Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
tomato surprise en · NOUN
Meanings
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A plot twist in which the reader or viewer is suddenly made aware of an important fundamental detail that changes the whole perspective of the story.
[…] stories are written in the "tomato surprise" format: that is, the author saves the stunning surprise until the very last line of the story. It wasn't even a good technique when Verdi used it in Il Trovatore.
1974, Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, volume 93, page 6:There are several classic tomato surprises which editors see over and over: the one about the evil, horrid aliens that turn out in the last paragraph to be humans from earth; […]
2020, Danielle Spencer, Metagnosis: Revelatory Narratives of Health and Identity, page 189:
Forms
Relateds
deus ex machina