good titles for essays about foreshadowing

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Foreshadowing

Definition of foreshadowing.

Foreshadowing is a literary device that writers utilize as a means to indicate or hint to readers something that is to follow or appear later in a story . Foreshadowing, when done properly, is an excellent device in terms of creating suspense and dramatic tension for readers. It can set up emotional expectations of character behaviors and/or plot outcomes. This can heighten a reader’s enjoyment of a literary work, enhance the work’s meaning, and help the reader make connections with other literature and literary themes.

nathaniel hawthorne utilizes foreshadowing effectively in his short story “Young Goodman Brown.” The title character’s rendezvous with the devil is foreshadowed by many plot elements, including the example that his nighttime companion carries a crooked staff that resembles a “great black snake .” This foreshadowing indicates for the reader not only that the devil is Goodman Brown’s companion, but a sense of the impending temptation and test of faith to follow in the story. The serpent-like staff used by the devil in the story allows the reader to connect Hawthorne’s tale and themes with those of the book of Genesis and the Garden of Eden.

Common Examples of Foreshadowing

Writers and storytellers utilize recurring symbols , motifs , and other elements as foreshadowing. Readers and audiences often recognize these elements as hints of what might be to come in a story. Here are some common examples of elements used as foreshadowing:

• Dialogue , such as “I have a bad feeling about this”
• Symbols, such as blood, certain colors, types of birds, weapons
• Weather motifs, such as storm clouds, wind, rain , clearing skies
• Omens, such as prophecies or broken mirror
• Character reactions, such as apprehension, curiosity, secrecy
• Time and/or season, such as midnight, dawn, spring , winter
• Settings, such as graveyard, battlefield, isolated path, river

Examples of Titles with Foreshadowing

The title of a literary work can be used to foreshadow its plot events. Here are some examples of titles that contain foreshadowing:

• The Fall of the House of Usher
• Murder on the Orient Express
• Love in the Time of Cholera
• The Story of an Hour
• Roger Malvin’s Burial
• The Crying of Lot 49
• A Telephone Call
• As I Lay Dying
• A Romantic Weekend
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Famous Examples of Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is an effective device for nearly any type of literary work and most forms of storytelling media. This includes poetry, short fiction , drama , novels, television, and movies. Here are some famous examples of foreshadowing from these forms of narrative :

• The killing of the albatross in “ The Rime of the Ancient Mariner ”
• The dark, bleak, midnight setting in “ The Raven ”

Short Fiction

• Apprehension felt by the townspeople in “The Lottery”
• Purchase of arsenic by Emily Grierson in “A Rose for Emily”
• Romeo’s statement “My life were better ended by their hate, than death prorogued, wanting of thy love” in  Romeo and Juliet
• The hint of expectation in the title of Waiting for Godot
• “the leaves fell early that year” (foreshadowing death) in A Farewell to Arms
• The symbolic pain of Harry’s scar in the  Harry Potter series
• House of Stark words “Winter Is Coming” in  Game of Thrones
• The appearance of Kenny’s character in  South Park
• Dorothy singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” in  The Wizard of Oz
• The only person who replies to the therapist is the boy who “sees” dead people in  The Sixth Sense

Difference Between Foreshadowing, Flashback, and Flashforward

Foreshadow indicates the future through a seamless narrative happening. A flashback is a memory recall device that occasionally brings some happenings into the narrative having no chronological order or sequence. Foreshadowing just describes what is going to happen in the story, while flashback presents what has happened in the story and has just come into the mind of the narrator .

Some readers may confuse foreshadowing and flashbacks as literary devices . Both techniques are designed to enhance the narrative of a literary work. However, foreshadowing is intended to provide readers with just a hint or sense of what is to come in a story. Flashback is intended to directly provide readers with exposition , or background information in terms of plot and/or character development.

Flashback interrupts a narrative plotline to present an earlier scene or episode in order to provide clarification or information for the reader. This works as a means of promoting and enhancing reader understanding of a literary work by setting forth context and exposition cues. Foreshadowing also enhances the reader’s understanding of a literary work. Foreshadowing is generally more subtle than flashback and is not intended for expository or clarification purposes. Rather than interrupting the narrative, proper foreshadowing is artfully woven into the story when done properly.

Flashforward, otherwise known as prolepsis, is mostly used to narrate possible events or a storyline that is expected or imagined to happen in the near or distant future. Unlike flashbacks, they reveal significant parts of the story that did not happen yet. Flashforwards are written in greater detail. While it is similar to foreshadowing, in which future events are not shown but somewhat hinted and readers are left to understand it.

Writing Foreshadowing

Overall, as a literary device, foreshadowing functions as a means of focusing a reader’s attention and/or setting up anticipation of a narrative revelation or plot twist . This is effective for readers in that foreshadowing primes their emotions and expectations for something to be revealed. This can enhance the enjoyment, meaning, and understanding of a literary work when foreshadowing is properly used.

Writers tend to utilize one of two forms of foreshadowing in their work:

• Direct foreshadowing : This form of literary device is used by writers who wish to directly and pointedly hint at or indicate a particular outcome for readers. At times, it benefits writers to explicitly reveal what happens in a story through direct foreshadowing. This allows the reader to focus on other aspects of the narrative besides plot outcomes.
• Indirect foreshadowing : This form of literary device is used by writers who wish to indirectly and subtly hint at or indicate a particular outcome for readers. When it comes to indirect foreshadowing, it is often so effective that it may not be apparent to readers until after the outcome has taken place. In addition, readers may not realize the significance or meaning of indirect foreshadowing until the outcome reveals it.

Unfortunately, when foreshadowing is used poorly, inadequately, or improperly, it can leave readers feeling disappointed and/or confused. This can undermine the effectiveness of a story’s plot, character development, theme , and artistic quality. Therefore, writers must consider the use of foreshadowing carefully and artfully, so that it is not misconstrued, too overt, or too subtle to be recognized.

Examples of Foreshadowing in Literature

Foreshadowing is an effective literary device in terms of preparing readers for events to come or narrative reveals. This device is valuable, as it allows readers to make connections between themes, characters, symbols, and more–both within a literary work and between works of literature. Here are some examples of foreshadowing and how it adds to the significance of well-known literary works:

Example 1:  Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck)

You seen what they done to my dog tonight?  They says he wasn’t no good to himself nor nobody else.  When they can me here I wisht somebody’d shoot me.  But they won’t do nothing like that.  I won’t have no place to go, an’ I get no more jobs.”

Steinbeck utilizes foreshadowing in  Of Mice and Men is very subtle. Most readers are shocked by the ending of the novel . However, Steinbeck incorporates an earlier scene in the story that mirrors and hints at the final outcome. This foreshadowing takes place when the character Candy’s dog is shot as a “mercy killing.” Like Candy himself, his dog is growing old and has outlived his usefulness in the eyes of the ranch hands. Candy confesses to George the agony of his decision to let Carlson kill his dog, the regret of not having done so himself, and his fear that he will have nobody to put him out of his own misery when the time comes. This scene foreshadows the decision George must make regarding Lennie at the end of the novel.

Example 2:  Macbeth  (William Shakespeare)

By the pricking of my thumb, Something wicked this way comes.

In Shakespeare’s play , the second witch makes this pronouncement at Macbeth ’s approach. Her statement indicates an intuitive sense of foreboding, symbolized by the witch’s physical sensation in her thumb. This is foreshadowing for the reader of the events to come in the story and Macbeth’s true nature as someone who is capable of betrayal and murder as a means of keeping his power as king.

Shakespeare’s use of direct foreshadowing in this scene confirms for the reader Macbeth’s guilt and corruption. Throughout the play, the witches speak “indirectly” through their prophecies and veiled predictions, all of which are subtle examples of foreshadowing that must be deciphered and interpreted by the reader. However, with this pointed and direct statement of foreshadowing, there is no doubt for Shakespeare’s audience that Macbeth deserves his outcome in the play.

Example 3:  A Good Man Is Hard to Find (Flannery O’Connor)

‘[I]t would have been better for all of you, lady, if you hadn’t of reckernized me.’ Bailey turned his head sharply and said something to his mother that shocked even the children. The old lady began to cry and The Misfit reddened.

In O’Connor’s short story, the news of a recently escaped murderer called “The Misfit” is mentioned many times by several characters, before and during the family’s vacation journey. In fact, the grandmother’s character seems preoccupied with The Misfit’s story, which calls the reader’s attention to it as well. This is a clever use of foreshadowing on the part of O’Connor in the sense that it appears to be almost too direct of a hint for the reader that the family will encounter this criminal.

As a result, the reader is simultaneously prepared for yet surprised by the plot reveal that the family does meet The Misfit and that he is recognized and acknowledged by the grandmother. The resulting violence in the story, however, remains a shock despite the fact that the grandmother and her entire family, as well as O’Connor’s readers, are familiar with The Misfit’s background and his crimes. O’Connor’s foreshadowing of The Misfit as a murderer has an almost opposite effect on the reader’s expectations for the outcome of the story.

Synonyms of Foreshadowing

Foreshadow, similar to many literary devices, does not have direct meaning. The closest synonyms include augur, presage, portend, prognosticate, foreshow, foretell, indicate, suggest, herald, signal, forewarn, forebode, anticipate, warn of, and harbinger.

Related posts:

• Romeo and Juliet Foreshadowing
• Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree

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Posted on Oct 23, 2018

Foreshadowing Explained: Definition, Tips, and Examples

Foreshadowing is a literary device in which an author gives readers hints about what will happen later in the story. Foreshadowing is often used in the early stages of a novel or at the start of a chapter, as it can subtlety create tension and set readers' expectations regarding how the story will unfold. For instance, a mystery novel might use foreshadowing in an early chapter by mentioning something that seems inconsequential — but is actually a clue...

By the end of this article, writers will know the secret to crafting gripping page-turners.

See? You know something is about to happen, but you don’t yet know how it will come about — and it’s the “how” that matters. The “how” is what bridges the beginning of your story to the end or, in this case, the introduction to the conclusion. The “how” is the information that readers want, and foreshadowing promises to eventually give it to them.

Now that we’ve hopefully piqued your interest with our own dose of foreshadowing, let’s talk about why this literary device is such a key tool in an author’s arsenal.

Types of foreshadowing

There are as many ways to foreshadow as there are stories to tell, so the possibilities are endless. But head to the library, and you’ll likely find two broad categories of foretelling in novels: direct and indirect.

• Direct foreshadowing occurs when an outcome is directly hinted at or indicated. It gives readers a nugget of information, prompting them to want more.
• Indirect foreshadowing occurs when an outcome is indirectly hinted at or indicted. It subtly nods at a future event but is typically only apparent to readers after that outcome or event has occurred.

Pretty straightforward, right? Now let’s see a few examples of the former in action.

Direct foreshadowing 

1. the narrator.

We witnessed this example in the introduction of this very post. In a nutshell: the person telling the story provides readers with key information but leaves out context or other details.

