, where Communist Terrorists (CTs) were active, the jungle symbolizes both physical danger and psychological trauma. The fear of an ambush, the abandoned shack, and the eventual discovery of the murdered children intensify the horror. Tan’s authorial intent seems to be to confront readers with the brutal, often unseen consequences of conflict, especially on indigenous communities. As a reader, this passage provokes a sense of dread and helplessness, made more powerful by the contrast between the innocence of the crying child and the brutal violence she witnesses. Ultimately, the literary techniques used deepen the emotional tension and sustain a gripping sense of fear throughout the scene.

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The Garden of Evening Mists, by Tan Twan Eng, creates fear and suspense in the given passage and the rest of the book through the use of imagery and language to create a suspenseful atmosphere. This essay will talk about how these devices are used to create fear and suspense.

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Fear and suspense are created through the pacing of scenes in the novel. This can be seen from ‘She heard them shouting a moment later. Then screams. One of them saw her and they gave chase. Rohana ran into the jungle. She spent all night hiding. (Pg 83).’ With the usage of parataxis, the short and curt sentences portray the fragmented thoughts that the girl, Rohana, may have had during the incident. The abrupt transitions in the sentences mimic her thought patterns and reflects her instinctive reactions when experiencing fear, which increases the tension in this scene.

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Tan uses imagery and Yun Ling’s thinking to convey suspense and fear. The line “vines hung from the branches in broad, sagging nooses”, conveys the sense of death and dread through the use of the word “noose” which is symbolic to suicide and death. Using this word to describe the path Yun Ling and the girl are walking down, makes the reader feel as if they are walking into something dreaded and unknown, provoking suspense, and thus fear. Further down the passage, Tan describes the bodies Yun Ling and the girl find in morbid detail. “three bodies lay in a moat of blood so dark and thick they seemed to be glued to it”, and “Hundreds of flies crawled over their faces, bodies and loincloths “. The level of detail used to describe the victims gives the reader a clear, macabre image of the bodies and evokes fear in the reader through Yun Ling. This is how Tan conveys suspense and fear in the passage.

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In the novel,fear is conveyed through yun ling having to face her fear once again ever since the war to go into the jungle and help the Young girl.Yun ling must step out of her comfort zone and relive what she felt during the war when going through the jungle.With Visual imagery such as ,’I froze’,it suggests the thoughts and emotions yun ling might be going through,with fear bring the biggest factor in this scenario.Yun ling froze in fright as memories from the war rushes back.“for the first time since the war ended, I was about to enter the rainforest again.I feared that if I went in i would never come out again.’this shows that yun ling has ever since avoided the rainforest the war, suggesting the presence of a traumatic experience she has experienced when she was in a rainforest, which further explains her fear of it.Her body bosy frozen in response tells us that fear comes from past experiences which could alter the fears of a person, one example as shown would be yun ling.

Additionally ,suspense is present in the novel like when yunling first encountered the little girl.The visual imagery of the Young girl at the beginning gives a sense of uneasiness to the readers as it is unsure if she poses as a threat or an ally.’Turning back to the path, I gave a start. Less than ten feet away, a figure was standing in the shadows.’The short distance between them builds a sense of claustrophobia.’It was a girl, about nine or ten years old, her face and clothes smeared with mud. She was an aboriginal, and she was crying.’The fact that she's crying,covered in mud,and speaking in a distressed way makes her appear both vulnerable,mysterious which raises further questions about her and her situation.This unidentified person brings in suspicion and alertness towards readers ,hence creates a Suspensful moment.Therefore suspense is created here in the novel.

Garden of Evening Mist by Tan Twan Eng is a historical novel which brings up the topic of trauma and grieI.In this passage, yun ling encounters a girl and found dead bodies of the girls family.Set in the context of the malaysan emergency,  reflection on yun lings inner psyche.Fear and suspense is explained in detail through yun ling first encounter with the girl as well as her having to reface her trauma in the rainforest during the war.

In the novel,fear is conveyed through yun ling having to face her fear once again ever since the war to go into the jungle and help the Young girl.Yun ling must step out of her comfort zone and relive what she felt during the war when going through the jungle.With Visual imagery such as ,’I froze’,it suggests the thoughts and emotions yun ling might be going through,with fear bring the biggest factor in this scenario.Yun ling froze in fright as memories from the war rushes back.“for the first time since the war ended, I was about to enter the rainforest again.I feared that if I went in i would never come out again.’this shows that yun ling has ever since avoided the rainforest the war, suggesting the presence of a traumatic experience she has experienced when she was in a rainforest, which further explains her fear of it.Her body bosy frozen in response tells us that fear comes from past experiences which could alter the fears of a person, one example as shown would be yun ling.

