Suspension of disbelief
A reader's willing acceptance of fictional premises and conventions, temporarily accepting the truth of the narrative world despite knowing it's fictional, enabled by authorial coherence and reader engagement.
Real World
Audiences watching Marvel films accept that a supersoldier can survive being frozen for 70 years because the franchise has built a consistent internal logic — break that logic (e.g. arbitrary rule changes) and viewers disengage immediately.
Exam Focus
Explain how the writer maintains or breaks suspension of disbelief; avoid merely stating 'the reader believes the story'.
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