Elements of Surprise: Our Mental Limits and the Satisfactions of Plot
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...
Gespeichert in:
| 1. Verfasser: | |
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| Format: | Elektronisch E-Book |
| Sprache: | English |
| Veröffentlicht: |
Cambridge, MA
Harvard University Press
[2018]
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| Schlagworte: | |
| Online-Zugang: | DE-1046 DE-1043 DE-858 DE-859 DE-860 DE-739 URL des Erstveröffentlichers |
| Zusammenfassung: | 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 |
| Beschreibung: | Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Aug 2021) |
| Beschreibung: | 1 online resource (310 pages) |
| ISBN: | 9780674919570 |
| DOI: | 10.4159/9780674919570 |
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| 520 | |a 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 | ||
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| spelling | Tobin, Vera Verfasser 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 pages) txt rdacontent c rdamedia cr rdacarrier Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Aug 2021) 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 In English PSYCHOLOGY / Cognitive Psychology & Cognition bisacsh Cognition Literary anatomies Narration (Rhetoric) Plots (Drama, novel, etc.) Surprise in literature https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674919570 Verlag URL des Erstveröffentlichers Volltext |
| spellingShingle | Tobin, Vera Elements of Surprise Our Mental Limits and the Satisfactions of Plot PSYCHOLOGY / Cognitive Psychology & Cognition bisacsh Cognition Literary anatomies Narration (Rhetoric) Plots (Drama, novel, etc.) Surprise in literature |
| title | Elements of Surprise Our Mental Limits and the Satisfactions of Plot |
| title_auth | Elements of Surprise Our Mental Limits and the Satisfactions of Plot |
| title_exact_search | Elements of Surprise Our Mental Limits and the Satisfactions of Plot |
| title_exact_search_txtP | Elements of Surprise 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_short | Elements of Surprise |
| title_sort | elements of surprise our mental limits and the satisfactions of plot |
| title_sub | Our Mental Limits and the Satisfactions of Plot |
| topic | PSYCHOLOGY / Cognitive Psychology & Cognition bisacsh Cognition Literary anatomies Narration (Rhetoric) Plots (Drama, novel, etc.) Surprise in literature |
| topic_facet | PSYCHOLOGY / Cognitive Psychology & Cognition Cognition Literary anatomies Narration (Rhetoric) Plots (Drama, novel, etc.) Surprise in literature |
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