SoF - Mystery Flashcards
What key points can you mention in your intro?
- Doyle employs obscure setting, coupled with effective weather creating an air of secrecy and vagueness. Dark motifs reflect mystery and unknown. Vehement mystery is created by rapid change of setting
What is paragraph 1 about?
Obscure setting coupled with the weather - Physically blocking action + air of secrecy
What quotes can you mention in paragraph 1?
“Mud coloured clouds drooped sadly”
“eerie and ghostlike … endless procession of faces”
“Plunged in shadow” vs “moonbeam struck one corner”
What AO3 can you use in paragraph 1?
The rapidly growing population of Victorian England would have facilitated the use of such a crowded and seemingly endless setting - critical for creation of mystery
What is paragraph 2 about?
Evocative and detailed description of characters without revealing them
What quotes can you mention in paragraph 2?
- Title of book
- “diminutive footmarks, toes never fettered by boots…great ability, small poisoned dart”
- “wooden legged man”
What AO3 can you use in paragraph 2?
The suspense in revealing the true identity of the criminals would’ve been particularly powerful on a Victorian reader, who generally would have negative relations with Asian culture. The Victorian audience has to form images of Tonga and Small in their head
What is paragraph 3 about?
A lack of description of characters as Holmes is a mystery himself. His logical and systematic thought process can make him un-human - Alienation
What quotes can you use in paragraph 3?
“Languidly” “An automaton - a calculating machine!”
“No? You surprise me.”
What key point can you mention in your conclusion?
Doyle employs setting for momentary peroids of mystery, although Holmes as an embodiment of mystery is present throughout the novel