Take this opening line from Lauren Oliver’s Before I Fall :

“They say that just before you die your whole life flashes before your eyes, but that’s not how it happened for me.”

What we know: The narrator is dead.

What we want to know:  How did they die? 

The key to this kind of foretelling is to include information that is crucial to the story . What it must leave out is how it’s key to the story. Think of it as a personal invitation from the narrator to the reader to keep reading.

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2. The Pre-Scene

A gift shared among people who have the uncanny ability to predict the endings of stories is an eye for the “pre-scene.”

These scenes show something that will play an important role in the future — and they usually play out as a brief, toned-down version of the main event.

For example, in the first half of Of Mice and Men , Carlson is convinced that an old dog should be put down so that it can have a quick death and end its suffering. He complies, ensuring the process is as painless as possible, prompting Candy to confide in George:

“I oughtta of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn't oughtta of let no stranger shoot my dog.”

What we know: The dog’s death is important.

What we want to know: Why is this significant, and when will we find out?

At the end of the novel, when a murderous lynch mob is on the hunt for Lennie, George begins talking to Lennie about the farm they will one day own, painting a peaceful picture. Then, in a scene that echoes Carlson’s putting an end to the dog’s suffering, George kills Lennie — believing it’s much more merciful to go at the hands of a friend.

3. The Name Drop

If someone told you, “Tomorrow I’m going to my friend’s house,” you likely wouldn’t think much of it. But if someone told you, “Tomorrow I’m going to Reedsy Mansion,” you’d probably want to know more.

Similarly, by casually name-dropping a place, thing, or person in your story, you signify to readers that this entity is important.

See this example in action in the first installment of The Hunger Games:

“When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim’s warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother. Of course, she did. This is the day of the reaping.”

What we know: Something called the reaping is about to happen, and it’s nightmare-inducing.

What we want to know:  Well, what is the reaping?

The name drop can even be used right in the title: consider The Great Gatsby . The title introduces us to the name, the first few pages give us snippets of information about the man, but it’s not until the second chapter that we meet Gatsby.

4. The Prophecy

In the opening scene of Orson Welles’ A Touch of Evil , we witness the timer started on a bomb that gets placed into the trunk of a car. Seconds later, a couple gets into that very car and drives down a busy street for a full 3 minutes. Finally, the car drives off camera and we witness another young couple jump as the explosion occurs. 

While the explosion would have been a dramatic way to begin the movie on its own, by letting the audience know about the bomb in the trunk, Welles uses dramatic irony to create a scene rife with tension and suspense.

Initially, letting readers know that a specific dramatic event is going to happen might seem counterintuitive: isn’t it better to surprise readers? But by foreshadowing events through the use of prophecy, you keep readers on the edge of their seats and still leave lots of room for surprise.

Macbeth famously opens with the prophecies of the three witches:

"All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter! […] Lesser than Macbeth, and greater. Not so happy, yet much happier. Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none: So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo! Banquo and Macbeth, all hail!"

What we know: Macbeth will become king and that Banquo’s descendants will also be king.

What we want to know:  Will this actually happen? And if so, how?

This prophecy forms the basis for the rest of the story: Macbeth becoming power-mad and committing heinous acts in his fear of being usurped.

For more Macbeth-worthy suspense, check out our list of the best suspense books of all time .

5. The Prologue

Nothing kicks off a novel with an almost audible “dun dun DUNNN!” quite like a prologue.

Prologues are used for many reasons : to flashback or forward, show a point-of-view different than the narrative’s primary one, or set an otherworldly setting, to name a few.

One of its handiest purposes is to foreshadow. Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park begins with two prologues. The first one ends with the following lines:

"Parties to that settlement, including the distinguished scientific board of advisers, signed a nondisclosure agreement, and none will speak about what happened-but many of the principal figures in the "InGen incident" are not signatories, and were willing to discuss the remarkable events leading up to those final two days in August 1989 on a remote island off the west coast of Costa Rica."

What we know: That a company called InGen created a genetic crisis.

What we want to know:  What is this crisis? What effects did it have?

Direct foreshadowing is such an engaging literary device because it brings readers into the story and allows them to speculate.

But perhaps you don’t want a narrator prone to spilling the beans or you’re wary of writing a prologue that rings slightly of clickbait. For foretelling tools that are a little more subtle, look no further than these next few indirect foreshadowing examples.

Indirect foreshadowing 

6. the innocuous statement.

While the previous examples of foreshadowing could be said to be “hiding in plain sight,” sometimes it becomes a rhetorical device , used in a much subtler way — allowing the reader to go back and find the clues that are now only clear after the fact.

Consider this line spoken by Obi-Wan Kenobi to Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II :

"Why do I get the feeling, you will be the death of me?”

At the time of their utterance, these lines don’t seem like anything more than the lament of a tired mentor. Later in the series, these words perhaps ring in our ears when Anakin-turned-Darth-Vader does indeed kill Obi-Wan.

While this example of foreshadowing doesn’t propel readers to seek out more information right when it happens, it does have us wondering what other clues might have been dropped when we were none the wiser.

7. The Pathetic Fallacy

Pathetic fallacy is when human emotions are projected by non-human things — such as nature. And it can be a very effective tool.

Just think: would Wuthering Heights have been quite the same if the majority of the story took place on idyllic, sunny days? Probably not.

A chilling gust of wind or the sun breaking through heavy clouds can say a lot: the former can evoke a sense of foreboding while the latter can predict a positive changing of tides. In other words — let’s say it together — it can foreshadow.

In Great Expectations , wordsmith Charles Dickens uses the weather to demonstrate Pip’s growing angst:

"So furious had been the gusts, that high buildings in town had had the lead stripped off their roofs; and in the country, trees had been torn up, and sails of windmills carried away; and gloomy accounts had come in from the coast, of shipwreck and death."

8. The Symbol

A scene opening on a character coming across a raven will project a very different message than a scene opening on a character spotting a dove: one is typically an ominous symbol while the other generally references peace.

Because symbols take the form of recognizable visuals that represent a more abstract idea, they’re a great way to foreshadow by hinting at something without stating it outright.

Consider this excerpt from the opening of Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms :

"The leaves fell early that year."

The visual transition from fall to winter, and specifically the falling of leaves, is not an uncommon symbol of death. In this case, these six simple words symbolize the primary event of the novel: the early death of nurse Catherine Barkey. Its effectiveness lies in the fact that the symbol is instantly recognizable, but the significance it holds within the story unravels throughout.

9. Through metaphor and simile

Without veering into the distracting arena of purple prose , the way authors describe things can foretell hidden details.

Metaphors and similes are both figures of speech used to describe something by comparing it to another. The difference between the two is that while metaphors say “Thing A is Thing B,” similes say “Thing A is like Thing B.”

Both can be used as foreshadowing tools. In White Oleander by Janet Finch, Astrid continuously uses similes to compare her mother’s beauty to elements of danger:

"I climbed to the roof and easily spotted her blond hair like a white flame in the light of the three-quarter moon."

"Her beauty was like the edge of a very sharp knife."

As the story progresses, both danger and beauty become the two main aspects Astrid associates with her mother.

10. The Object

“If in Act One you have a pistol hanging on the wall, then it must fire in the last act.” So goes Anton Chekhov’s rule of storytelling : if you’re going to draw a reader’s attention to something, you must eventually explain why it was worth noticing. Otherwise, it should be removed.

You can also reverse-engineer this rule as a means of foreshadowing: if a major event will happen at some point in the story, you could allude to it earlier on in the story. One great way of doing this (as in Chekhov’s example) is by placing emphasis on an object.

The third book of the A Series of Unfortunate Events series begins with Mr. Poe giving the Baudelaire siblings some peppermints, forgetting they are allergic. These peppermints end up playing an important role later in the story, when the orphans use them to elicit an allergic reaction, thereby getting themselves out of a sticky situation.

“If you are allergic to a thing, it is best not to put that thing in your mouth, particularly if the thing is cats.” — Lemony Snicket

In Disney’s telling of Peter Pan , the catalyst for the whole story occurs when Peter literally chases his shadow into the Darling household. Similarly, foreshadowing can have your readers chasing the plot of your story.

Mastering the art of the foreshadow can benefit your writing by creating layers: it’s almost like you’re telling the story to readers in waves, eventually revealing to them the whole island they’ve been searching for. It creates an engaging and interactive narrative, allowing speculation while the story unfolds and then further reflection of all the clues upon completion.

Atiya Bokhary says:

13/04/2020 – 04:11

A very comprehensive article. I am reminded of two stories. One is, The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Conell. In the beginning of the story, two characters, both hunters, have a discussion on the feelings of the prey. One of them scoffs at the idea and stresses only on the joy and daring of the hunter only. In a turn of events, he is in the situation of the hunted being tracked by a ruthless hunter who wants to kill him for his sport. The other story is, The Lottery by Shirley Jacksonwhich has a many innocuous references to how the story will unfold but the reader does not notice them until the very end, when their significance becomes obvious.

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What Is Foreshadowing in Storytelling and How Does It Help the Reader?

Jennifer Jahn

Do you want to increase suspense in your writing? Build anticipation? Create a sense of foreboding? Provide some clues for your reader about what’s yet to come? Then foreshadowing is a literary device that can help you achieve just that.

What Is Foreshadowing?

The two types of foreshadowing, commonly confused techniques, include clues in your title, how to foreshadow in your writing, recap: foreshadowing techniques and examples.

Think of foreshadowing as leaving a trail of literary breadcrumbs. Your readers, if attentive, can collect them along the way, giving them a sense of “Ah, I knew that was coming!” when they reach the climax of your story.

As a writer, you want your reader to be invested in your tale, with your characters. By using foreshadowing as a narrative technique, you help to prepare them emotionally for what’s to come.

Whether that be a death, an accident, a strange encounter—most readers appreciate a bit of a heads-up before your big shocker.

And yet foreshadowing doesn’t necessarily have to prepare your reader for impending battle or doom. It is a popular literary device used across all genres, from crime, thriller, and mystery writing to romance, historical, and literary fiction. It can also be used in non-fiction writing.

Foreshadowing can help you make strange events appear more credible. So you’re not only helping your reader by increasing their anticipation, but you’re also helping yourself by making whatever event you have chosen to include more plausible for them to accept.

How much or how little you want your reader to be able to guess at is entirely up to you. Different types of foreshadowing can provide varying levels of insight into your story.

Some authors make it very obvious when they want you to become aware of something. Think Harry Potter’s aching scar—an indication of imminent confrontation with Voldemort. Other writers give only the most subtle hint at what’s yet to come.

Direct Foreshadowing

Direct foreshadowing is simply the most obvious way for an author to prepare the reader for an upcoming event in the narrative. This can be done through a prologue, a dialogue, a statement by the narrator, or through a prophecy.

One of the most famous literary examples of direct foreshadowing can be found in Shakespeare’s Macbeth .

