Elements of Surprise : : Our Mental Limits and the Satisfactions of Plot / / Vera Tobin.
Why do some surprises delight—the endings of Agatha Christie novels, films like The Sixth Sense, the flash awareness that Pip’s benefactor is not (and never was!) Miss Havisham? Writing at the intersection of cognitive science and narrative pleasure, Vera Tobin explains how our brains conspire with...
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Place / Publishing House: | Cambridge, MA : : Harvard University Press, , [2018] ©2018 |
Year of Publication: | 2018 |
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Tobin, Vera, author. aut http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut Elements of Surprise : Our Mental Limits and the Satisfactions of Plot / Vera Tobin. Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2018] ©2018 1 online resource (310 p.) text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier text file PDF rda Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction -- 1. Elementary Problems -- 2. The Curse of Knowledge? -- 3. The Poetics of Surprise -- 4. The Naming of Things -- 5. Revelations, Recognitions, and the Satisfactions of Plot -- 6. When Unreliability Is a Surprise -- 7. When Narration Itself Is a Surprise -- 8. So Many Things Are Obvious (Now That We’re at the End) -- Notes -- References -- Acknowledgments -- Index restricted access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec online access with authorization star Why do some surprises delight—the endings of Agatha Christie novels, films like The Sixth Sense, the flash awareness that Pip’s benefactor is not (and never was!) Miss Havisham? Writing at the intersection of cognitive science and narrative pleasure, Vera Tobin explains how our brains conspire with stories to produce those revelatory plots that define a “well-made surprise.” By tracing the prevalence of surprise endings in both literary fiction and popular literature and showing how they exploit our mental limits, Tobin upends two common beliefs. The first is cognitive science’s tendency to consider biases a form of moral weakness and failure. The second is certain critics’ presumption that surprise endings are mere shallow gimmicks. The latter is simply not true, and the former tells at best half the story. Tobin shows that building a good plot twist is a complex art that reflects a sophisticated understanding of the human mind. Reading classic, popular, and obscure literature alongside the latest research in cognitive science, Tobin argues that a good surprise works by taking advantage of our mental limits. Elements of Surprise describes how cognitive biases, mental shortcuts, and quirks of memory conspire with stories to produce wondrous illusions, and also provides a sophisticated how-to guide for writers. In Tobin’s hands, the interactions of plot and cognition reveal the interdependencies of surprise, sympathy, and sense-making. The result is a new appreciation of the pleasures of being had. Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web. In English. Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Aug 2021) Cognition. Literary anatomies. Narration (Rhetoric). Plots (Drama, novel, etc.). Surprise in literature. PSYCHOLOGY / Cognitive Psychology & Cognition. bisacsh Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Harvard University Press Complete eBook-Package 2018 9783110606621 https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674919570 https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9780674919570 Cover https://www.degruyter.com/cover/covers/9780674919570.jpg |
language |
English |
format |
eBook |
author |
Tobin, Vera, Tobin, Vera, |
spellingShingle |
Tobin, Vera, Tobin, Vera, Elements of Surprise : Our Mental Limits and the Satisfactions of Plot / Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction -- 1. Elementary Problems -- 2. The Curse of Knowledge? -- 3. The Poetics of Surprise -- 4. The Naming of Things -- 5. Revelations, Recognitions, and the Satisfactions of Plot -- 6. When Unreliability Is a Surprise -- 7. When Narration Itself Is a Surprise -- 8. So Many Things Are Obvious (Now That We’re at the End) -- Notes -- References -- Acknowledgments -- Index |
author_facet |
Tobin, Vera, Tobin, Vera, |
author_variant |
v t vt v t vt |
author_role |
VerfasserIn VerfasserIn |
author_sort |
Tobin, Vera, |
title |
Elements of Surprise : Our Mental Limits and the Satisfactions of Plot / |
title_sub |
Our Mental Limits and the Satisfactions of Plot / |
title_full |
Elements of Surprise : Our Mental Limits and the Satisfactions of Plot / Vera Tobin. |
title_fullStr |
Elements of Surprise : Our Mental Limits and the Satisfactions of Plot / Vera Tobin. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Elements of Surprise : Our Mental Limits and the Satisfactions of Plot / Vera Tobin. |
title_auth |
Elements of Surprise : Our Mental Limits and the Satisfactions of Plot / |
title_alt |
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction -- 1. Elementary Problems -- 2. The Curse of Knowledge? -- 3. The Poetics of Surprise -- 4. The Naming of Things -- 5. Revelations, Recognitions, and the Satisfactions of Plot -- 6. When Unreliability Is a Surprise -- 7. When Narration Itself Is a Surprise -- 8. So Many Things Are Obvious (Now That We’re at the End) -- Notes -- References -- Acknowledgments -- Index |
title_new |
Elements of Surprise : |
title_sort |
elements of surprise : our mental limits and the satisfactions of plot / |
publisher |
Harvard University Press, |
publishDate |
2018 |
physical |
1 online resource (310 p.) |
contents |
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction -- 1. Elementary Problems -- 2. The Curse of Knowledge? -- 3. The Poetics of Surprise -- 4. The Naming of Things -- 5. Revelations, Recognitions, and the Satisfactions of Plot -- 6. When Unreliability Is a Surprise -- 7. When Narration Itself Is a Surprise -- 8. So Many Things Are Obvious (Now That We’re at the End) -- Notes -- References -- Acknowledgments -- Index |
isbn |
9780674919570 9783110606621 |
callnumber-first |
P - Language and Literature |
callnumber-subject |
PN - General Literature |
callnumber-label |
PN3378 |
callnumber-sort |
PN 43378 T53 42018EB |
url |
https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674919570 https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9780674919570 https://www.degruyter.com/cover/covers/9780674919570.jpg |
illustrated |
Not Illustrated |
dewey-hundreds |
800 - Literature |
dewey-tens |
800 - Literature, rhetoric & criticism |
dewey-ones |
808 - Rhetoric & collections of literature |
dewey-full |
808.3/94 |
dewey-sort |
3808.3 294 |
dewey-raw |
808.3/94 |
dewey-search |
808.3/94 |
doi_str_mv |
10.4159/9780674919570 |
oclc_num |
1030304372 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT tobinvera elementsofsurpriseourmentallimitsandthesatisfactionsofplot |
status_str |
n |
ids_txt_mv |
(DE-B1597)501458 (OCoLC)1030304372 |
carrierType_str_mv |
cr |
hierarchy_parent_title |
Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Harvard University Press Complete eBook-Package 2018 |
is_hierarchy_title |
Elements of Surprise : Our Mental Limits and the Satisfactions of Plot / |
container_title |
Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Harvard University Press Complete eBook-Package 2018 |
_version_ |
1806143255058841600 |
fullrecord |
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