Surprise In 'Once Upon A Time And The Sniper'

What is surprise and how is it used? Surprise is something unexpected that causes a reader to make an emotional reaction. By using elements like order of events, plot development, characterization, setting/visualization, and manipulation of time, writers create surprise in the story. In the stories, “Once Upon a Time” by Nadine Gordimer and “The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty, they include various uses of surprise by using the elements stated above and putting it all together to shape a shocking end for the reader. Explaining plot development, characterization, and manipulation of time will show how the authors manipulated those elements and developed the surprise. Plot development describes events that make up what the main point of the story

The story, “Once Upon a Time” describes the parents as being frantic and afraid of what dangers could happen to their family. The father, unable to feel safe recommends to put in safety equipment which included an alarm being set off at every animal coming by. The mother agrees to what the father recommends as she is also filled with caution as well as fear. Although the family faces possible danger, she can not stand someone go hungry, going as far as offering someone food off the street. “Next day he pretended to be the Prince who braves the terrible thicket of thorns to…” just shows how young and naive the little kid is, pretending to be a prince saving a princess. Also, the child viewed the wires in a more positive way in his game which also tells the reader the child is imaginative as well as positive, making the child’s death a surprise for many. For “The Sniper,” the beginning hints a bit that the sniper has seen death many times, hence the excitement he felt. In such a tough and painful situation, the sniper continued to remain calm and educated as he immediately treats his wound and develops a plan to fool the enemy into thinking he was dead, which is a success. “The lust of battle died in him. He became bitten by remorse,” indicates that the sniper feels horrible after killing someone and it makes the surprise much more extreme as the one he killed was his