The three witches make three prophecies; after the first comes true—that Macbeth will become a thane—the reader can expect the next two prophecies to become true as well, those predicting that Macbeth himself will become king and that Banquo’s sons will one day be kings too.

The witches’ appearances throughout the play lend credence to Shakespeare’s foreshadowing and create a sense of anticipation and narrative tension.

Indirect Foreshadowing

Indirect foreshadowing can take many shapes and forms. It can be purveyed by noting small changes in the environment, choosing a particular setting, including conversational remarks, or even mythical omens or superstitious beliefs.

In Bianca Marais’ Hum If You Don’t Know the Words , the protagonist Beauty is searching for her missing daughter. Having been anonymously warned to back off her search, Beauty starts noticing owls appearing around her in the evenings, at dusk to be precise.

She counts these appearances. After the second sighting, she wonders what the appearance of a third might indicate. Earlier in the text another protagonist, Robin, noted that bad things always happen in threes. What is the author trying to tell us here? Might tragedy strike after a third sighting?

The following are some literary devices that are commonly mistaken for foreshadowing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using these in your writing. If anything, they can add context and suspense to your narration. Just be aware that they are different from foreshadowing.

Chekhov’s Gun

The author Anton Chekhov, when discussing the craft of writing, reportedly said that if there is a gun on the wall in Act 1, it must fire by the end of the play. In other words, no irrelevant elements should be placed in a text.

This simply means that if you choose to include and describe, say, a vase of flowers on the sideboard of your protagonist’s living room, this vase should play some type of role in your narration later on . Whether you use it to bash over an intruder’s head, or it gets toppled during an argument, or knocked over in a clumsy moment, it should reappear, otherwise don’t bother mentioning it in the first place.

Flashbacks and Flash-Forwards

Flashbacks and flash-forwards are scenes that interrupt the flow of the narrative to recount something that has happened in the past or to glimpse what will happen in the future.

Unlike foreshadowing, which is subtle and creates anticipation by dropping hints, a flashback or flash-forward increases suspense by making the reader question the how or why rather than the what —as that’s information they’ve already received.

Let’s take a look at an example.

The first chapter of C.L. Taylor’s thriller Sleep begins with the following: “If you’re reading this then I am no longer alive.”

The letter-writer then proceeds to give a list of names, presumably suspects, and notes the details of other people that can be contacted to provide further context. The second chapter then takes place three months earlier.

We already know that someone is going to die, we now know that the story will take place over the course of three months, and we know how many main players there will be. But the why and how are left unanswered. And thus our journey of discovery begins.

Red Herrings

A red herring is not foreshadowing.

Instead, this technique is used to distract or mislead the reader. Both Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie were infamous for their use of red herrings, planting clues in their stories that had nothing to do with the actual mystery to befuddle and confound their readers.

A simple and effective way of foreshadowing the plot of a novel and creating anticipation in your reader is by including it in the title of the book or a chapter. Look at some of the following titles and take a guess at what the book might be about:

• The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
• The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
• The Other Black Girl
• My Sister the Serial Killer
• Murder on the Orient Express
• Eight Perfect Murders
• Death on the Nile
• The Return of Sherlock Holmes
• The Final Revival of Opal and Nev
• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Now that you understand what exactly foreshadowing entails and why you should use it in your writing—remember, we want your readers to feel a sense of anticipation and suspense but also prepare them emotionally for what’s about to happen—what’s the best way to go about it?

Take Inspiration from the Screen

An easy way to think of foreshadowing is to examine how the technique is used in movies and TV shows. It is relatively easy to create an emotional response in viewers with the tools available on screen.

Consider the famous shark scene in Jaws . Before the actual shark attack takes place, we have Chief Brody looking anxiously out to sea. There’s a woman who starts screaming in the water, although it turns out that she’s just fooling around with her boyfriend. Next, that music starts up.

A shot of the murky water. Children’s feet churning up the sand. All this takes place in the couple of minutes before the actual attack, increasing our sense of anticipation and, in this case, giving us a sense of imminent danger—despite the fact that nothing has actually happened yet. We feel prepared for what’s coming next.

As authors we don’t have the same tools available to us to set a scene and create a certain atmosphere as screenwriters do, but there are plenty of literary techniques to help create an equally powerful scene of foreshadowing.

Foreshadowing Through Pacing

Think of that Jaws example again. Things start to happen very quickly just before the shark strikes. This is something we can mirror in our writing. Set your reader on edge by describing several actions or events in quick sequence so that they’re left feeling that something is going to happen—they’re just not sure what yet.

Pacing is important throughout your novel. ProWritingAid’s Pacing Report will show you where you’ve written several slower paced paragraphs in a row so you can vary them with some action or dialogue.

Check the pacing around your foreshadowing—are you varying your slower paced, descriptive foreshadowing with action or event based clues?

Foreshadowing Through Dialogue and Reactions

Let’s stick to the beach for a quick and easy illustration of this. Here we have Pete, Kay, and their two boys, out for a day on the beach.

The boys are playing in the sand while Kay is searching through their bags. She turns to Pete and tells him that she can’t find the boys’ armbands.

“Are you sure you packed them, Pete? I can’t find them anywhere,” she tells him anxiously.

She’s worried that despite the children’s recent swimming lessons, they shouldn’t be allowed in the water without their flotation aids.

“I don’t like the idea of them going in without their armbands. There are strong currents here.”

Pete wants to reassure his wife and tells her that the boys will be fine. The water is only shallow and they’ll keep a good eye on them. The boys have made some friends, a couple of years older, with whom they’re having a romp in the water.

At first, the boys’ parents watch their children attentively, calling out to them to be careful and not to go in too deeply, but soon they get distracted—Pete by looking at his phone, Kay because someone on the neighboring towel has started up a conversation with her.

What do you think might happen next? There are enough clues here to foreshadow something unexpected taking place. The focus on the missing armbands and admonitions not to go in too deeply combined with the wild playing with older friends might indicate that one of the children could be involved in a near-drowning accident.

We don’t know, but we’re getting a sense... Did you spot the signs?

Foreshadowing Through Settings and Symbolism

You can also create suspense in a subtle manner through settings and symbolism. One obvious and popular technique is to use the weather to foreshadow events.

A blue sky suddenly going dark, storm clouds moving in, the air feeling close and humid, thunder and lightning—these all help to build a sense of foreboding that something is about to change.

Equally, a sudden blue sky and emerging sunshine, birds twittering, and butterflies fluttering about are also helpful to set the scene and point towards a potentially positive change about to take place.

Let’s try another example.

Here’s Rachel, hurrying home. It’s dusk and the sky is quickly clouding over. She wonders aloud whether it’s about to start raining.

When she pulls out her phone to check the weather forecast, she realizes that her battery is dead. As she stumbles along the path, cursing herself for wearing such impractical shoes, she passes a cemetery on her left and notices a black cat that is sitting by the gate, seemingly keeping guard.

As she looks up, she discovers a red scarf that has become stuck in the branches of a nearby tree, slowly floating on the breeze.

We don’t know what’s going to happen to Rachel on her way home, but we sure don’t have a good feeling about it, do we?

That’s an overview of the elements and techniques you can use to help you foreshadow certain events in your writing.

Weather and dialogue as well as symbolism and setting can help build anticipation and create a sense of foreboding in these paragraphs. Readers can pick up on these and come to the conclusion that yes, something is probably about to develop.

A quick recap from our two examples above:

Character reactions:

• apprehension (Kay)
• distraction (Kay & Pete)
• haste (Rachel)
• self-doubt (Rachel)

Dialogue (external or internal)

• “I don’t like the idea of…”
• Rachel cursing herself
• water/dangerous currents
• deserted path
• black cats (evil omen)
• the color red
• a dead phone

Also keep in mind that the hints you drop do not necessarily mean that something has to happen right away. You could casually be leaving clues throughout the entire length of your narration, leading up to the grand finale of your book. Whichever tactic you choose to employ, make sure to tie up those loose ends to avoid confusing or misleading your readers.

So, that’s foreshadowing for you. Now off you go, leave those literary breadcrumbs to build that dramatic tension, increase anticipation, and keep your readers hooked.

And remember, the more subtle your hints, the greater the satisfaction when they can—or can’t—figure out what’s about to happen.

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Jennifer has always been a lover of languages and words. She’s bilingual in English and German and fluent in French. She has degrees in Journalism and French and a PhD in literature. When she’s not editing or writing for a living, she’s reading and reviewing books for fun.

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What is Foreshadowing? Definition, Types, Examples, and Tips

by Alex Cabal

Foreshadowing is a literary technique for building dramatic tension in a story. Clever and nuanced foreshadowing is artistry in writing. Writing foreshadowing into your plot events can keep a a reader’s attention and eager to turn the page to discover what happens next.

We’ll teach you how to use foreshadowing elements in your work to build anticipation, heighten suspense, and twist the audience’s expectations—plus, a few foreshadowing examples from literature to show you how it looks in practice.

What is foreshadowing?

Foreshadowing is a literary device that writers use to hint at future plot developments to come. This might be through a line of dialogue, a detail in the setting, or the mood conveyed during a particular scene. Foreshadowing helps build suspense and lays the groundwork for clever plot twists as your tale unfolds.

Foreshadowing in storytelling is often subtle and suggestive, using thematic elements like symbolism, mood, language, and characterization. This allows the writer to place covert signals and undertones throughout the story’s plot that keeps readers guessing. Small and illuminating whispers of foretelling can make a story feel clever, complex, and compelling, encouraging readers to try and anticipate what may happen.

Well-designed foreshadowing relies heavily on show vs. tell . Rather than explicitly revealing to readers exactly what’s about to happen, foreshadowing should hint , imply , and suggest a future event, allowing your readers to discover the implied meaning on their own.

The value of foreshadowing for your story

Foreshadowing serves a few key functions that play an integral role in making a scene more interesting, and contributes to the overall impact of the story.

A few key benefits of using this technique in your story include:

Developing reader expectations

Readers enjoy looking for hints that foretell the future, as it allows them to make predictions about what may happen. Using foreshadowing early on can hook a reader and keep them anxiously turning pages to satisfy their curiosity.

As the story progresses and comes to a finale, the reader learns that their deductions are proved correct; or, they may feel a sense of awe and surprise when they look back and see all the tiny details that led up to, and ultimately defined and foreshadowed, the story’s climax.

Building tension

In assembling these reader expectations—the feelings of anticipation, excitement, uncertainty, and even dread about impending trials that your main character is facing—the writer can also subtly build tension. Tension within a story heightens the drama and the stakes, and can increase a reader’s emotional connection and invested in the protagonist’s character development.

If a reader anticipates that something bad is going to happen later in the story, the excitement or worry they feel will keep them anxious to keep turning the page to find out if their predictions are correct, and to see how the hero will persevere.

Creating ambiance and atmosphere

Foreshadowing can also play a significant role in building the ambiance, atmosphere, and overall tone. It can imply a lot about how the story will ultimately feel, and—again—help set expectations for your readers.

