ABSTRACT
This chapter explores some of the expectations that readers bring to the bioethics case through four narratological features: reportability, action, tempo, and closure. Literary genres have been traditionally distinguished not only by their reportability and action but also by the way time is used. Reportability is not self-evident, must be placed within the context of the genre, that is, the reader's expectations of a particular form of transgression. Action within bioethics cases generally occurs in a neutral setting. Tzvetan Todorov divides narratives into those that focus on character and those that focus on plot. Todorov described these as psychological versus apsychological narratives. Care ethicists have strongly advocated that the central issue in ethics is responding to the needs of others, not simply deciding what moral actions should be accomplished. The conventions of the bioethics case can exclude from the narrative discourse features of essential value to those advocating approaches to ethics that attempt to broaden the scope of principlism.
