The knower, and that which is known are separate, or seem to be. Conscious dreamers will find themselves analyzing dreams as they occur. One sees a certain person because they meant to call them about a matter and didn't. One sees a scene from a show that was listed in the T.V. guide they read yesterday, and which is coming up on the morrow. The mind brings up its own reminders.
Groups appear and recur.
They may represent authority, repression, or danger. Individuals known and unknown pop up with regularity. Then something happens which is profoundly significant and the dreamer says, now this is really something, I definitely want to retain this for the diary when I get up. The part of the mind that is producing the dream is merrily producing away. But the knower, the conscious self, has come awake and made itself aware.