If a story starts with a young protagonist and their innocent lover standing in a sunny field, and then lightning cracks across the sky as dark clouds form in the distance, the reader will likely anticipate that major turmoil is on the horizon.

Types of foreshadowing

Foreshadowing happens in two ways: directly and indirectly. Both of these are helpful in building suspense in a story in their own way.

Direct foreshadowing is when a story overtly suggests an event. This type of foreshadowing will typically occur in a prologue, in dialogue, or sometimes even prophetically. This is when the writer says to the reader, something important is going to happen!

Indirect foreshadowing is when a story leaves hints and clues throughout the narrative for the readers to follow. This might be in certain character traits, symbols, motifs, and language that communicates a bad feeling about the plot elements that are brewing.

Chekhov’s Gun

Chekhov’s Gun is a literary principle which dictates that “no story should make false promises.” According to this principle, if an element is introduced it needs to be necessary to the story and should come to some kind of resolution.

Anton Chekhov, the renowned Russian playwright and short story writer for whom this technique is named, described this principle by stating that “one must never place a loaded rifle on stage if it isn’t going to go off. It’s wrong to make promises you don’t mean to keep.”

The “gun” can be anything that is introduced with an air of importance, and that thus should directly develop the plot or characterization.

These usually takes place in the form of an actual prophecy that a hero may receive, or that a reader may become privy to without their knowledge. Prophecy is the most direct form of foreshadowing: the reader—and sometimes the protagonist—are told about outcomes of the future, and the story explores how the hero‘s choices lead up to the predicted outcome.

This is a favorite device of the fairy tale form; in Sleeping Beauty , for example, the fairy tale witch foretells that the princess will prick her finger and die in fifteen years.

Prophecies can also provide a unique and interesting twist by being left open-ended, vague, unclear, or positioned so that they may have multiple outcomes.

Flash-forwards and flashbacks

Flashbacks and flash-forwards are interruptions in the narrative timeline that allow a writer to show what has happened in the past, or something that will happen in the future. Showing things happening out of chronological order provide a way for the author to make note of or explore ideas, events, or characters in a way that wouldn’t naturally fit within the storyline.

A flashback or flash-forward in a story can be used to foreshadow the current timeline by referencing something from the past that could impact the current plot, or by subtly implying something pivotal for the future.

Symbolism and metaphor

Abstract and symbolic foreshadowing uses indirect symbols to suggest what happens next. This is more nuanced that direct foreshadowing methods like prophecy, and can be used to heighten ambiance and tone.

The example we mentioned earlier—the two young lovers standing in the field who experience a drastic change in the weather around them—is an example of abstract and symbolic foreshadowing. The peaceful, sunny environment reinforces the idea of their youthful innocence and love, while the chance in weather symbolically implies that the lovers are about to experience a change as well—and perhaps not for the better.

In real life, we look for symbolism and significance in everyday occurrences all the time. This means your readers are primed to pick it up within your narrative.

Fallacies and red herrings

While the principle of Chekhov’s Gun is to not make any false promises, a fallacy or red herring may do just that in an intentional effort to mislead the reader.

The purpose of fallacious foreshadowing, or using a red herring, is to intentionally muddle the story’s direction and throw the reader off so they don’t predict the climax. These misleading clues can make a story more exciting, and can set your readers up for feelings of surprise and shock when the true events unfold.

For example, a mystery novel about a stolen artifact may intentionally frame a character that seems obvious as the thief. While doing so, the author may also leave very subtle clues that the thief is someone else entirely. The framed person would be the red herring.

5 foreshadowing techniques and methods

Now that we know how to use literary devices to foreshadow events in a story, let’s look at five writing techniques that can be used to raise these questions and heighten suspense in your writing.

Your book’s title

The title of a story can be a foreshadowing tool itself, either directly or indirectly. Consider Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express . The title already reveals that a murder will occur, and even tells the reader beforehand where it’ll occur. Before the reader even begins the story, they’re already asking who will be murdered and who the murderer could be.

Another example of foreshadowing in a title is Edgar Allen Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher . This title not only tells us that the physical house will be destroyed, but hints at the destruction of the family that lives within it.

The setting of a story can also be used to foreshadow the events that will take place, and may indirectly provide clues for how the protagonist is feeling or will react to something. Common examples include the weather, the season, the state of repair or disrepair a setting might be in, or its history.

Consider the trope of the cowboy entering a town that is usually bustling with activity, but seemingly vacant until you hear the snap of window shutters closing as he walks by the buildings. Right from the first chapter, this setting foreshadows the antagonist’s appearance, and their challenging the cowboy to a duel. If the cowboy had arrived on a bustling day instead, the reader might not guess that a duel was about to occur.

Dialogue between characters is an excellent way to hint at future events in a story. This may appear as:

A recounting of a historical event or providing insight into another character’s personality, hinting at future events of the plot.

An offhand joke that implies some sort of deeper significance or forebodes an event.

Dialogue that showcases an aspect of a person—their personality, beliefs, or other characteristics—that sets them up for a realization that will change them.

Figurative language

Figurative language like similes and metaphors can be an excellent way to foreshadow an event within a story without having to make an explicit statement. A metaphor may be an object or moment with some other, deeper meaning, implying that something that happened to a particular character may happen to another.

Similes can be used as foreshadowing tools as well, especially in characterization and the use of archetypes. For example, a man that is described as handsome, clever, and sly as a fox, would give readers a sense that they may fulfill the role of a beguiling trickster.

Characterization

Other aspects of a your central cast can also present opportunities for foreshadowing. Their physical appearance and attire, their mannerisms and dialogue, and even their history can all be used to foretell events in the plot. For example, a character who often wears clothes that hide a certain aspect of their body may foreshadow the fact they’re concealing something.

3 foreshadowing tips for writers

Foreshadowing presents opportunities to write a complex and engaging story. Direct foreshadowing gives the readers immediate insight into what will occur, generating curiosity that is sustained for the duration of the story as they try to guess the path to the conclusion.

Indirect foreshadowing leaves a breadcrumb trail that the readers either pick up on and enjoys as they try to guess what’s in store, or provides an element of surprise for the readers as the story develops and they start to recognize all the signs that were left for them along the way.

But as enticing, exciting, and juicy as foreshadowing can be, this literary device should be approached with care. Too much foreshadowing causes the book to lose suspense or becomes uninteresting. Ineffective foreshadowing may fall flat and either do nothing for the story, or hinder it by sending confusing signals to your readers. Using this literary device successfully is all about finding the perfect balance.

To successfully include foreshadowing in your story, consider the following step-by-step process:

Start with a plan

An effective way to include foreshadowing is to have the overarching plot, including all the major events that your characters experience, planned out in advance. This will allow you to look for opportunities throughout the story to foreshadow, as you already know what will happen, and can hint at that.

Note, however, that foreshadowing can be refined during your second draft when you have a better understanding of your plot. Then you can get a better sense of whether or not it truly contributes to the reader’s experience.

Use careful placement and moderation

Carefully considered placement and judicious moderation of foreshadowing are the keys to doing it successfully. Introducing foreshadowing as early as possible gives time for the readers to enjoy the curiosity, suspense, and tension. Additionally, including foreshadowing in a natural cadence throughout the story keeps the reader engaged and turning pages with anticipation.

By sprinkling foreshadowing carefully throughout the story, the reader may excitedly return to the beginning to re-read all of the breadcrumbs they missed the first time around!

Use a beta reader

A common struggle for writers is the inability to see the story from a completely fresh perspective. As the writer, you already know what’s going to happen, so it can be difficult to gauge if your foreshadowing is doing its job.

This is why it’s a good idea to collaborate with a beta reader—a person willing to read your story and provide feedback on what worked and what didn’t. At Scribophile, we just happen to specialize in getting feedback on your writing .

Examples of foreshadowing in literature

One of the best ways to become more familiar with a literary device is to read stories that have done it effectively. The following foreshadowing examples offer a great starting point to better understand how this literary device is used in practice.

Of Mice and Men , by John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men is a legendary example of foreshadowing. The novella is rife with suspenseful elements, and they greatly impact the emotional conclusion.

Here are some examples of foreshadowing in Of Mice and Men :

The death of Curley’s wife, and Lennie’s innocence despite having killed her, is foreshadowed by his accidental killing of the mice and the puppy with his heavy-handed over-petting.

Curley’s soft hands foreshadow how Lennie will eventually crush them—as he has crushed other soft and small things throughout the story.

George’s comments of being chased out of the last town they were in because Lennie wanted to touch the soft fabric of a women’s dress also foreshadow how Lennie will ultimately stroke Curley’s wife’s soft hair—leading to her death when he accidentally strangles her.

George’s comments about the difference in size between Curley’s small body and Lennie’s large one also foreshadow how Lennie will eventually harm Curley.

Candy’s confession to George that he wishes he had been the one to shoot his own dog rather than allow Carlson to do it foreshadows the eventual heartbreaking moment where George shoots Lennie.

Romeo and Juliet , by William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare’s plays that most heavily relies on foreshadowing. It’s used to heighten tension in every scene, making the audience feel like the fate of the characters is inevitable and closing in on them.

Examples of foreshadowing in Romeo and Juliet include:

The prologue explicitly foreshadows that the star-crossed lovers will die.

Juliet’s nurse exposes the unlucky omens of Juliet’s childhood as a prediction that Juliet may have more unlucky moments to come.

Romeo predicts an “untimely death” and “consequences” that will occur from attending the Capulet’s ball, where he first meets Juliet.

Juliet has a vision of Romeo dead in a tomb.

The conflict between the Capulets and Montagues foreshadows the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt.

“The Monkey’s Paw,” by W.W. Jacobs

W. W. Jacobs’ “The Monkey’s Paw” is a short story filled with foreshadowing. It has been adapted in many other forms of media since its publication in 1902.

Examples of foreshadowing in “The Monkey’s Paw” include:

Sergeant-Major Morris foreshadows the danger the paw can cause when he notes how the second man used his third wish to wish for death.

Sergeant-Major Morris directly foreshadows Mr. White’s inevitable danger when he explicitly warns him three times to leave the paw alone after Mr. White retrieves it from the fire.

Herbert’s vision of seeing the monkey face in the fire foreshadows the power and evil of the paw.

Should you use foreshadowing in your story?

Yes! Foreshadowing is a powerful literary device that can not only make stories highly engaging, but can also entice a reader to re-read each scene to find all of the hints they missed the first time.

It’s a literary device that takes time to master, and may require some revision to ensure that your breadcrumbs are just enough to keep the reader guessing—but not laid down with such a heavy hand that they spoil the ending. But when done right, it’s worth the attention to detail!

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Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing Definition

What is foreshadowing? Here’s a quick and simple definition:

Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved directly or indirectly, by making explicit statements or leaving subtle clues about what will happen later in the text. The Russian author Anton Chekhov summarized foreshadowing when he wrote, "If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off." The description of the gun on the wall, in other words, should foreshadow its later use.

