In To Kill a Mockingbird, there was a feeling of apprehension at the end of Chapter 27. What element(s) helped create this mood?

In Harper Lee's To Kill a
Mockingbird, the element that provides most of the apprehension at the end of
Chapter 27 is found in the literary device of foreshadowing which we, as readers, do not
recognize until the event referred to in the future has taken
place.

Dr. L. Kip Wheeler defines
foreshadowing as:

readability="10">

Suggesting, hinting, indicating, or showing what
will occur later in a narrative. Foreshadowing often provides hints about what will
happen next...Often this foreshadowing takes the form of a noteworthy coincidence or
appears in a verbal echo of
dialogue.

There are several
examples of foreshadowing in this chapter. First, we can sense, in hindsight, that Bob
Ewell must have been extremely angry, even though the jury found in his favor in Tom
Robinson's court case.

readability="11">

The first thing was that Mr. Bob Ewell acquired
and lost a job in a matter of days...I suppose his brief burst of fame brought on a
briefer burst of industry, but his job lasted only as long as his notoriety: Mr. Ewell
found himself as forgotten as Tom Robinson...Ruth Jones, the welfare lady, said Mr.
Ewell openly accused Atticus of getting his
job.

Atticus tells Ruth not
to worry; if Bob Ewell has a problem, he can come to see Atticus at his office. However,
now knowing that Bob Ewell was a coward with murder on his mind, he would never have
tried to speak in a civilized way to Atticus, especially when his accusations meant
nothing. Bob Ewell lost the job because he was lazy, but he wanted to blame someone
else.

The fact that another member of the court is nearly
accosted when someone tries to break into his home gives the audience the idea that
there is something going on. At the end of the book, we can assume it had everything to
do with the court case and Bob Ewell, a twisted character at
best.

Next, Link Deas (Tom's old boss) give Helen Robinson
a job, but she cannot walk the public road past the Ewell's property, or they throw
things at her. Link Deas threatens Bob Ewell once; then when Helen takes the public
road:

...when
she was a few yards beyond the Ewell house, she looked around and saw Mr. Ewell walking
behind her...[his] soft voice behind her, crooning foul
words.

Deas puts pressure on
Ewell again, this time threatening to get the "Ladies' Law" after him. This time, Ewell
backs off.

Even Aunt Alexandra is
worried:

I
don't like it, Atticus, I don't like it at all...That man seems to have a permanent
running grudge against everybody connected with that
case.

Although Atticus tries
to brush it aside, he has to admit Judge Taylor made Ewell look like a fool in
court—like a "three-legged chicken or a square egg."

When
Scout describes her costume for the pageant, she points out that she cannot move her
arms in it, and someone needs to take it off of her, for she cannot do it herself...we
see this in the attack.

Later, Aunt Alexandra opens her
mouth to say something: nothing comes out...unusual for Scout's aunt. When Scout asks
her if she is all right, she responds:

readability="6">

Oh nothing, nothing...somebody just walked over
my grave.

And if these
examples are not enough, Scout's famous line is enough to give one goosebumps,
especially after reading the story's ending:

readability="5">

Thus began our longest journey
together.

This also is
foreshadowing; it sounds portentous, as if there is more at stake here than walking to
and from the schoolhouse: and that is exactly what it ends up meaning...it is
much more than a simple walk for these kids: it is a "matter of
life and death."