.
: isolation, terror, secrets, fear
: Arthur Kipps, Alice Drablow, Jennet
Humfrye, Mr Jerome, Sam Daily, Keckwick
: London, Crythin Gifford, Nine Lives
Causeway, Monk’s Piece, Eel Marsh House
**How does Susan
Hill use description
of places to have
an impact on how
the reader feels
during the novel?**
SETTINGS – THE NINE LIVES
CAUSEWAY
The Nine Lives Causeway
Ahead the water gleamed like metal and I began
to make out a track, rather like the line left by
the wake of a boat, that ran across it. As we
drew nearer, I saw that the water was lying only
shallowly over the rippling sand on either side of
us, and that the line was in fact a narrow track
leading directly ahead, as if into the estuary
itself. As we slipped onto it, I realised that this
must be The Nine Lives Causeway – this and
nothing more – and saw how, when the tide came
in, it would quickly be quite submerged and
untraceable.
At first the pony and trap met the sandy path,
the smart noise we had been making ceased, and
we went on almost in silence save for a hissing,
silky, sort of sound. Here and there were clumps
of reeds, bleached bone pale, and now and again
the faintest of winds caused them to rattle
dryly. The sun at our backs reflected in the
water all around so that everything shone and
glistened like the surface of a mirror, and the
sky had taken on a faint pinkish tinge at the
edges, and this in turn became reflected in the
marsh and water.
TECHNIQUES
•
•
•
•
•
•
Colour
Contrast
Silence
Weather
Atmosphere
Senses
Notes:
THE NINE LIVES CAUSEWAY
On the causeway path it was still quite dry underfoot but to my
left I saw that the water had begun to seep nearer, quite silent
( 1) quite slow. I wondered how deeply the path went under the
water when the tide was at height, But, on a still night such as
this (2), there was plenty of time to cross in safety, though the
distance was greater, now I was traversing it on foot, than it
had seemed when we trotted over in Keckwick’s pony cart, and
the end of the causeway path seemed to be receding into the
greyness (3) ahead. I had never been quite so alone, nor felt
quite so small and insignificant in a vast landscape before ( 4),
and I fell into a not unpleasant brooding, philosophical frame of
mind, struck by the indifference of water and sky to my
presence.
Some minutes later, I could not tell how many, I came out of my
reverie, to realise that I could no longer see very far in front of
me and when I turned around I was startled to find that Eel
Marsh House, too, was invisible, not because of the darkness of
evening had fallen, but because of a thick, damp sea-mist (5) that
had come rolling over the marshes and enveloped everything,
myself, the house behind me, the end of the causeway path and
the countryside ahead. It was a mist like a damp, clinging
cobwebby thing(6) , fine and yet impenetrable. It smelled and
tasted (7) quite different from the filthy yellow fog (8) of
London; that was choking and thick and still, this was salty, light
and pale (8) and moving in front of my eyes all the time. I felt
confused, teased by it, as though it were made up of millions of
live fingers that crept over me (9) , hung on me and then shifted
away again. My hair and face and the sleeves of my coat were
already damp with a veil of moisture. Above all, it was the
suddenness of it that had so unnerved and disorientated me.
Notes:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
CONTRAST
ATMOSPHERE
SITUATION
COLOUR
EEL
MARSH
HOUSE
PHYSICAL FEATURES
SURROUNDING AREA
EXPLORE HOW SUSAN HILL USES THE
PLACES ARTHUR KIPPS STAYS IN TO
CONTRIBUTE TO THE CHILLING
NATURE OF THE STORY
1) Frame the question – set out the perameters of you discussion – remember you
only have 45 minutes! – This should form the basis of your introduction – how she
uses places and which places you are going to discuss in your answer.
2) Find the examples in the text skim read them and jot down key quotes to use.
3)Discuss how she uses places to create different effects – how the impact on
the reader is different for each one.
4)Use word level analysis as appropriate – compare and contrast different
settings.
5) Remember useful words for comparing: similarly; furthermore; whereas;
conversely; has the opposite effect; is a reflection of; justaposes; in contrast
to; heightens; enhances.
MAY 2013 QUESTIONS
1) How does Hill create tension and suspense in the second chapter, A London
Particular? 30 marks; SPaG 4 marks.
2) How does Hill present children in The Woman in Black? How do you think
the children add to the sense of horror in the novel? 30 marks; Spag 4 marks.