Some additional key details about foreshadowing:

• Foreshadowing can be so subtle that it goes unnoticed, often until after the foreshadowed event comes to pass.
• Often foreshadowing serves to increase the sense of mystery rather than dispel it, by suggesting that some event might occur but not how it will come to pass.
• Foreshadowing is a useful tool for writers because it helps prepare readers for later scenes, builds a sense of suspense, and makes a work seem to have tied up "loose ends."

Foreshadowing Pronunciation

Here's how to pronounce foreshadowing: fore- shad -owe-ing

Types of Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing can take many different forms. Writers (or characters) may foreshadow later events by explicitly stating what will happen, or by making subtle suggestions about future plot developments. The most common types of foreshadowing are:

• Subtle foreshadowing: Oftentimes foreshadowing is so subtle that readers don't even notice that it has happened until later on in the story. For instance, a character might mention in passing that they work at a lab that specializes in making vaccinations, but this might not strike the reader as important until later, when a rare virus breaks out and threatens civilization, and this character suddenly becomes humanity's last hope.
• Partial or mysterious foreshadowing: Some forms of foreshadowing reveal only particular details about what will happen, which can then increase suspense or anticipation as the audience wonders how or why what has been foreshadowed will come to pass. For example, imagine a story that begins: "Being able to spit watermelon seeds was, I would one day learn, the greatest gift I'd ever been given." In such an example, the narrator's bizarre skill is explicitly indicated as relevant to future events, but the reader doesn't come away with a clear sense of how that skill will prove important.
• Direct foreshadowing: Sometimes a narrator or character makes an explicit declaration about what will happen later in the text. For example, when the prologue of Romeo and Juliet reveals that two lovers will end up taking their lives, that is an example of very direct foreshadowing. Even though it explicitly reveals what will happen in the story, such foreshadowing can increase suspense as the audience now knows something the characters don't (which also means that this type of foreshadowing can create instances of dramatic irony ). In Romeo and Juliet , the direct foreshadowing also creates a sense of fate against which the characters must then struggle, whether knowingly or not.
• Red herrings: Sometimes, authors use what seems like foreshadowing to deliberately mislead readers about what will happen next. In these cases, what seems like foreshadowing are actually false clues. Such false clues are known as "red-herrings." Red herrings are especially common in mystery novels because they keep the reader guessing. One character might describe another character as highly suspicious, directing the reader's attention to that suspicious character's possible guilt, even if the character will later be shown to have done nothing wrong.

Foreshadowing vs. Flash-forwards

Foreshadowing is similar to, and often confused with, the use of "flash-forward." Also known as prolepsis , flash-forwards are a literary device in which a scene set in the future temporarily interrupts the primary, present-day narrative. Foreshadowing and flash-forwards seem to have a lot in common, since they both offer glimpses into the future, but they differ both structurally and in their purpose.

• Structure: Foreshadowing always occurs in the present moment of the narrative. In contrast, a flash-forward interrupts the chronology of the narrative by shifting it forward to a future point in time. Put another away: foreshadowing hints at what will come in the future, while flash-forwards show what happens in the future.
• Purpose: Foreshadowing provides the foundation for events that will occur later in the text, building up both anticipation for those events and helping a reader to interpret and understand those events once they happen. In contrast, flash-forwards, because they explicitly show future events, actually provide a lens for interpreting the events that came before them. In other words: foreshadowing helps an audience to get a glimpse of a narrative's future, but flash-forwards actually help the audience to interpret the narrative's present.

Foreshadowing Examples

Though foreshadowing can be found in many art forms, it is most prominent in narrative literature and film.

Foreshadowing Examples in Literature

Writers of fiction (and writers of epic poems that tell a story) use foreshadowing to direct their readers' attention to important details, to heighten suspense, and to bring their tales full circle.

Foreshadowing in William Shakespeare's Macbeth

In Act 1, Scene 2 of Macbeth , Shakespeare indirectly foreshadows Macbeth's traitorous rise to power when the King Duncan, the King of Scotland, gives Macbeth the new title of Thane of Cawdor after the previous Thane of Cawdor had conspired against the king (and been defeated by Macbeth). When Duncan decides to give the new title to Macbeth he says:

No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive Our bosom interest: go pronounce his present death, And with his former title greet Macbeth .

These lines, spoken by Duncan, the King of Scotland, are highly ironic . Duncan has just rewarded Macbeth's loyalty by giving him a noble title that formerly belonged to the treasonous Cawdor. But Macbeth himself is about to successfully execute a plot to murder Duncan and steal his title as King of Scotland. So Duncan's words are an example of subtle foreshadowing in the sense that they cast Macbeth as the new Cawdor, who also had traitorous intentions toward the King.

Foreshadowing in John Milton's Paradise Lost

In this example from the start of Book One of Paradise Lost , Milton directly foreshadows man's fall from a state of innocence while invoking his poetic muse:

Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste Brought death into the World , and all our woe, With loss of Eden, till one greater Man Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat, Sing, Heavenly Muse, that, on the secret top Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire That Shepherd who first taught the chosen seed In the beginning how the heavens and earth Rose out of Chaos: or, if Sion hill Delight thee more, and Siloa’s brook that flowed Fast by the oracle of God, I thence Invoke thy aid to my adventrous song, That with no middle flight intends to soar Above the Aonian mount, while it pursues Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.

Here, Milton leaves little doubt about the fate of man. Man's relationship to God, formerly characterized by innocent obedience, is about to be altered for ever: Adam will be banished from the Garden of Eden for eating "the fruit of that forbidden tree." Because Milton's poem expands on the widely-known Biblical story of Adam and Eve, it is not important that he keep his poem's ending secret or only vaguely defined—since most people reading the poem likely already know how the story goes. Rather, Milton foreshadows man's fall from grace in order to establish the poem's solemn tone, signal his seriousness of purpose, and set the focus on how he tells the narrative in his poem (as opposed to what narrative he tells).

Foreshadowing in Of Mice and Men

In John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men , a character named Candy has a sheepdog that has grown old and sick. In the middle of the novella, another character named Carlson convinces Candy that the dog is suffering and should be put out of its misery. Candy allows Carlson to shoot the dog, but soon after expresses remorse. Candy's remorse isn't that he now thinks it was wrong to shoot the dog, but rather that he should have shot the dog himself.

This moment foreshadows the climax of the book, in which a character named George faces a difficult decision when he finds his friend Lennie's life in his hands: George can allow his friend to be brutally lynched by an angry mob for a murder Lennie committed by accident, or he can quickly kill Lennie himself—and save his friend from greater suffering. When the reader reaches this moment, suddenly the weight of that initial foreshadowing comes into play, and when George comforts and then shoots Lennie, the reader understands exactly why he does it because of the earlier moment with Candy's dog. In this case, the foreshadowing not only hints at what will happen, but also carries forward the emotion, themes, and character motivations at work in that previous scene so that they come crashing down in this later scene.

Foreshadowing Examples in Movies

Filmmakers use foreshadowing to prepare viewers for even the most surprising plot twists, and to redirect viewers' focus to important details of the plot.

Foreshadowing in Edgar Wright's Shaun of the Dead

Edgar Wright's 2004 zombie comedy begins with two friends (Shaun and Ed) fantasizing about the perfect night out while they dine together. By pure coincidence, everything that Ed mentions in his daydream corresponds to an obstacle the pair will face the next day, after the zombie apocalypse has broken out. For example, Ed imagines himself ordering a Bloody Mary, and the next day the two friends find themselves being chased by a zombie wearing a name tag that reads "Mary." Although Ed's ideas for a perfect night foreshadow the entire day, his references to future events are actually indirect. The image below shows Ed's various plans, and the events they indirectly foreshadow:

Foreshadowing in Wes Craven's Scream

Horror movies are notorious for their overuse of red herrings to maintain moviegoers' interest. In Wes Craven's Scream , the 1996 slasher classic that revitalized the American horror film genre, the police chief wears the same shoes as the killer. Although it turns out that the officer was not involved in the crime, this red herring diverts both characters' and viewers' attention from the true identity of the killer, heightening the suspense and sustaining the audience's interest.

Why Do Writers Use Foreshadowing?

On the most basic level, writers use foreshadowing to prepare their readers to understand the plot as it unfolds. But it can also:

• Encourage readers to focus on certain key details.
• Create a sense of surprise when subtle foreshadowing becomes clear after an event occurs.
• Create a sense of mystery or tension.
• Mislead readers, heightening their surprise at a work's end.
• Give scenes a special or subtle significance that not everyone will notice.
• Unite a work's beginning with its end.
• Create thematic connection between different parts of the text.
• Create a sense of fate within a story by revealing its ending, thus putting the focus on the character's struggles against that fate.

Other Helpful Foreshadowing Resources

• Wikipedia Page on Foreshadowing : A somewhat short discussion of foreshadowing. Nonetheless, there is an interesting bit on "sideshadowing," which is like a red-herring without the intent to deceive.
• Wikipedia Page on Red Herring : A bit heavy on the history of the idiom itself, but a good review of the device's defining features.
• Study.com's What is Foreshadowing Video : An excellent animated video on the device's history and function.
• Elements of Cinema Page on Foreshadowing : Despite its cinematic focus, this page discusses forms of foreshadowing that can be employed by writers as well. Features plenty of good examples from film.

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Foreshadowing Definition and 10 Techniques for Effective Plot Twists

by Joslyn Chase | 0 comments

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Do you love a good murder mystery or thriller? Do you dream of creating a captivating and suspenseful book that will pull readers to the end and leave them tingling? Then you need to master foreshadowing. Foreshadowing is key for believable plot twists. Here's a foreshadowing definition and 10 techniques for clever plot twists.

Foreshadowing is no easy task. More than most any other genre, mystery novels, thrillers, and suspense stories invite the reader to actively participate in plot elements and developments, using certain cues to predict outcomes.

That can be tough to accomplish.

The path to a finished product is full of pitfalls, but you can learn techniques to help carry you safely over them and complete a thrilling story you can be proud of.

Foreshadowing Definition

Foreshadowing is the weaving of hints and subtle clues into a work of fiction for the purpose of making future plot events feel natural and consistent.

It’s the antidote to coincidence and, skillfully done, prepares the reader for an upcoming plot twist without giving it away.

Readers are savvy people. They understand that everything in a story is there on a need-to-know basis and will thus figure in at some point.

Every significant object, person, or fact needs to be planted in the story before it can be credibly used. And all of these plot points must come into play or they buzz at the corner of a reader’s subconscious like an annoying housefly.

Remember Chekhov’s sage counsel when you think about effective foreshadowing:

Foreshadowing vs. Coincidence

When navigating the twisted path involved in writing a mystery , thriller, or suspense, one of the biggest challenges you’ll face is making everything that happens feel natural and inevitable.

A few days ago, my husband and I drove with a large group of friends to Frankfurt, Germany. After spending time together, we broke into carloads, each leaving at different times and taking different routes. As we passed an autobahn entrance close to home, a car merged directly behind us—a car filled with friends we’d parted from hours earlier.