Additionally ,suspense is present in the novel like when yunling first encountered the little girl.The visual imagery of the Young girl at the beginning gives a sense of uneasiness to the readers as it is unsure if she poses as a threat or an ally.’Turning back to the path, I gave a start. Less than ten feet away, a figure was standing in the shadows.’The short distance between them builds a sense of claustrophobia.’It was a girl, about nine or ten years old, her face and clothes smeared with mud. She was an aboriginal, and she was crying.’The fact that she's crying,covered in mud,and speaking in a distressed way makes her appear both vulnerable,mysterious which raises further questions about her and her situation.This unidentified person brings in suspicion and alertness towards readers ,hence creates a Suspensful moment.Therefore suspense is created here in the novel.

In conclusion, The Garden of Evening Mists masterfully uses fear and suspense to delve into the complexities of trauma and emotional healing. Through Yun Ling's encounter with the young girl and her journey into the rainforest, the novel paints a vivid picture of the lasting effects of war on an individual’s psyche. Yun Ling’s fear is not only rooted in her past experiences but also in the uncertainty of the present, where the boundaries between ally and enemy blur. The use of visual imagery and sensory details amplifies the tension, allowing readers to feel Yun Ling’s internal struggle as she faces her deepest fears. The suspense that builds through the girl’s appearance, her mysterious motives, and the dark, oppressive atmosphere of the jungle is carefully constructed to reflect Yun Ling’s emotional and psychological state. Ultimately, the novel explores how trauma shapes perceptions and actions, and how the confrontation with one's past though terrifying can also be a path toward understanding and, perhaps, healing.

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Tan builds suspense through the unsettling jungle setting using strong sensory imagery to reflect Yun Ling’s fear. The line “Birdcalls hammered sharp, shiny nails into the air” uses violent auditory imagery to create a tense & chaotic mood. “hammered sharp” depicts a constant, piercing noise that feels almost violent while “into the air” shows how this fear invades every space around Yun Ling. There’s no silence, no escape. The jungle feels threatening & alive, mirroring Yun Ling’s trauma. In Chapter 2 when Yun Ling first arrives at the Highlands, she describes how “the trees breathed mist”, showing how nature is both ethereal & eerie. This the postwar realities where setting carries emotional weight especially in a postwar context like Malaya. Tan’s purpose is to show that fear is not only physical but also rooted in memory. The jungle represents the trauma Yun Ling cannot outrun. As a reader myself, the scene becomes more than suspenseful it’s emotionally heavy i we feel both fear & sympathy for her.

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In this novel, the garden of evening mists,  Tan Twain Eng explores the concept of the creation of fear and suspense through the major themes here, trauma and memory. Fear and suspense can be seen often in this book as the implications of post-war trauma. Tan Twain Eng shows how   Trauma causes fear to be present through the use of flashbacks, imagery, setting etc. Tan Twain Eng does this to show how fear is not something curable and can often be triggered again by the things we encounter everyday. Fear is also shown in the characters’ through uncertainty about the future.

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In this passage fear and suspense is shown through the creation of an eerie and suspsenful environment. This can be seen from ‘in the tree behind us branches cracked and something heavy dropped… the trees were still.’ By creating this vivid and detailed image, Tan Twain Eng effectively creates suspense and leaves the reader holding their breaths and apprehensive of what is to come next. This creates a tension in this scene.

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In the extract of “The Garden of Evening Mists”, a historical fiction, was set in a gloomy and suspenseful environment, where a dark figure is revealed as a girl leading Yun Ling into a jungle. Tan uses imagery to create a sense of mystery as suddenness of the girl’s appearance came out of nowhere, and readers feel fear for Yun Ling’s safety as she entered the jungle. In this essay, I would discuss about how Tan uses imagery to make this extract suspenseful and fear.

(not done!)

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In the Garden of the Evening Mist, the writer presents this particular sequence of fear and suspense through the actions displayed by Toombs and others. Fear and suspense are intertwined in each of the characters’ speeches and actions, which represents the emotions that are heavily running through them during this state of The Emergency, which is seemingly havoc and endless chaos.

