FORESHADOWING

Definition  Foreshadowing is when an author provides clues or hints to suggest events that will occur later in the plot.  Foreshadowing helps to create suspense, which is the uncertainty or anxiety that a reader feels about what will happen next in a story.

Example  Think of the story, Little Red Riding Hood. What hints is the reader given that help foreshadow the ending of the story?  Early on, we learn that the wolf wants to eat Red Riding Hood, but is afraid to so in public, so he asks her where she is going and she tells him she is “going to see my grandmother.”  The wolf then asks where the house is located, and Red Riding Hood tells him that the house “is just above the mill…the first house you come to in the village.”  The wolf makes it to the grandmother’s house first and eats her, then “lays himself down snuggly in the bed [and] waited for Little Red Riding Hood.”  When Little Red Riding Hood arrives, the wolf (pretending to be the grandmother) encourages Red Riding Hood to “make haste and come to be, for it is very late.”  Once in bed, Red Riding Hood comments that her grandmother has “great arms…great ears…great eyes…and great teeth” all before the wolf finally eats Red Riding Hood.

Example  Think of The Three Little Pigs.  How does the reader know that the wolf will try to attack the pigs?  How does the reader know that the wolf will arrive at the brick house?  How does the reader know that the wolf will not be able to blow down the brick house?

Practice  Almost all stories use foreshadowing in some way. Try to match the following passages with the plot development that the passage foreshadows. From: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory “ ‘I shouldn’t like to loose any of you children at this stage of the proceedings.’ ” From: A Day No Pigs Would Die “ ‘The sky’s a good place to look’ he said, ‘and I got a notion it’s a good place to go.’ ” From: Johnny Tremain “ ‘Each shall give according to his abilities, and some –’ he turned to Rab – ‘some will give their lives.’ ” From: The Cay “ ‘Well, you can rest easy, Phillip. The Germans would never torpedo this old tub.’ Yet I saw him looking over the lifeboats.” The narrator’s father will die. One of the characters will later be lost. An enemy will attack the ship. Rab will die later in the story.

Practice  Read the following story. What hints are you given that help foreshadow how the story will end? I spent all day yesterday looking for my wallet, which I knew I had lost in the morning on the way to school. Since I arrived at school early, I had time to retrace my steps all the way back to my house, but I could not find it. The only other idea I had is that David might know. I had run into him on the way to school. David and I are not really friends – in fact, I think he dislikes me. But for some reason he walked the last two blocks to school with me. After I retraced my steps and had no luck, I decided to ask him if he might have seen it. When I did, he was very friendly and said he was sorry, but he had not seen my wallet at all. As I walked away, I heard him laughing at his locker with Brett, who I also think dislikes me. When I got home, I double-checked my book bag and my binder, but still I had no luck. I walked to school one more time, following the same path, and still I could not find it. Then, when I got to school this morning, I learned from the principal that David had stolen my wallet. He might have been laughing yesterday, but I’ll be laughing for the next month every time I pass the detention room on my way out of school.