I love when this kind of thing happens in real life, a coincidence.

But when it happens in a book, it feels contrived and unrealistic—like Toto pulled back the curtain to reveal the man pushing buttons. I don’t want my readers to feel manipulated, and I’ll bet you feel the same way about yours.

To avoid this kind of story pitfall, I needed to master the literary device of foreshadowing and learn to write subtle foreshadowing to leave my hints in stories for readers. 

Activate your reader

The more a reader puts into a story, the more they’ll get out of it. You pull your reader into your book and make them an active participant by raising a major dramatic question and delaying the answer until the end, while threading in intermediate questions along the way.

In addition, you activate your reader by using all the techniques needed to accomplish strong elements of suspense :

• You pull the reader deep into the point of view character
• You make the reader care about your protagonist
• You progressively raise the stakes
• You deliver information in the proper order
• You create cliffhangers to bridge the gaps between chapters
• You pace your story correctly
• You use action to drive the story forward

These are the techniques that build suspense and hold a reader's attention. Foreshadowing, clues, and red herrings are the breadcrumbs they’ll pick up along the way to feed and stimulate mental activity.

Why Does Foreshadowing Matter?

The key to avoiding readers who feel manipulated, is to build foreshadowing into your storyline.

For example, consider the movie Die Hard.

Screenplay writers chose to show John McClane moving in a logical pathway to the Nakatomi Plaza to meet his wife for a Christmas party. They interspersed these scenes with cuts of a truck driving through LA traffic accompanied by menacing music. When these two paths cross, it doesn’t strike us as coincidence that McClane just happens to be in the same building the villainous gang hits because it was foreshadowed that they would meet.

Also, did you notice how McClane’s being barefoot has significant impact on story events? See how this increases the complications and heightens the risk? He didn’t just coincidentally happen to take his shoes off. It was foreshadowed from the very first scene of the movie, making it feel like a logical occurrence.

Take a closer look at some of the types of foreshadowing you can use to build suspense and hold readers in your story.

10 Key Foreshadowing Techniques to Use When Writing

There are dozens of writing techniques and many forms of foreshadowing you might use to foreshadow events in your story.

I've found that these ten clever foreshadowing methods work well when writing, and Suzanne Collins's book The Hunger Games is a great case study to prove them.

Foreshadowing in The Hunger Games: Case Study

Caution: spoilers abound! If you don't want to read about spoilers in The Hunger Games , go read the book and then come back to this guide.

1. Emphasize Important Elements

Spend a bit more time on describing something that will later figure into the story's plot. Readers will subconsciously understand that it will become important and they’ll anticipate seeing it pop up again.

For example, if your climactic scene will take place at a mill pond with a water wheel, when you introduce this setting earlier in the story, describe it—through your character’s viewpoint—with more detail than you would normally give in your descriptions. This sends a signal to your reader that the setting will play an important role in the story.

This also helps facilitate a faster pace at the climax because you’ve laid the groundwork ahead of time.

In The Hunger Games, the first time Katniss encounters the mockingjay pin is when she and Gale deliver strawberries to the mayor’s house on the day of the reaping. They speak with Madge, the mayor’s daughter, who wears the pin on her dress.

Collins doesn’t overdo the detail. Everything here is stark and sparse, imparting a bleak flavor to the day of the reaping. But she spends enough time on the pin to let us know it’s significant.

Referring to Gale, she writes:

“His eyes land on a small, circular pin that adorns her dress. Real gold. Beautifully crafted. It could keep a family in bread for months.”

The pin comes in again and again throughout the story. This use of foreshadowing lays down groundwork not only for The Hunger Games, but sets up theme and future events for the entire trilogy.

Naming an important detail up front makes the reader wonder about it. Which means they pay attention to it and probably will recognize it when it comes up again.

The key to this technique is balancing the mystery of the named object or event with more matter-of-fact detail, allowing it to stand out and spark curiosity without burying the reader under an exasperating mountain of enigma.

For example, here’s the opening paragraph of Shirley Jackson’s story, “The Lottery:”

The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full ­summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green. The people of the village began to gather in the square, between the post office and the bank, around ten o'clock; in some towns there were so many people that the lottery took two days and had to be started on June 26th. But in this village, where there were only about three hundred people, the whole lottery took less than two hours, so it could begin at ten o'clock in the morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner.

Do you see how simply naming the lottery gives it significance and raises questions? Jackson makes a mystery of the lottery but sets it amid prosaic detail so that it stands out all the more.

I feel like “The Lottery” was a clear inspiration for Suzanne Collins when she wrote The Hunger Games. Like Jackson, Collins mentions the Reaping in the first paragraph of the story, and our senses warn us she’s not talking about a simple farm harvest. When she names the Cornucopia, we intuit that it will play a significant role in upcoming events.

And of course, the very title The Hunger Games names and foreshadows an ominous experience ahead.

The Reaping isn't just any event—it's the whole arena driving the main plot line.

3. Details in Dialogue

Weave foreshadowing into dialogue between characters or put it in a viewpoint character’s inner monologue as they puzzle through a problem or worry about a future event. Use this method to influence the reader’s thoughts and foreshadow important story points.

This can be as simple as a statement like: “George is coming home tomorrow.” Or, “I’ll call you when that package arrives.”

You might also couch it in a threat: “You’re going to wish you never said that.” Or, “Someone ought to shoot you for what you’ve done.”

The Hunger Games contains many examples of foreshadowing delivered in dialogue. One of these occurs when Gale, speaking about the twelve districts, says,

“It’s to the Capitol’s advantage to have us divided among ourselves.”

Like the mockingjay pin, Katniss’ experience of plants and berries repeatedly comes into play. One of the most potent instances occurs near the end of the novel when Peeta has gathered a handful of berries, waking a memory in Katniss:

My father’s voice comes back to me. “Not these, Katniss. Never these. They’re nightlock. You’ll be dead before they reach your stomach.”

This bit of memory immediately saves her and Peeta and foreshadows their future salvation as well.

4. Mirror Moments

This is an effective foreshadowing tool you often see when a story is framed by “bookends,” meaning that events at the very beginning foreshadow the climactic scene, maybe resulting in failure up front and the reversed, mirror image of success in the end.

But you can use it on a smaller scale as well—in a flashback, a flash-forward, or by holding up a mirror to reflect and foreshadow something happening in the story. Sometimes it starts with a smaller image whose reflection grows.

In The Hunger Games, Katniss recalls a significant memory when she was starving, discouraged, and about to give up:

Young Peeta, the baker’s son, burns a couple loaves of bread and throws them to Katniss, earning himself a beating but providing a turning point in her life. He sacrificed for her then, foreshadowing that he will sacrifice for her again. As many times as it takes.

Worth mentioning, also, is the obligatory recounting on Reaping day of the rebellion that spawned the beginning of the Hunger Games. This foreshadows the uprising that will eventually bring an end to the barbaric practice.

5. Narrator Reveal

This can range anywhere from having the point of view character state outright that something in particular is going to happen, to the POV character making a partial revelation that raises more questions than it answers. In either case, readers hang on to see how events unfold.

For example, one of the witches in Shakespeare’s MacBeth tells us early on: “By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.” A piece of direct foreshadowing letting us know that evil is on the way.

I can think of several instances of this in The Hunger Games:

As the Everdeen family prepares to attend the reaping, Katniss thinks about how difficult this must be for Prim—her first time. She comforts herself with this thought: She’s about as safe as she can get, since she’s only entered once.

Oh, the irony!

The beautiful thing about this example is the way Collins twists it for dramatic tension. She lets readers know that Katniss has her name in the glass ball twenty times, and Gale forty-two times, making it clear the odds are not in their favor.

Because we instinctively know the way story works, we already know Katniss is going to the games. But Collins throws a curve ball when she has Effie Trinket draw Prim’s name instead. This adds a nice twist, both to the story and to our hearts as we see Katniss sacrifice herself for her sister. Great character reveal.

Near the end of the story, Katniss reflects on the bloodthirsty nature of the games and vows she’ll never let her children’s names go into the ball. At the time, she believes that’s because she’ll never have any children, but it foreshadows another path to the same result.

6. Character Traits

One way you can foreshadow a conflict is by developing your main character and giving the reader glimpses of how that character is on a collision course with an opposing force. Of course, this applies to secondary characters as well.

In The Godfather, Sonny Corleone’s aggressive behavior foreshadows future events in the movie as his lack of restraint leads to dire consequences, including his own death.

In The Wizard of Oz, many of the characters’ traits are foreshadowed in the beginning and brought to fruition as the story unfolds. For example, Miss Gulch is clearly portrayed as a witch, farmhand Zeke encourages Dorothy to be brave, and Hickory insists that someday they’ll erect a statue of him, foreshadowing their roles in the land of Oz.

In The Hunger Games, when Katniss and Peeta first arrive in the Capitol, Effie compliments their table manners, remarking with disgust that past tributes had no manners and ate with their hands. At which point Katniss drops her fork, eats with her fingers, and wipes them on the tablecloth, signifying her rebellion against the Capitol.

We also come to know that Katniss is not the forgiving type and that she will fight to the bitter end for what she perceives as justice.

It’s foreshadowed in the development of her character.

7. Character Relationships

Let interactions between characters point toward a certain conclusion, foreshadowing future events.

This brings to mind the beginning of The Matrix , when Neo’s jerk of a boss comes down hard on him, accusing Neo of thinking the rules don’t apply to him, that he’s special, that he must make a choice.

In Psycho, we’re treated to a foreshadowing of the true relationship Norman Bates has with his mother when he assures Marion Crane that his mother is “as harmless as one of those stuffed birds,” referring to a bit of taxidermy.

Batman’s future relationship with the Joker is foreshadowed in Batman Begins when Lieutenant Gordon shows him a playing card left by the new menace in Gotham City and says, “Take this guy—armed robbery, double homicide, and a taste for the theatrical. Like you. Leaves a calling card.”

In The Hunger Games, Katniss’s fierce love and protective attitude toward her sister foreshadow her volunteering as tribute in Prim’s place. And we know Peeta will put Katniss’s safety before his own in every circumstance. This bond foreshadows the relationship Katniss will have with the rebels, as a whole. They will protect her to the death.

8. Throwaway Details

Throwaway details are when your character does or says something that seems inconsequential in the moment, but in hindsight gains greater significance. Not a lot of attention is called to it, but readers may page back to that moment and say, “Aha! Now I see what it meant.”

This is seen in The Hunger Games when Peeta casually admits:

“I do the cakes,” meaning that he does the cake decorating in the family bakery. This foreshadows his skill at camouflage which comes in handy later in the story. And then there’s Katniss’s remark early in the story: “Plants are tricky. Many are edible, but one false mouthful and you’re dead.” This foreshadows more than one event to come, including the climactic berry moment.

9. Symbolism

Symbolism can provide an artful and powerful means of indirect foreshadowing. You might include something in your story that alludes to future events, or suggests what might happen, in an indirect manner.

