Curiosity gap

The pattern

This still is filed under Curiosity gap.

Define

A missing piece is named but not filled, so the reader has to continue to close the loop.

Mechanism

Incomplete pattern. Attention is the itch. The next line is the scratch. The gap is a debt we must pay.

Verdict

The following sentence can pay off the gap with a fact, a name, or a mechanism

Why it works

The contents list reads like a salon of the best-known names of the day, Ahmad Lutfi al-Sayyid, Shawqi, May, Mutran, Taha Hussein, and many items are posed as questions: should we write or translate, why I believe in evolution, who is smarter, man or woman. Each is a question the reader already argues about, and the answer is held for the 1 December issue. A subscription address at the foot turns one issue's curiosity into a standing order.

The big idea

The December al-Hilal is sold as a lineup of famous names answering questions readers already argue about, from translation to evolution to who is smarter, man or woman.

The offer

The new al-Hilal on 1 December, with pieces by Ahmad Lutfi al-Sayyid, Shawqi, May, Khalil Mutran, Salama Moussa and Taha Hussein; subscriptions from al-Hilal, Qasr al-Dubara post office, Cairo.

The proof

The bylines are the proof: Ahmad Shawqi, May, Khalil Mutran, Taha Hussein, Philip Hitti, Amin al-Rihani and Mustafa Sadiq al-Rafii.

Lines from the ad

طالع الهلال الجديد فى أول ديسمبر

Read the new al-Hilal on 1 December

هل نؤلف أم نترجم؟

Should we write or translate?

من أذكى الرجل أم المرأة

Who is smarter, man or woman

Steal this when

Use it when the next edition's contributors are famous in their own right and their topics are questions your audience already debates.

The emotion

Written to Curiosity. It makes the Say move.

It poses questions readers already argue about, should we write or translate, who is smarter, man or woman, and closes part of each with a famous byline such as Shawqi, May or Taha Hussein.