{ The Thriller Genre Thrillers focus on suspense, tension, and excitement. Writers emphasise the danger that the protagonist faces, holding back crucial details from the reader until it’s time to reveal them.

Mood and Atmosphere  Writers in the thriller genre evoke for the reader: anticipation, expectation, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety, and terror.  The story needs to be a fast paced, gritty adrenaline rush with an atmosphere of creepy menace and sudden violence.

Setting  Thrillers usually take place in ordinary suburbs and cities. This contrast between the seemingly mundane and the extraordinary circumstances the protagonist must face accentuates the tension.

Characterisation  Thrillers are usually villain-driven, presenting an obstacle for the protagonist to surmount.  The protagonists are frequently ordinary citizens unaccustomed to danger.  Plots of thrillers involve characters who come into conflict with each other or with outside forces – the threat is sometimes abstract or unseen.  There is usually a desire for justice, and protagonist has a high level of morality.

Structural Features Orientation   A normal person, on a normal day, in a normal situation (real or seemingly). Complication   The protagonist is placed in a menacing situation, a mystery, or a trap from which escaping seems impossible.   The protagonist’s life, or somebody else’s, is threatened, usually because they are unwittingly involved in a dangerous, or potentially deadly, situation.   Either by accident or their own curiousness, the protagonist is dragged into a dangerous conflict or situation that they are not prepared to resolve. Rising Action / Tension   Obstacles between the protagonist and their goal, which must be overcome.   A mystery must be solved, or the protagonist is on a quest.   There is the presence of innocence in an essentially corrupt world.   There is a battle between the protagonist and antagonist, physically and mentally.   The force of the antagonist must initially be cleverer and / or stronger than the protagonist’s. Climax   All seems lost. Resolution   The protagonist is overcome by the antagonist, or conquers the antagonist.

  The narrative is dominated by the protagonist’s point of view.   All action and characters must be credibly realistic or natural.   Red herrings and plot twists are often used – MacGuffin!   Readers have (or are led by the author to believe they have) a superior perspective on events in the narrative, yet they are powerless to intervene to prevent it from happening. Linguistic Features