Reader PsychologyFoundational
Closure
The felt sense that a narrative pressure has been sufficiently settled.
Principle
Closure satisfies the question the story trained the reader to hold.
Takeaways
- Closure can be emotional, causal, thematic, or formal.
- It does not require total explanation.
- False closure settles the wrong question.
Overview
Closure is the reader's sense that a pattern has completed enough to release attention. It may arrive through answer, image, rhythm, decision, or accepted uncertainty.
Examples
- A mystery names the killer but leaves grief unresolved by design.
- A final image closes the emotional arc without summarising it.