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tan twan eng uses imagery to describe the gore of the bodies to emphaize on the violence that people used to face during the communist terrorist period.

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Tan Twan Eng uses imagery to build suspense and mystery through the quote, “a figure was standing in the shadows”. This creates a feeling of fear and uncertainty, making the reader feel nervous and wonder who or what is hiding in the shadows. The use of shadows suggests something unknown or possibly dangerous, which might triggered Yun Ling’s trauma as it is a place where safety is not guaranteed. This shows Tan’s authorial intent to make the reader understand that even after war, people still live in fear, and trust is hard to find. As a historical novel, the book often explores the impact of war and violence on people’s lives, and this moment reminds us how trauma can appear at any time. Later in the scene, Tan stated, “We moved closer to the hut, making as little noise as possible.” This creates even more tension. The fact that they are moving so quietly tells us that something dangerous could be nearby. It makes the reader feel anxious, as if something terrible is about to happen. This moment shows how careful and afraid Yun Ling and the girl are, especially in a jungle that holds bad memories. The jungle is not just a physical setting, it also represents fear, trauma, and the unknown. Tan uses this scene to show that healing is difficult in a place where violence still happens. The careful use of imagery helps us feel Yun Ling’s fear, and it reminds the reader that the horrors of war do not end quickly.

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The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng is a historical novel which talks about trauma and grief. in this passage YunLing enters a forest with a girl and found the dead bodies of the girl’s family. Set within the context of the Malayan emergency, this also reflects Yun ling’s inner psyche. Fear and suspense are presented through visual imagery and auditory imagery of first encounter of Yun Ling and the girl

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As Emily stated in the novel where the girl who refused to tell them her name, it indicated how she was traumatized to the point of mute, even unable to speak up for herself. This displays the amount of suffering she had gone through before she came. She had also been screaming for quite a while earlier on, showcasing how prone she is to be scared due to all the horrible things she had experienced, and that she would easily find anything scary, which proves her deteriorated mental state and emotions. The fear displayed in this is very strong as the fear in the girl is relentless and consuming.

In the next few segments, Toombs depicted upon how the bodies were discovered, and how it was all the girl’s family. This re-emphasises the severe trauma and horrific experience she went through from seeing her family turn out like that, the fear and suspense being revitalised even more upon her witnessing of the scenes that possibly unfolded before her. The death, the chase and the hiding, all are many different ways that her emotions could have had a negative impact.

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Fear and suspense are created through the pacing of scenes and imagery in the novel. This can be seen from ‘She heard them shouting a moment later. Then screams. One of them saw her and they gave chase. Rohana ran into the jungle. She spent all night hiding. (Pg 83).’ With the usage of parataxis, the short and curt sentences portray the fragmented thoughts that the girl, Rohana, may have had during the incident. The abrupt transitions in the sentences mimic her thought patterns and reflects her instinctive reactions when experiencing fear, which increases the tension in this scene. Moreover, Yun Ling said ‘The stillness of the mountains awakens me. The depth of the silence: that is what I had forgotten about living in Yugiri.’ (Pg 9). The imagery used created a contrast between the interior chaos with the calmness of the nature in Yugiri. This slow paced moment had also been intensified by an underlying tension that Yun Ling had yet to reveal to the readers.

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What is one specific thing you improved in your writing today?

How did you do it?

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In the introduction , it is not very well explained how fear and suspense is presented , vague explanation towards how imagery plays a role in presenting fear and suspense

Strength: Can describe what the novel is about well , and provides good context .

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Samuel has basically written a paraphrasing of events which as occurred in the text. The body paragraph has no formatting and it has only been a pure narrative explanation of the question there is also no point mentioned with a lack of authorial intent . While this are the flaws he has explored the narration well

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sorry for poor english i’m just yapping

quote about rohana’s experience is related and show the fear of the situation, and parataxis is explained and elaborated well.

not much reference to genre or novel except for memories (?)

