Question

Consider these versions of The War of the Worlds.

Excerpt 1, from H. G. Wells's novel The War of the Worlds:
Everything was then quite invisible, hidden by the deep pit and the heap of sand that the fall of the cylinder had made. Anyone coming along the road from Chobham or Woking would have been amazed at the sight—a dwindling multitude of perhaps a hundred people or more standing in a great irregular circle, in ditches, behind bushes, behind gates and hedges, saying little to one another and that in short, excited shouts, and staring, staring hard at a few heaps of sand.

Excerpt 2, from Howard E. Koch's script for Orson Welles's radio adaptation:

PHILLIPS: Ladies and gentlemen, you've just heard Mr. Wilmuth, owner of the farm where this thing has fallen. I wish I could convey the atmosphere . . . the background of this . . . fantastic scene. Hundreds of cars are parked in a field in back of us. Police are trying to rope off the roadway leading to the farm. But it's no use. They're breaking right through. Cars' headlights throw an enormous spot on the pit where the object's half buried. Some of the more daring souls are now venturing near the edge. Their silhouettes stand out against the metal sheen.

(FAINT HUMMING SOUND)

One man wants to touch the thing . . . he's having an argument with a policeman. The policeman wins . . .

Which statements describe similarities in the authors' craft? Select 3 options.

Both authors use descriptive adjectives.
Both authors impart an ominous mood.
Both authors cite scientific research.
Both authors offer social criticism.

Answer 1

- Both authors use descriptive adjectives. (Wells: “deep pit,” “dwindling multitude,” “great irregular circle”; Koch: “fantastic scene,” “enormous spot,” “metal sheen.”)
- Both authors impart an ominous mood. (Wells’s hidden cylinder and staring, excited crowd; Koch’s “faint humming sound,” police trying to rope off the site and the daring onlookers.)
- Both authors offer social criticism. (Both passages depict public spectacle, curiosity, and crowd behavior—Wells’s gawking multitude and Koch’s mass of cars/people breaking through police—critiquing reactions of society.)