While Caroline is in the tower she experiences many moments of terror. Select the four sentences in the text which you feel are most effective in creating terror. Discuss your findings with one other student.
Analyze Caroline’s relationship with her husband. Imagine that you are a marriage counsellor; what advice would you give Caroline? her husband? Write a letter to one or the other of these two people suggesting how they might improve their relationship in some way that might make it more fulfilling for both. Assume that Caroline did not visit the tower.
Reread the descriptions of the paintings of Giovanna di Ferramano and the Unknown Gentleman. Explain how what we learn from these descriptions and the description of the tower at the beginning of the story help to shape our understanding of what happens to Caroline in the tower.
The art of writing a suspenseful story depends on knowing now only how much information to give the reader and where and when to give it, but also on how much to withhold. With these considerations in mind, and referring to two specific passages, evaluate Laski’s success as a writer of suspenseful stories.