1. The Elements of Mystery

2. All Stories Contain Certain Elements
Plot
Character
Setting
Dialogue
Narrative

3. Anything that is kept secret or remains unexplained or unknown.
Mystery
Anything that is kept secret or remains unexplained or unknown.
Dictionary.com

4. Mystery – Def #2
Any affair, thing, or person that presents features or qualities so obscure as to arouse curiosity or speculation.
Dictionary.com

5. Mystery – Def #3
A novel, short story, play, or film whose plot involves a crime or other event that remains puzzlingly unsettled until the very end.
Dictionary.com

6. MYSTERY writing must have an unknown element, that captures the reader’s curiosity.
Neither the reader or the protagonist knows the answer to the mystery…

7. Mystery Sequence Start with “unknown” Add some facts Solution at end
Red herrings
Solution at end
Often a twist
Protagonist always solves

8. Mystery vs Thriller Mystery – cerebral (in one’s head)
--protagonist solves murder
--reader & Pro don’t know “whodunit”
--Pro rarely in danger; close to solving mystery
Thriller – action-packed
--protagonist & reader know “whodunit”
--Pro out-wits & captures “bad guy”
--Pro in danger from beginning
Dictionary.com

9. Mystery vs Thriller Mystery – cerebral (in one’s head)
--protagonist solves murder
--reader & Pro don’t know “whodunit”
--Pro rarely in danger; close to solving mystery
Thriller – action-packed
--protagonist & reader know “whodunit”
--Pro out-wits & captures “bad guy”
--Pro in danger from beginning
Dictionary.com

10. Mystery/Detective Murder or crime Murder weapon and/or crime scene
Individual or group villain
Think: 007’s Blofeld and group SPECTRE

11. Sir Arthur ACD Techniques: “closed setting” – train, house, etc.
Small group of suspects
Detective with strong reasoning powers
Almost everyone could have done crime
Loyal clueless companion who gets detective’s explanation in the end

12. “Non-Murder” Mystery Mysteries of nature Mysteries of ancient cultures
Ghosts, witches, hauntings, etc.
Mysteries of ancient cultures
Runes, hieroglyphs, cave-paintings, mythology
Non-reality events (absurd or macabre)
Bag of ears on the table
Hand-less man selling lampshades
Flea circus
Example: Poe, The Colonel, etc.

13. Victorian England Logic & Rationality Law & Order
Control over outlying British Empire
Boer War
Change in social status
Working class – stoic & accepting
No social services
Crime skyrockets

14. Sources

15. The Elements of Action

16. All Stories Contain Certain Elements
Plot
Character
Setting
Dialogue
Narrative

17. Action
The process or state of being active; something done or performed; energetic activity; an exertion of power of force.
Dictionary.com

18. Action Characteristics
Action Overshadows:
Characters, Themes, Setting
Protagonist and Antagonist known
Theme often “man vs nature”

19. Mystery vs Action Mystery – cerebral (in one’s head)
--protagonist solves murder
--reader & Pro don’t know “whodunit”
--Pro rarely in danger; close to solving mystery
Thriller – action-packed
--protagonist & reader know “whodunit”
--Pro out-wits & captures “bad guy”
--Pro in danger from beginning
Dictionary.com

20. Robert Ludlum
Grew up in NYC, attended Wesleyan University (Drama major)
Wrote 21 novels, all NYT bestsellers
Came to writing late, after stint as US Marine and actor/producer
28 novels written since his death in 2001

21. Ludlum Techniques Must “tell a story” (Beg, mid, end)
Use credible info from locations
Incorporate real life events (Caribbean boat guy)
Single protagonist against nature/ large evil groups
Inspired by conspiracy theories both government & corporate
Terrorists are often depicted as pawns

22. Sources https://www.fantasticfiction.com/l/robert-ludlum/

23. The Elements of Suspense

24. All Stories Contain Certain Elements
Plot
Character
Setting
Dialogue
Narrative

25. Suspense
A state or condition of mental uncertainty or excitement, usually accompanied by apprehension or anxiety.
Dictionary.com

26. In suspense there must be an unknown; a suspicion, a mystery, a danger we expect

27. Suspense (mystery, intrigue, tension) is built with:
Facts
Innuendo
Atmosphere
Action

28. Ways to deepen suspense…
Dreams
foreshadowing what may happen
showing the character’s deepest fears, his haunting past