!!!

overall well written and very clearly explained however i feel that there are stronger examples that can be used to further show how fear and suspense is created

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Authorial intent and literacy device presentation are clear and explained. However, you can also talk about the form & genre, that the novel is a historical fiction and link to your points. But -1 for doing the padlet on the spot 🦦

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The topic sentence is clear

She quoted relevant quotes and elaborated on each of them

Relates back to YunLing’s trauma

Very very long

Talk about authorial intent

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sj for Yee Yuan Qing ( full government name is crazy… )

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sj for Yee Yuan Qing ( full government name is crazy… )

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1. good at : i like what way u explain your paragraph as you explain the context and effects nicely and clearly

2. improve on: you should talk about the literary device used

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Tan Twan Eng uses imagery to create suspense and fear. “Less than ten feet away, a figure was standing in the shadows. It started to move towards me. I took a step back, but it kept on coming.” Tan used visual imagery to describe the scene Yun Ling was experiencing, the word choice of “figure” shows that Yun Ling does not know what was actually lurking in the shadows showcasing the suspense caused by this mysterious entity in the shadows. This sense of mystery causes the reader to be nervous about what comes next in the story line.

“The flies rose from the bodies and swarmed to the underside of the thatch roof, blackening it like an infestation of mould.” This helps depict the scene that was unfolding in front of Yun Ling, showcasing the gruesome scene that was happening right before her eyes. This helps to enable to reader to visualise what is happening and imagine this terrifying scene. Tan uses simile “ blackening it like an infestation of mould” this allows reader to understand the severity of death in the situation and acts as a visual aid. Hence Tan Twan Eng uses imagery and simile to create suspense and fear

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the form of the paragraph was long and vivid. tan uses diction and imagery to describe every little details. He also climatizes the scene with slow movements to heighten tension like how they " moved closer to the hut, making as little noise as possible " to show that they are avoiding alerting any potential danger. tan twan eng uses imagery to describe the gore of the bodies to emphaize on the violence that people used to face during the communist terrorist period. he uses diction like “hundreds of flies crawled over their faces” highlights their lifelessness that the flies are able to feast on them and disturb them. the sights of an abundance of insects infesting a dead body sends shivers down the readers spines as it is eerie and gory. it also hints to readers how long their bodies have been there for that much flies to crowd over the bodies. imagery was also provided through “ disintended bodies “. the thoughts of a deadbody with a swollen belly evokes sympathy in the readers as it leads to the imagination of these kids being beaten up so brutally by the CTs that they swell up. this heightens the fear in us readwrs and yunling as the CTs are prsented to be really violent and merciless and we feel anxiety for yunling that they might bump into the CTs and suffer the same fate.

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the use of literary devices

i pinpointed the techniques used and developed my paragraph from it

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Fear and suspense are created through the pacing of scenes and sensory imagery in the novel. This can be seen from the discovery of bodies where “two bodies lay in a moat of blood… their throats had been slit.” (Page 81). The suspense and fear, which lingered since the beginning of the scene, finally becomes real and visceral when the bodies are revealed. The horror and graphic imagery also breaks the earlier suspense. This also can similarly be seen in “Insects ground out metallic, clicking sounds… Birdcalls hammered sharp, shiny nails into the air…” (Page 81). The techniques used here are sensory imagery, metaphor and personification. These devices portray the jungle as threatening soundscape as nature becomes mechanical and hostile. The fear in this scene also emerges from overwhelming sounds.

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-i chose better/stronger examples to help support my points

-i identified the literary devices used in the quotes and explained the impacts to answer the qn

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Tan Twan Eng creates fear and suspense in this historical fiction passage to confront readers with the brutal, often unseen consequences of conflict, particularly its psychological toll and the trauma it leaves behind. From the outset, his use of vivid sensory imagery transforms the jungle into a hostile and oppressive environment. Through unsettling auditory descriptions such as “insects ground out metallic clicking sounds” and “birdcalls hammered sharp, shiny nails into the air,” nature itself becomes personified as aggressive and unwelcoming. This mirrors the narrator’s internal fear and vulnerability, suggesting that the jungle is not merely a backdrop but a reflection of her wartime memories and psychological scars. Tan’s intent is not just to evoke tension but to make readers viscerally feel the suffocating atmosphere that survivors of war continue to endure. The suspenseful pacing, marked by short, tense sentences like “I froze when we came to the jungle fringe,” draws readers into the narrator’s moment-by-moment apprehension and reinforces the theme of psychological unrest. Set in post-war Malaya, where Communist Terrorists (CTs) were active, the jungle becomes a symbol of both physical and emotional danger. The fear of ambush, the image of the abandoned shack, and the eventual discovery of murdered children drive home the horror of war’s aftermath, especially for indigenous communities. The contrast between the crying child’s innocence and the violence she witnesses heightens the emotional weight of the scene. Through this, Tan underscores his larger message that the legacies of violence persist long after the guns have gone silent.

