ABSTRACT
When a reader comprehends a story, the reader constructs a mental microworld. The microworld includes the core plot that sustains the interest of the reader: the characters who perform actions in pursuit of goals, events that present obstacles to goals, conflicts between characters, clever methods of resolving conflicts, and emotional reactions to events and conflicts. The mental microworld sometimes includes elaborations that flesh out the plot and add color: the spatial setting, the style and procedure of actions, props, objects, properties of objects, and traits of agents. The microworld might also have content that refers to the mental states of the characters (i.e., what they believe, know, see, want, and feel) and the pragmatic agents who tell the story (i.e., the imaginary narrator and the camera operator). Discourse psychologists have used the term situation model when they refer to this mental microworld that is constructed by the comprehender of a story (Graesser, Millis, & Zwaan, 1997; Kintsch, 1998).
