| Description |
1 online resource (332 pages) |
| Physical Medium |
polychrome |
| Description |
text file |
| Summary |
Elements of Surprise opens with an novel but narrow focus: how a particular cognitive bias, the "curse of knowledge," underwrites stories that rely on what it calls "well-made surprise," as seen in (for example) classic detective fiction--that is, surprises in novels, films, television, and plays that set us up to be fooled in ways we find pleasing and satisfying. But from there, the book expands its reach. At its core, "cursed" thinking underlies almost everything people write, say, and think about both other people and our own pasts. The more information we have about something, and the more experience we have with it, the harder it is to step outside that experience. What unfolds is both a fresh approach to mental heuristics and biases and an ambitious work of cognitive literary criticism. Elements of Surprise provides a new and exciting way of thinking about the mechanics of narrative, explored through thoughtful readings of classic, popular, and obscure texts.-- Provided by publisher. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Contents |
Elementary problems -- The curse of knowledge? -- The poetics of surprise -- The naming of things -- Revelations, recognitions, and the satisfactions of plot -- When unreliability is a surprise -- When narration itself is a surprise -- So many things are obvious (now that we're at the end). |
| Local Note |
eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America |
| Subject |
Plots (Drama, novel, etc.)
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Plots (Drama, novel, etc.) |
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Surprise in literature.
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Surprise in literature. |
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Literary anatomies.
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Literary anatomies. |
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Narration (Rhetoric)
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Narration (Rhetoric) |
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Cognition.
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Cognition. |
| Genre/Form |
Electronic books.
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| Other Form: |
Print version: Tobin, Vera, 1975- Elements of surprise : our mental limits and the satisfactions of plot. Cambridge, Massachusetts ; London, England : Harvard University Press, ©2018 332 pages 9780674980204 (DLC) 2017042678 |
| ISBN |
9780674919570 (electronic book) |
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0674919572 (electronic book) |
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9780674919594 (electronic book) |
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0674919599 (electronic book) |
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9780674980204 |
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0674980204 |
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