A Raisin in the Sun - An Apple Pie, a Bright Blue Sky, a Breezy Meadow in July

Question 4: how is dramatic suspense created?

The camera zooms in close and they play a dramatic chord

Actually, something particularly dramatic seems to happen every time a scene or an act comes to a close. At the end of scene one, Ruth collapses on the ground without any warning, and the last that we see is Mama calling her name in desperation. We don't gain a full understanding of what happened for another 20 pages or so, so we are left trying to guess what happened? Is she sick? no, she just has a baby. Oh that's nice, so what's the problem? Abortion, what? C-Eb-G-B-D!!!

Similarly, at the end of the first act, Walter is struck dumb at the idea that his wife is considering an abortion and just kind of...walks out. But don't worry, Mama is on the case, just as soon as somebody gets her a hat! But what will she do, I wonder? Hopefully this issue will...*puts on sunglasses* resolve...C-E-G-Bb...yyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

Ahem...

But in all seriousness, I guess what I'm trying to say is that dramatic suspense is created by letting every tense moment or situation occur right when a scene or act is about to end. By doing this, it allows the writer to sort of place a gap in the action. In most of the situations, it would be much less dramatic to see what happens immediately after. However, because a scene ends, the action can resume after the fact, and the audience can slowly understand what happened earlier.