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Tan Twan Eng emphisises fear and suspence by using Visual imagery as a medium. This can be seen when he describes of the two bodies in the jungle ' two bodies lay in a moat of blood so dark and thick they seemed to be glued to it.' This scenes gore is used as a device to emphasises the violence that was a common reality and fact during that time period. By showing us of the bloods coagulation he tells us how much time the bodies have remained there and how mutilated they were. This creates suspense in and fear in the audience by demonstrating the bloodthirsty cruelty of the CTs by letting us know of the atrocities thy would commit on the innocent in the name of Communism . Thus this increases the fear the readers would feel towards them as we know their perverted psychotic tendencies and by causing us to be in suspense by their sadistic actions as we never know what they might do next

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In the novel, fear is conveyed through Yun Ling’s internal struggle as she is forced to confront the jungle, a place deeply connected to her traumatic memories of the war. To help a young girl, she must leave her comfort zone and relive the haunting experiences she endured during that time. Visual imagery, such as “I froze,” captures the intensity of her emotional state, emphasizing fear as the dominant emotion. Yun Ling’s paralysis reflects how the trauma resurfaces, overwhelming her with memories. Her statement, “For the first time since the war ended, I was about to enter the rainforest again. I feared that if I went in I would never come out again,” reveals how she has avoided the rainforest ever since the war, implying a deeply rooted psychological scar. Her frozen body illustrates how fear, shaped by past experiences, can persist and continue to control a person’s actions long after the original trauma. Yun Ling is a clear example of this lasting impact.

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Tan uses visual imagery to build suspense and mystery through the quote, "a figure was standing in the shadows". This creates a feeling of fear and uncertainty, making the reader feel nervous and wonder who or what is hiding in the shadows. The use of shadows suggests something unknown or possibly dangerous, which might triggered Yun Ling's trauma as it is a place where safety is not guaranteed.

This shows Tan's authorial intent to make the reader understand that even after war, people still live in fear, and trust is hard to find. As a historical novel, the book often explores the impact of war and violence on people's lives, and this moment reminds us how trauma can appear at any time. Later in the scene, Tan stated, "We moved closer to the hut, making as little noise as possible." Tan uses diction to creates even more tension. The fact that they are moving so quietly tells us that something dangerous could violence on people's lives, and this moment reminds us how trauma

can appear at any time. Later in the scene, Tan stated, "We moved closer to the hut, making as little noise as possible." Tan uses diction to creates even more tension. The fact that they are moving so quietly tells us that something dangerous could be nearby. It makes the reader feel anxious, as if something terrible is about to happen. This moment shows how careful and afraid Yun Ling and the girl are, especially in a jungle that holds bad memories. The jungle is not just a physical setting, it also represents fear, trauma, and the unknown. Tan uses this scene to show that healing is difficult in a place where violence still happens.

The careful use of imagery helps us feel Yun Ling's fear, and it reminds the reader that the horrors of war do not end quickly.

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Tan builds suspense through the unsettling jungle setting, using strong sensory imagery to reflect Yun Ling's fear. The line "Birdcalls hammered sharp, shiny nails into the air" uses violent auditory imagery to create a tense & chaotic mood. "hammered sharp" depicts a constant piercing noise that feels almost violent, suggesting how the jungle seems to attack the senses while "into the air" shows how this fear spreads & fills the space around Yun Ling. There’s no silence & no escape. The jungle feels threatening & alive, mirroring Yun Ling’s trauma & the mental entrapment she experiences. In Chapter 2 when Yun Ling first arrives at the Highlands, she describes how "the trees breathed mist", showing how nature is both ethereal & eerie, hinting early on that beauty in this novel often carries an undercurrent of unease. This reflects the postwar realities, where setting carries emotional weight, especially in a wounded, unstable place like Malaya. Tan’s purpose is to show that fear is not only physical but also deeply rooted in memory, resurfacing in unexpected moments. The jungle represents the trauma Yun Ling cannot outrun, where even natural sounds become reminders of violence. As a reader myself, the scene becomes more than just suspenseful as it is emotionally heavy, as we feel both fear & sympathy for her, drawn into the weight of what she has endured.