Read the excerpt from a short story. i stood against the far wall of the shabby lobby avoiding eye contact with the doorman as my dad checked us in for the night. we’d hoped to make it as far as scranton, but the weather had interfered, leaving us instead at an eyesore of a truck-stop motel. my ear buds were jammed in as far as comfort would allow in a vain attempt to block out the motel’s vibe. still, i could not ignore the looming presence of the doorman. he stood in the dim portico, sweeping and re-sweeping a pile of lint on the floor, watching the parking lot with his watery eyes, and occasionally signaling to the whiskered clerk behind the desk. what technique does the author use to build suspense in the excerpt?
a. the pace of the story quickens.
b. the word choice darkens the tone.
c. odd characters are introduced.
d. the setting details are intentionally omitted.

c. Odd characters are introduced.  

Explanation:

The technique that the author uses to create suspense in the excerpt is the introduction of odd characters, which in this case is the doorman.

The doorman because of his suspicious behavior and because the narrator avoids making eye contact with him, creates an atmosphere of suspense because we do not know what this doorman represents and we do not even know what he intends to do.

i believe it is he has been given the drum as a joke.

1. read the following excerpt from franklin d. roosevelt's "fireside chat 19":

on the other side of the picture, we must learn also to know that guerilla warfare against the germans in, let us say serbia or norway, us; that a successful russian offensive against the germans us; and that british successes on land or sea in any part of the world strengthen our hands.

remember always that germany and italy, regardless of any formal declaration of war, consider themselves at war with the united states at this moment just as much as they consider themselves at war with britain or russia. and germany puts all the other republics of the americas into the same category of enemies. the people of our sister republics of this hemisphere can be honored by that fact.  

the true goal we seek is far above and beyond the ugly field of battle. when we resort to force, as now we must, we are determined that this force shall be directed toward ultimate good as well as against immediate evil. we americans are not destroyers — we are builders.

analyze the effectiveness of this excerpt. how does it function within the speech as a whole? how does the structure of the excerpt to convey the speech's purpose and key points? support your argument with evidence from the speech. (10 points)