Etymology
According to Greek philosopher Aristotle in his book Poetics, suspense is an important building block of literature. In very broad terms, it consists of having some real danger looming and a ray of hope. The two common outcomes are:
- the danger hitting, whereby the audience will feel sorrowful
- the hopes being realised, whereby the audience will first feel joy, then satisfaction.
If there is no hope, the audience will feel despair. Something other than the danger happening is a deus ex machina.
- the build up of tension. Most of the time in a narrative, play, movie, etc.
Read more about this topic: Suspense
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)