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Reading and Writing 6-8 / Week 05 / Thursday
4/6
Week 05 · Structure and Point of View

Thursday

When the reader knows more
// Who tells it, and where each scene sits
⏱ about 20 min

Thursday: When the Reader Knows More

Rocket is folding paper in a hurry, and Raven is pretending not to watch him.

"What is that?" he asks. "Nothing," says Raven, who is holding a stack of cards behind her back.

Nova hovers very still, which is how Nova looks when she is keeping a secret.

Rocket shrugs and goes back to folding. Anyone reading this scene knows something he does not.

"That feeling," Raven says later, when Rocket has gone to find more paper. "When you know and the character does not."

"It has a name," Nova says. "Dramatic irony. It is why a reader leans forward."

"Or laughs," Raven says. "It depends on what is behind my back."

Learn it: dramatic irony

Dramatic irony is the gap between what the reader knows and what a character knows.

An author builds it by showing the reader a scene or a fact that the character misses.

The gap creates suspense when we worry about what will happen. It creates humor when the character guesses wrong.

Raven thinks aloud: "I know the folder holds thank-you notes and Rocket thinks it is garden notes. So every wrong guess is funny."

  • Ask what you know that the character does not.
  • Find the moment the author told you and not them.
  • Ask whether the gap makes you worry, laugh, or both.
  • Watch for the moment the character finally finds out.

Read it

Read it
The Surprise Issue
Raven had a plan, and the plan had a rule: Rocket could not know.
The next issue of The Signal would be about him. One page of thank-yous from every porch on Maple Street, for keeping the paper going.
On Monday she collected the notes in a folder labeled Garden Notes. Rocket never opens the garden folder.
"Big week?" he asked, dropping his bag. "Just the garden," she said. Nova said nothing, extremely carefully.
On Tuesday he found a card on the floor. It said: He always fixes the stapler. Thank you.
"Who is this about?" he asked. "The library," said Raven, which was not even an answer that made sense.
Rocket frowned, shrugged and pinned the card to the board under Lost and Found.
On Wednesday he heard Nova say, "He will be so surprised," and asked who. "Scout," said Raven. "He is getting a new collar."
Rocket thought about this. "Dogs do not get surprised," he said. "Scout does," said Raven.
By Thursday the folder was full, and Rocket was describing, in detail, how strange everyone had been all week.
"Something is going on," he said. "I am an investigative reporter. I will figure it out."
He did not figure it out.
On Press Day he unfolded the issue and saw his own name on page one. He sat down on the porch steps without a word.
Then he read every note twice, and he was not fast about it at all.
CHECK IT: THE SURPRISE ISSUE
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
What does the reader know from the first lines that Rocket does not?
Why is The library a funny answer?
Which line builds suspense about whether Rocket will find out?
He did not figure it out is funny because
THE SURPRISE ISSUE, DAY BY DAY
  • Put the days of the surprise in order.
  • Tap the cards in order.
1First
2Second
3Third
4Fourth
5Last
SUSPENSE OR HUMOR?
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Nova said nothing, extremely carefully. This moment is mostly
By Thursday Rocket was describing how strange everyone had been. This moment is mostly
When does the gap between reader and Rocket finally close?
What word was on the folder label that kept Rocket from opening it? Type the one word.
WHY THIS EXERCISEThe author gives the reader the label and the trick in the same line. That is how the gap begins.
SentenceTrue or false?
The reader learns the plan before Rocket does.?
Rocket guessed the secret on Wednesday.?
Rocket pinned the stapler card under Lost and Found.?
At the end, Rocket read the notes quickly.?
Nova said nothing on Monday, extremely carefully.?
The reader finds out about the surprise at the same time as Rocket.?
WHY THIS EXERCISERocket never guessed. At the end he was not fast about it at all. The reader knew from the second line.
Which word names the gap between what the reader knows and what a character knows? Type the two words or the first word.
WHY THIS EXERCISENaming the tool helps you spot it in every story with a secret.
Try it
Tell someone at home a short story where they know a secret the main character does not.
Watch their face at the moment the character guesses wrong.

The reader's window was the biggest one all week. Tomorrow Nova reviews structure, narrators and the gap.

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