When Andy Dufresne ends up in prison in The Shawshank Redemption, the prison warden comes to visit him in his cell. Spotting Andy’s Bible, the warden nods approvingly, admonishing him that, “Salvation lies within.” At the end of the movie, we discover that Andy’s salvation truly did lie within, as he’d hollowed out the pages of the good book to conceal the rock hammer with which he dug his tunnel to freedom.

There’s a lot of symbolic foreshadowing in The Hunger Games.

We’ve already mentioned the mockingjay pin and the bread Peeta threw to Katniss, signifying his sacrifice and her survival. But there’s also the dandelion Katniss saw sprouting through a crack beside the burnt bread. To her, it was a sign of hope, a good omen that meant she could make it. A few more examples include the Cornucopia full of valuable goods, yet in reality a deadly trap. Like the Capitol itself. And the melody Rue taught the mockingjays to signify the end of the day. That tune would someday signify the end of the Capitol.

10. Surprising but Inevitable

This method involves a series of subtle hints that a reader may, or may not, pick up on. Either way, after the foreshadowed event occurs, they’re able to flip back through the pages and see the indicators that made it feel surprising yet inevitable. Like Chekhov's gun.

In the movie Jaws, Chief Brody trips over a scuba tank on board the Orca and Hooper warns him that they’re combustible. Quint remarks: “Yeah, that’s real fine expensive gear you brought out here, Mr. Hooper. ‘Course, I don’t know what that bastard shark’s gonna do with it. Might eat it I suppose.” This points down a logical path to the shark’s eventual destruction.

There’s a scene in The Hunger Games where Katniss has to impress the Gamemakers but they pay her little mind, focused more on the feast laid before them—including a roast pig with an apple in its mouth. Infuriated, she sends an arrow straight into the apple, skewering it against the wall and riveting their attention.

This foreshadows a pivotal later scene where she must destroy the food stores of her rivals. This time her arrows send down a whole rain of apples, setting off a series of explosives, vaporizing the feast.

Foreshadowing is About Setup

Remember, a great deal of foreshadowing registers on a subconscious level with the reader. Sometimes it happens that way for the writer, too. Don’t discount the power of your own subconscious when describing a setting or developing a relationship.

This is as true for short stories as it is for novels, TV shows, films (Darth Vader, anyone?), or even a series like J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books—which literally set up major plot points for book seven in book one.

Adding the literary technique of foreshadowing to your writer’s toolbox is important for any writer hoping to write engaging plots without obnoxiously convenient plot twists.

Using the ten clever foreshadowing methods in this post will help you do just that.

How about you? Do you love catching on to a bit of foreshadowing in the stories you read or watch? Tell us about it in the comments .

Look at your story in progress. Consider how you can use one or more of the techniques we covered in the article and write a scene with foreshadowing. If you prefer, you can borrow one of these prompts:

• Kieren is in the forest, hunting the fox who attacked his sister.
• Penelope realizes her neighbor Stan has been stalking her.
• Jennifer plans a solo trip into the wilderness.

Remember to build foreshadowing into the scene. If you’d like to share your work in the comments, you might also include a short explanation about what your foreshadowing signifies.

Write for fifteen minutes , and when you’re finished, post in the Pro Practice Workshop and be sure to lend a word of encouragement or helpful critique for your fellow writers!

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Joslyn Chase

Any day where she can send readers to the edge of their seats, prickling with suspense and chewing their fingernails to the nub, is a good day for Joslyn. Pick up her latest thriller, Steadman's Blind , an explosive read that will keep you turning pages to the end. No Rest: 14 Tales of Chilling Suspense , Joslyn's latest collection of short suspense, is available for free at joslynchase.com .

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Foreshadowing: what it is and how to use it in your writing

Last updated Nov 30, 2023 | Blog

If you’d met her that day, you too would have thought her a good person. There was nothing to suggest otherwise.

Welcome to foreshadowing: a literary device that’s used to hint at what’s to come. It’s designed to increase tension and keep us turning pages. As a reader, it’s a technique you’ll have come across time and again. As a writer, it’s well worth exploring because it’s an invaluable tool to have at your disposal. It can give depth to your story and help you sow the seeds for what’s to follow, adding credibility to both character and plot. Below are five ways to use foreshadowing in your writing.

1) To get to the heart of a character

At the start of The Talented Mr Ripley , by Patricia Highsmith, we find our anti-hero sending letters on stationery he’s stolen from the Internal Revenue office. He informs the recipients that they must pay their tax ‘fines’ by cheque straight to his address. Immediately, we know he’s a thief and a forger; this foreshadows the fact that Ripley later pulls off the most audacious scam of all, stealing the identity of Dickie Greenleaf.

In the film, the foreshadowing is necessarily more visual. We see Ripley trying on Dickie’s clothes as he dances around the room alone. Two other scenes show him impersonating his voice and practising Dickie’s signature. It’s all done lightly, with a touch of humour. Later, when someone mistakes Tom for Dickie, he doesn’t correct them. It suddenly occurs to Ripley (and us) that of course he could be Dickie. He’s certainly prepared for it, hasn’t he? All the foreshadowing has led us to this, so it’s completely credible.

2) To tell us about emotions

There are many ways to foreshadow emotions or mood, but depicting weather is one of the most popular and can be used to great effect. My debut, She Came to Stay , is set during the toxic five-day smog that choked London in 1952.

I wanted to foreshadow the ambiguous, perilous friendship between Dina, the main character, and her secretive friend Bebba. As Bebba’s duplicitous nature comes to light, Dina stumbles through the thickening fog, getting lost; what was once familiar becomes unknown, what was safe is dangerous. The weather foreshadows what’s about to happen. Dina has misplaced her trust in Bebba, endangering her own life.

Do you write historical fiction?

Join our email list for regular tips, resources, and promotions designed to help you write and edit historical fiction., 3) as a motif, symbol or image.

Attaching a specific motif to a character can become a shorthand for who they are, and can also help you echo themes that run through your entire story. 

For example, Miss Haversham in Great Expectations is a jilted bride who sits in her decaying house, wearing her moth-eaten wedding dress. Clearly, Charles Dickens wanted to create a striking image for lost love, but her presence doesn’t just inform us about her story. She also foreshadows the unhappy emotional lives facing Pip and Estella in years to come. Estella’s husband is cruel, and she suffers for many years. Pip (who has desperately loved her) doesn’t get what he wants, either. Love is not easy, and Miss Haversham is the perfect symbol of how wrong it can go, foreshadowing for all she’s worth in her tattered wedding gown! 

Dickens was particularly adept at foreshadowing, and one of his most famous images is at the start of A Tale Of Two Cities. A splintered cask spills red wine onto the cobbled streets of Paris. Destitute citizens drink it greedily. This image is echoed later when the blood flows through the streets of Paris as the French Revolution takes hold, and people are ‘drunk’ on the chaos and caught up in the violence.

4) To pre-empt plot turning points

In Sarah Waters’ Fingersmith, young Sue watches Oliver Twist performed on stage and is distraught by Bill Sikes’ treatment of Nancy. This foreshadows what happens to Sue later, in adulthood, when she encounters a ‘Sikes’ of her own. Having seen her horror as a child when faced with such (fictional) evil, how will she fare when this happens to her in real life? Is she resilient enough to survive? The foreshadowing has given us an insight into her psyche and we’re now even more invested in her character.

5) To explore themes

From the very first lines in Wolf Hall to the last scene of her trilogy, The Mirror and The Light , Hilary Mantel uses foreshadowing to explore themes of power and corruption.

The first words: ‘ So now get up ’ find a young Thomas Cromwell lying on the cobbles in his father’s shadow having just suffered a beating.   Aware of his vulnerability, Thomas knows, ‘ One blow, properly placed, could kill him now. ’ 

Three books later, as he approaches his execution, Cromwell has been thinking of his father. The final scene in the trilogy sees him again bent over, aware that one blow, properly placed, will kill him. Mantel even repeats the lines from the start. ‘ A shadow falls across his view. His father, Walter is here, voice in the air. “ So now get up. ” He lies broken on the cobbles… ’

He was at his father’s mercy at the start and here he is, at the mercy of King Henry VIII. He came from nothing, rose to power and leaves with nothing. Proving the theme that wealth and power corrupts and destroys.

1) Keep it subtle.

Foreshadowing is a delicate business, so avoid spoilers or hefty nudges in a certain direction. Readers are sophisticated, and creating a general sense of unease will result in more tension than a big arrow that screams, ‘Look! A clue about what’s going to happen!’ Heavy-handedness can result in melodrama.

2) Not a planner?

Finish your draft and go back to sew in the foreshadowing later – many authors work like this to create depth.

3) Don’t foreshadow for the sake of it.

It can be exhausting for the reader because they simply won’t know what’s important. Decide what you’re trying to get across and focus on that.

4) Once you’ve finished a draft, ask someone else to read your work and question them.

In retrospect, was the foreshadowing too obvious? Did they ‘guess’ what you were doing? Did it spoil the flow of the story?

Eleni Kyriacou is an award-winning editor and journalist. Her debut novel, She Came to Stay , is a thriller about Greek Cypriot immigrants, set in 1952 Soho, London. It’s an Amazon number 1 bestseller and was longlisted for the Guardian ’s Not the Booker Prize. Follow Eleni on Twitter (and Instagram and Facebook) @elenikwriter , or visit her website: elenikwriter.com .

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Essay Title Generator

Essay titles are not the easiest things to come up with on your own. We know. That’s why we developed our Essay Title Generator to help you create the title your paper deserves. How does it work? Simple. Just enter the topic you’re interested in researching and a random title will be generated from our database based on the parameters you provide.

Why start with a title? Easy. The best way to start your research is to identify a specific focus within your topic—and that’s what a title does. It tells precisely what your paper is going to be about. So if you’re lost and confused about where to start, try our essay title generator.

How to Use our Essay Title Generator

1. Select your "essay topic" or "type of essay" from drop down menu 2. Click the button for "Generate Essay Title." 3. Read the title that our auto-generating system produces. 4. Want more? Click the button for "Generate More Essay Titles." 5. That’s all there is to it! Use our title to help get yourself started on your research.

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Essay Titles

Why would generating an  essay title  help you get started in your research? Think about it. Picking a focus for your paper is no walk in the park. How do you whittle down a broad topic to a narrow subject? Well, here’s a way! Try thinking of a snappy title first and going from there! Of course, not everybody is good at whipping up a creative title to get the juices flowing. That’s why we’re here to help.

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That’s what we’re doing here with our essay title generator. We’re helping you to create a great essay by helping you take the first step in that process. Get your title, get your engine revving, and get going!

