1. Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing gives readers clues about what might happen later in a story.
Being able to recognize a foreshadowing moment in a story can help you make good predictions.

2. Foreshadowing Example
Even as a little kid, no one had to tell you that when Mrs. Rabbit told Peter, "Don't go into Mr. MacGregor's garden," he'd go – and get into trouble!
The author's words foreshadowed danger.

3. Foreshadowing Example
Lion King Example

4. What is it foreshadowing?
I looked at the speedometer. Paul was driving even faster. "Please slow down," I said. "We're coming to a really bad curve in the road!" But he didn't slow down and the snow was drifting higher and higher. I could hardly see the road!

5. Why do writers use foreshadowing?
Foreshadowing "sets up" future events and builds suspense.
You might not know why the author mentions something until later in the story.

6. Example 1
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the students have an Herbology lesson with Professor Sprout, who begins by asking the class is they know what “Mandrakes” are, to which Hermione answers, Mandrake, or Mandragora, is a powerful restorative…It is used to return people who have been transfigured our cursed back to their original state. While Harry and his classmates attend many classes each day, Rowling specifically chooses to share this class with her readers. Professor Sprout’s lesson teaches them that one of the Mandrake’s healing properties can bring a cursed (or petrified) person back to their normal state. Rowling is hinting to the readers that the Mandrakes will be necessary later in the book, foreshadowing that a character (or characters) will be cursed later in the story. Furthermore, it foreshadows that the monster from the Chamber of Secrets is a Basilisk, as this is a beast whose gaze can lead to a person becoming petrified.

7. Example 2
In Chapter 7 of JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit, Bilbo and the dwarves are soon to be entering the dark forest of Mirkwood. The character Beorn explicitly warns them, several times, not to leave the path in the forest. With his last words to the company, he repeats the warning:
be good, take care of yourselves – and DON’T LEAVE THE PATH!
Tolkien’s choice to capitalize the words “DON’T LEAVE THE PATH” adds emphasis to the subject—drawing attention to the path makes it significant. The reader now knows that staying on the path will be crucial to the story’s plot, whether for good or for ill. However, the urgency of the warning suggests that danger inevitably awaits the Bilbo and the dwarves—most likely, of course, as a result of straying from the path.