What term did Samuel Taylor Coleridge coin that describes the reader's acceptance of fiction?

• A. Stream of consciousness
• B. Willing suspension of disbelief
• C. Metatheatre
• D. Deus ex machina

Answer: (B)

The idea being tested is how a reader engages with fiction by willing to set aside skepticism to enter the story. Coleridge coined the phrase “willing suspension of disbelief” to describe a reader’s conscious choice to accept the movie-logic, rules, and events of a fictional world for the sake of the drama and meaning. It’s not about gullibility; it’s about active cooperation between reader and text so that the narrative can affect us and feel real in the moment of reading.

This concept matters because it explains why we can be moved by even clearly imaginary worlds—we decide to accept their premises long enough to follow the plot, feel the characters’ stakes, and experience the theme. The other ideas refer to different things: one is a technique that dives into a character’s inner thoughts, another is theatre that reflects on itself, and another is a plot device that resolves the story in an unlikely way. None of those capture the reader’s voluntary choice to engage with a fictional world the way Coleridge described.