Read the following extract from William Sleater's short story, 'The Elevator' and answer the questions that follow: Martin felt nervous when he got back to the building after school. But why should he be afraid of an old lady? He felt ashamed of himself. He pressed the button and stepped into the elevator, hoping that it would not stop, but it stopped on the third floor. Martin watched the door slide open …
Who entered the elevator when the door slid open? Describe this person.
Topic: The fat woman
Answer
The fat woman entered the elevator.
She was an immensely fat old woman, so broad that she filled the entire doorway and had to squeeze through it, her body sagging around her in rolls beneath a green coat. Her tiny black eyes were set deep in her doughy face, and they fixed on Martin with a knowing, unwavering stare. She never spoke; she only watched him and, at their last meeting, smiled.
Two tasks: name her, then describe her. For the description, use Sleator’s own details — the bulk that fills the doorway, the green coat, the small black eyes, the silence and the stare — because the horror of the story rests on her being physically ordinary yet impossible to escape. Vague adjectives ("she was scary") earn little; concrete detail earns the marks.