Read the excerpt from Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.The night whispered of distant thunder. It was muggy, hot, a miserable night for sleeping. Twice I had awakened hoping that it was time to be up, but each time the night had been total blackness with no hint of a graying dawn. On the front porch Mr. Morrison sat singing soft and low into the long night, chanting to the approaching thunder. He had been there since the house had darkened after church, watching and waiting as he had done every night since Papa had been injured. No one had ever explained why he watched and waited, but I knew. It had to do with the Wallaces.
The excerpt creates a tense mood through the dark, uncomfortable night and the distant thunder. Mr. Morrison is watching and waiting because of the Wallaces, suggesting that danger may be approaching. This makes “tense” a better choice than “relaxed” or “joyful.”
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