Down a Dark Hall -Razan Mersal

Down A Dark Hall, By Lois Duncan

Step 1:

Duncan, Lois. Down a dark hall. Boston: Little, Brown, 1974. Print.

Step 2:

Lois Duncan, the master of mystery, wrote this book, about a teenager (Kit) who is being left behind in some small village while her parents are cruising around Europe. Kit does not appreciate this idea but decides to let it go. When they get there, Kit realizes that this is going to be one hell of a camp. And when she realizes there are only three other girls there, things get mysterious and surreal. The four girls realize they have been chosen for their talents, what are the talents? What happens when they find out that this becomes more dangerous? What then? Read the book to find out.

The reason this book is a mystery book is because the main character is trying to figure out what is happening to all of the girls while the headmaster is trying to hide everything.

Exposition:

“They had been driving since dawn, and for the past two hours, since they had turned off the highway onto the winding road that led through the hill country, Kit Gordy had been sleeping. Perhaps not completely sleeping-- there had been a part of her mind that had remained awake, conscious of the curves of the road, of the faint warmth of the September sunlight slanting through the window to lie upon her hair, of the two voices in the front seat, her mother’s light and lilting, Dan’s low pitched and even.” (p.1) This gives us enough information to start reading the book and understand exactly what the author wants us to understand and keep wondering about what he wants us to get confused (in a good way) about.

Rising Action (conflict):

“I still don’t understand how we four were selected, Professor Farley says we have the special attributes they were looking for in their students, but I can’t imagine what they might be. We seem to have nothing in common with each other, and I don’t see how you could have failed to get accepted if I was. I tried to ask Madame Duret about it, but she only said she didn’t want to discuss test results.” (p. 42) This shows the conflict, an unknown talent that her friend does not have and only 4 girls were capable of achieving the same talent.

Climax:

“People tended to die a lot earlier than they do today, and among those early deaths were those of many brilliant and talented people who had much to give to the world. It is these people whom I reach out. It is to them I offer the opportunity to return.” (p.123) This answers their talents and what is going on with them.

Step 3:

Inferences and Clues:

Inferences are predictions of what is going to happen next. While explicit information is when it clearly states what is going to happen next. “‘You cannot hold us in here! We want to go out!’” (p.138) This proves an explicit piece of information.

Step 4:

Setting:

Present Day, September

Main Characters:

Kit:

Kit is the protagonist of the novel. She is a normal teenager until she finds out why she was selected to be one of the four people in the camp.

Madame Duret:

Madame Duret is evil and selfish. She only wants the girls there for her own benefit.

Characterization Techniques:

The main characterization technique was dialogue, we learn a lot about the character’s and their opinions through the dialogue. Since the story is written in third person limited, we know what Kit is feeling and through that we know her character.

Step 5:

Theme:

The primary theme of the novel is family. The reason I say this is because Kit realize how important both are. For example at the end of the book she was visited by the ghost of her dead dad to guide her, for her to believe in him; a ghost, is a great respect to family. “She believed as she had always believed him” (p.180) This shows that she trusts that her family and will trust them to a point to risk her life for.

Reflection:

To be honest, this book was not the best book I have read. It is a pretty good mystery book but it was too unrealistic. I would give the book 8/10. The reason I would do this is because it was not always hooking and a lot of the times it was just vague and I would not understand what would be going on. I do not mean to be mean, but I do not think I would recommend this book to anyone except people who only like mystery books, like pure mystery and fiction. However, the book was really good at describing people and was full of imagery which, I have to admit was pretty good. I think that a person can re-write this book with more dialogue and more explanation on their ‘talents’.