Essay and feedback

The source begins with an introduction of a ‘stranger child’ on the ‘first day’, which immediately creates a mysterious and ominous atmosphere to the text, where the unfamiliarity would pique the reader’s interest into the supernatural genre here. The focus in the second paragraph shifts to the view through a glass, with her vision ‘wavering the straightness of the fence.. pulling things out of shape’, which acts as a strange lens to shift focus to as its unpredictable and unexpected. The paragraph follows a detailed and chronological order, with the focus moving in detail from Sam to Rosie to Cara and back, zooming in to create an overwhelming sense of presence with the characters. Moreover, at the end of the paragraph, another nameless child is introduced, adding to the ominous and unexpected nature of the text. The third paragraph follows by zooming out to describe the ‘unfamiliar garden’ to be an ‘overgrown mess’ to express the disorientated and disorderly nature of the setting; this paragraph to describe the threatening and unsettling appearance of the garden again reinforces the ominous nature of the text, as the writer’s sudden placement of the ‘gigantic malformed hand’ and ‘mass of nettles’ after the unsettling focus through a ‘wavering’ glass lens creates a very sharp and unpredictable shift, reflecting the nature of the supernatural genre and plot.

The focus re-shifts back to the small children, where the paragraph begins with an indefinite article of ‘a little girl’ to create a sense of ominous anonymity for the reader. The writer then zooms in towards the end of the paragraph to focus in extreme detail on said girl, with ‘state-looking plaits’ and an ‘ankle-length dress’ to add on to the haunting and unsettling image of the setting. The curiosities and ambiguity of the young girl follows with a short, 3-line paragraph of interact dialogue containing rhetorical questions; the writer has structured this section to follow after the haunting description to possibly reflect the reader’s internal questions and thoughts. Following this, a sudden shift back to reality is made where the paragraph slowly grows more unsettling, from catching ‘a glimpse of her face, pale and drawn with anxiety’ to concluding that ‘something wasn’t right here’ with the girl’s ’animal-like movements’; this slow paragraph to realisation draws out the tension and oddity of the atmosphere to keep the reader’s attention.

The paragraph before the final line is much more fast paced in comparison to the others to mimic the panic and hurriedness which Rosie was experiencing, however the chain of quick actions comes to a sudden halt when the child ‘was gone’. The one-line ending serves as an important structural feature to emphasises the ominous and mysterious nature of all that had happened, leading readers to feel confusion, anticipation, and anxiety.