 Cohen’s classification is too monolithic. True, the teacher’s announcement does compromise one aspect of the surprise: Students now know that there will be a test. But this compromise is not itself enough to make the announcement self-falsifying. The existence of a surprise test has been revealed but that allows surviving uncertainty as to which day the test will occur. The announcement of a forthcoming surprise aims at changing uninformed ignorance into action-guiding awareness of ignorance. A student who misses the announcement does not realize that there is a test. If no one passes on the news about the surprise test, the student with simple ignorance will be less prepared than classmates who know they do not know the day of the test.