Literature I / Literariness
Practice question · Estimate

Shklovsky's test is whether a reader's perception is slowed. If a plain sentence takes one unit of attention, roughly how many units does he claim the estranged version should take?

Estimate on a scale from 1 (no slowing) (1) to 10 (extreme) (10).

Hints
  1. He wants a noticeable increase, not an infinite one.
  2. The stanza-versus-paraphrase example in this lesson runs at about four.
Show the answer

4 (answers within ±1.5 count)

Why

Around four on the crude measure this lesson uses. The number matters less than the direction: the claim is that the increase is deliberate and productive. Push it far enough and the reader stops rather than sees, which is the failure mode of obstruction for its own sake.

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