Response teaching edition · 2 November 2026

Different views of one event

Every account is invented. Mark shared details, details only one account gives, and any statements about the same point that cannot both be true. Explain how each speaker’s stated position or job shapes the focus. Do not use silence to prove a contradiction or invent a motive.

Teaching example — reasoning intentionally shown

A — Bea: I carried a tray of seedlings from the door to the window table. One pot tipped and I caught it. I wanted the pots upright. B — Tom: From the window I watched Bea carry the tray to the window table. I cleared a space for it. I did not see whether any pot tipped.

Both describe Bea carrying the tray to the window table. Bea alone reports catching a tipped pot; Tom alone reports clearing space. The carrier focuses on keeping pots upright; the person at the window focuses on space there. ‘I did not see whether’ does not mean ‘no pot tipped’: these can both be true. Neither account tells which plants were in the pots.

Guided comparison

A — Noor: I wheeled the cart from the storeroom to the hall and parked it beside the bench. At the instant the storeroom clock struck nine, I counted six boxes on the stationary cart. I watched the wheels so they would not catch on the doorway. B — Eli: At the instant the same storeroom clock struck nine, I counted five boxes on that same stationary cart from the doorway. Noor wheeled it to the hall and parked it beside the bench. From the doorway I watched whether people could pass; I did not look at the wheels.

Name two shared details and one distinct detail or emphasis from each. Connect the focus to each speaker’s position or job. Identify the exact contradiction and a difference that is only an omission or focus. Can these accounts establish which box count is correct? Explain your limit.