Sunday, September 1, 2019

(Advanced) Elements of Surprise: Our Mental Limits and the Satisfactions of Plot

Image result for Elements of Surprise: Our Mental Limits and the Satisfactions of Plot.

Vera Tobin is a professor in cognitive linguistics and is fascinated by our fascination with unexpected plot twists. She reveals what's going on in our brains when stories take us in unexpected directions in her book,  Elements of Surprise: Our Mental Limits and the Satisfactions of Plot.

Elements of surprise


Listen from 4:30 - 7:20

Why are we "on safe ground" talking about the film Sixth Sense?

What is the twist in Sixth Sense?

What happens at the beginning of Sixth Sense?

What does Vera mean by "wiggle room"?


Listen from 7:20 - 8:50

Listen and then try writing out what Vera has said here about the two things that make a plot twist gratifying?

One thing is that                                 doesn't just                                but                                          .

The other thing is that not that                                                             but that


Listen from 11:00 - 1315

Once you know the answer and you look back, ___  ____ ____ ______ it in a new light, ____ you say it ____ seems so obvious.

The basketball video.


Listen from 13:15 - 16:45

Besides the plot twist, what is the other kind of twist?

Why are Sherlock Holmes stories sometimes "a bit of a shell game"?


Listen from 18:10 - 19:57

What two things does The Good Place do differently from other shows?

1.
2.

Television can sometimes be ____ more beguiling and surprising to ____ ___ ___ who watch it with an analytical ____.














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