29. Ways to deepen suspense…
Clues
journals / diaries / letters / notes / pictures, etc.
physical evidence that can be used to determine time of death, how, and where

30. Ways to deepen suspense…
The Weather
the season can match or contrast the characters’ emotional state

31. Ways to deepen suspense…
The Senses
the smell of blood, the stench of an alley
the taste of fear
reaction to finding a dead body
the feel of blood-soaked clothing

32. Ways to deepen suspense…
The Villain
his/her motivations or intentions
simple greed, jealousy, money
the complicated serial killer mind

33. Ways to deepen suspense…
Other characters
plant red herrings
shift suspicion onto them

34. Themes Concerning People
Terror inflicted upon the often unknowing and innocent victim
Innocent people caught up in events they cannot control
Transference of guilt: innocent character’s failings are transferred to another character and magnified
Explored the compatibility of men and women (especially a mother figure)
The wrong man

35. Themes Concerning the Mind
Guilt (real or the appearance of it)
Redemption
Early films reflected the political climate of Europe during the war
Preferred to use suspense rather than surprise

36. The Elements of Horror

37. All Stories Contain Certain Elements
Plot - unexpected
Characters - identifiable
Setting - minutiae
Dialogue
Narrative

38. Horror
An overwhelming and painful feeling caused by something frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting.
Dictionary.com

39. Horror Characteristics
Unexpected, supernatural element in…
Plot, character, or setting
Protagonist known
Antagonist unknown and often unhuman
Often violent
Invokes fear in reader

40. Horror Characteristics
Brooding atmosphere
Setting is dark & often detailed
Relatable characters
Although often unstable, many details so readers can connect
Unexpected plot element
Supernatural, myth/legend, etc.
William C. Robinson, University of Tennessee.

41. The Nightmarish Mind of Edgar Allen Poe

42. Background
Born
His mother died during his youth and his father abandoned them
After the death of his grandmother, he married his 13-year-old cousin, Virginia in 1835
Virginia died in 1847
Died in 1849

43. Education of Poe
Entered and dropped from both the University of Virginia and West Point
Ran into debt and started borrowing money, gambling and getting deeper into debt

44. Writing Style of Poe Wrote in a Gothic Style Deep and intense
Explorations of а world of dream and of nightmare
In his stories the past is darker, more ominous and oppresses his heroes and heroines

45. Poe’s Characters Many of his characters are filled with madness
Obsessed with the irrational side of the mind

46. Edgar Allen Poe’s
The Tell-Tale
H E A R T

47. General Information Setting
The story opens with the narrator telling readers that he is not mad. His narrative is supposed to be a vehicle to show he is not insane.
The story is set in a house occupied by the narrator and an old man during the mid 1800’s.

48. General Information Genre Horror story and psychological thriller
Story and Style
The Tell Tale Heart is one of Poe’s shortest stories. It’s lack of detail only adds to its suspense by creating a mood of paranoia for the reader that mirrors the feelings of the narrator

49. Literary Focus Point of View
The story is told in first-person point of view by an unreliable narrator.
The narrator is obviously deranged, even though he declares at the outset that he is sane.
As in many of his other short stories, Poe does not name the narrator.

50. Literary Focus
Irony
The irony of the story stems from the narrator’s claims of sanity being disproved by his own claims.
Although he proclaims himself to be too calm to be a madman, he is defeated by a noise that may be interpreted as the beating of his own heart

51. Literary Focus Imagery and Repetition
Poe’s use of sound throughout the narrative, combined by using repetition adds to the story’s suspense.
The effect is a building of noise in the readers’ ears and a building of tension

52. Themes Mankind’s wicked side–another self Mankind’s paranoia
Mankind’s Fear
Mental Pressure and Fatigue
Appearance vs. Reality
Dark Appearances vs. Dark Thoughts

53. Character Analysis The Narrator
Deranged unnamed person who tries to convince the reader that he is sane.
He is intelligent and has the ability to commit a crime with skill and precision
He nagged by what he calls heightened senses, something that is a condition found in several various Poe stories 

54. Character Analysis Character Analysis The Old Man:
Neighbor:
Three Policemen:
Seemingly harmless elder who has a hideous "evil eye" that unnerves the narrator. 
Person who hears a shriek coming from the house of the narrator and the old man, then reports it to the police. 
Officers who search the narrator's house after a neighbor reports hearing a shriek.