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Essay Titles Generate Ideas

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Think about it—that’s what an essay title can do for you! It gets you elevated and out of the haze so that the research becomes accessible. In the dark, you’re fumbling for a way in, unable to find the key. Well, quit fumbling! The essay title is the key. It is the way in. It opens the door for you and turns on the lights. It points you in the right direction so all you need to do is follow the straight and narrow path

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Brainstorming Essay Titles

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How to Foreshadow Like a Pro

Every good story needs foreshadowing. This literary device keeps your readers curious and engaged, and it also makes for a satisfying story. No matter what the genre, foreshadowing infuses your story with an element of mystery. If done correctly, your readers will think, “ Hmmm, I wonder what this means. ”

But, foreshadowing is hard work. If you’re not careful and thoughtful in your approach, your foreshadowing can turn into foretelling. Where’s the fun in that? If you make the clues too obvious, your readers will lose interest way before you get to the climax of your story. Continuing to read the story will become a chore because the reader already knows what will happen.

In this post, let’s discuss the subtle art of foreshadowing. Here’s what you need to know to use this literary device correctly in your story.

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What is Foreshadowing?

Foreshadowing means a warning of something that will follow. It’s a head’s up to your readers to pay attention.

I like to think of foreshadowing as an actual shadow. In every story, there is a climax. This is the high point of the story, and it usually takes place within the second half of the story. Because this climax is so huge, it casts a shadow that should be visible even in the beginning of your story. The reader shouldn’t be able to make out what it is by only looking at the shadow. However, at the end of your story, the shadow should make perfect sense in context.

For this reason, foreshadowing goes hand in hand with plot development.

Also, in order to be effective, foreshadowing should be subtle, delicate and never overpowering.

Foreshadowing should not be confused with red herrings and foretellings. A red herring focuses on misdirecting the reader so that they don’t follow the correct path. Foretelling tells the reader exactly what will happen once they follow the correct path. Foreshadowing points the reader to the correct path, but does so without flashing neon lights.

Why Foreshadow?

Why should you bother with foreshadowing your story? Admittedly, it’s a lot of work to weave in hints about your upcoming plot point without giving it away. However, foreshadowing is so good when you get it right. Here’s why:

Foreshadowing Builds Tension

The reader knows that something’s off. A quiet clue or a curious phrase can elicit the reader’s suspicion. They lean in a little closer, wondering what this could portend for the future. From that point forward, every scene increases in intensity.

Why did she slip that knife into her pocket? Why, in their lush and green backyard, is there a patch of dead grass? Why does he wear a necklace made of keys?

While this question may not be in the forefront of the reader’s mind, it should continue to linger as they follow the characters through the story.

Foreshadowing Creates a Plausible Story

Surprises are fun sometimes. However, you don’t want to weave an entire story with unexpected events. The reader needs to believe the ending is plausible. If the reader gets to the end of your story and thinks, " That doesn’t make sense ," then your story has failed. Your goal is to sow hints throughout your story that only make complete sense after they’ve read it. Once they start looking back over the story, the reader will see the mastery of your foreshadowing and realize that they missed the clues. I love when that happens!

But Here’s Why You Shouldn't Always Foreshadow

Although I believe foreshadowing is essential to storytelling, I also believe that less is more. Too much foreshadowing can ruin a good story. Whether you’re dropping too many hints about an upcoming plot point or you’re foreshadowing every single upcoming event in the story, if you over-do it, you’ll wear out your reader.

As I mentioned earlier, some surprise is good. To balance your story, there needs to be revelations and circumstances that catch the reader off-guard.

If your reader is in a constant state of analysis, your pacing will suffer. To strike the perfect balance, introduce hints but then jolt your reader with something unexpected. To borrow from an above example, the character hides a knife in her pocket and then, seemingly out of nowhere, the factory down the street catches on fire. The reader stops thinking about the knife and must now focus on this other event, but that doesn’t mean the knife has disappeared.

How to Foreshadow Effectively

Now that we’ve defined foreshadowing and discussed why you should use it, let’s look at how to insert it into your story.

Understand the Basic Story

Most stories follow the same basic structure with six main plot elements. It goes like this:

1. Normalcy - This is where your story begins.

2. Inciting incident - Something happens that interrupts the character’s normal. The character must react.

3. Rising action - The character pursues a course of action until something knocks him off his feet. The character then must make a new choice.

4. Climax - This is the high point of the story and culmination of action or decision.

5. Falling action - This is where you tie up loose ends.

6. Resolution - New normal begins.

As writer K.M. Weiland masterfully illustrated in her guest post for TheCreativePenn , there is an opportunity to foreshadow in each of the above six plot elements. During normalcy, you can elude to the upcoming disruption. During the rising action, you can elude to how the characters will resolve their story lines.

Sometimes, it’s easier to look at your story in this way. Breaking it down into the basic plot elements can help you see when to foreshadow.

Sow the Seed as Early as Possible

You don't want to foreshadow too closely to the event. Instead, give the seed a chance to grow. This is especially true if you’re foreshadowing major plot points, such as what will happen in the rising action or climax portions of your story. Sow those seeds within the first few chapters of your book, and then let them grow slowly, even if only in the reader's subsconscious.

Scatter Clues Casually But Purposefully

When you foreshadow, don’t make it a big deal. It should be a casual mention. Don’t explicitly tell the reader, “Hey, this is important!” Let the reader figure it out.

Remember Chekhov's Gun

Short-story writer and playwright Anton Chekhov is credited with the literary technique known as Chekhov’s Gun. The idea is simple: Nothing in your story should be decoration. If you introduce a gun in your story, you need to shoot it at some point.

When applied to foreshadowing, remember to tie every loose end. Foreshadowing cannot be sloppy. Don’t insert clues that are never brought up again. If your character wears a necklace of keys, bring it up some place in the future, or don’t mention it to begin with.

Wait Until the Second Draft

Perhaps you’re lucky and foreshadowing comes easy for you. Whilst writing the story or even during the outline phrase, you’re able to naturally weave in clues about an upcoming plot element.

For everyone else who needs help with foreshadowing, don’t stress. I find that foreshadowing is easiest to accomplish after writing the first draft. Once you’ve gotten a chance to read the story and see how everything fits together, you can begin to sprinkle in the foreshadowing clues of what’s to come. In fact, even if you included foreshadowing in your first draft, you may see the need to tweak.

The second draft is when you begin to shape your story, rearrange scenes, strengthen pacing and increase tension by foreshadowing what’s to come. It’s not necessary to worry about foreshadowing until after you’ve written a rough draft of your story. Otherwise, your foreshadowed clue may be axed in edits.

Final Thoughts and Additional Resources

When done correctly, foreshadowing will engage the reader and inspire them to keep reading until the end. The above tips will work with both types of writers: Pantsers and planners. If you have any questions or comments, let us know below!

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8 foreshadowing laws: How to foreshadow right

What is foreshadowing? Generally, the term means a ‘warning or indication (of a future event)’ (OED). As a literary term, it means creating earlier scenes to build suspense, anticipation or understanding ahead of later plot developments. Learning how to foreshadow is a useful skill for creating well-structured writing. Here are 8 rules to foreshadow like a pro:

• Post author By Bridget McNulty
• 8 Comments on 8 foreshadowing laws: How to foreshadow right

What is foreshadowing? Generally, the term means a ‘warning or indication (of a future event)’ ( OED ). As a literary term, it means creating earlier scenes to build suspense, anticipation or understanding ahead of later plot developments. Learning how to foreshadow is a useful skill for creating well-structured writing. Here are 8 rules to foreshadow like a pro:

Rule 1: Make foreshadowing relevant

When planning the plot of your story or novel, make sure an incident needs foreshadowing before you include any.

Not every story event does need an early warning or clue it’s coming. Overusing foreshadowing can have an unintentionally comic effect. If you make a trivial event blown out of proportion, your writing assumes the melodramatic tone of a soap opera. Remember to save foreshadowing mostly for major events throughout your novel.

A good example of foreshadowing: The strange sounds Hogwarts’ students’ hear in the walls in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets , sounds that portend the monster they later discover.

What’s a bad example of foreshadowing? If, for example, a character’s eyes change colour or glow when something is about to happen. This is a cliche from the world of comic book superheroes.

Rule 2: Understand the purpose of foreshadowing

Foreshadowing shows a character’s action or an object and says ‘pay attention, this is important.’ We use this to build suspense or prepare readers for a turn of plot that would otherwise seem unlikely.

The purpose of your ‘forewarning’ will help you determine how to foreshadow in a chapter or scene. If you want to build suspense, your foreshadowing must be obvious enough for the reader to notice there is something going on.

For example, if you show your main character hiding a gun in his glove compartment, this foreshadows a violent event. The reader might ask, ‘Is he planning a hit? Is it for self-defence?’ These are pay-offs your plot can deliver later. You could even simply show your character hiding something , only later filling in the object’s identity. This is the fun of foreshadowing – you can be more or less obscure, depending on the amount of mystery you want to create .

If you are simply setting up a plot situation for later, and don’t want to create active suspense, your foreshadowing should be almost invisible to the reader. For example, you might describe your character browsing a job-hunting website in Chapter 1, to foreshadow a hostile, untenable work situation in a subsequent chapter.

Rule 3: Give the pay-off (like ‘Chekhov’s Gun’)

The brilliant playwright and short story author Anton Chekhov once said that if you introduce a gun in a story, it should go off at some point. Otherwise, it should not be there at all. This idea, known as ‘Chekhov’s Gun’ , is important for foreshadowing correctly.

There are exceptions, of course, to Chekhov’s advice. A novel has a bit more space to sprawl than either a short story or a play. It is not necessary for every element to have an important function at novel length.

However, the introduction of something major like a gun where it does not belong or a piece of shocking information (for example, a character discovering his colleague has committed fraud) needs to have a payoff later in the novel. Otherwise, the reader is likely to feel cheated and confused regarding what is significant and worth remembering and what is incidental.

Rule 4: Include plot foretelling at the outlining stage

Think about foreshadowing in terms of your structure. Whether you outline your novel in advance or not, you will probably need to think structurally to use this device effectively.

Your foreshadowing should occur far enough in advance to tip off the reader but not so far ahead that the reader forgets about it. If it does occur far ahead, include an occasional reminder of this significant plot point.

In David Lynch’s mystery series Twin Peaks , for example, he manages to sustain the audience’s curiosity about the identity of a killer who is not a member of the already-met cast by having the killer appear to characters in dreams and visions. These reminders keep the mystery of the killer’s identity alive, despite the show exploring many other subplots.

Having an overview of your story’s arc can help you decide where and how to introduce scenes or incidents that make us recall a significant, important earlier event.

If you don’t outline ahead of time, consider doing a reverse outline after finishing your first draft that just focuses on foreshadowing and the plot points your foreshadowing anticipates. Do you introduce foreshadowing early enough? Does it pay off? Don’t leave readers complaining ‘but what happened to x?’ (unless you want to puzzle and possibly infuriate readers on purpose).

Rule 5: Don’t overdo it

Getting foreshadowing right is all about using the right amount of emphasis. If you’re laying the groundwork, you don’t want to tip your hand to the reader too early. In fact, you want to plant suggestions that the reader registers at a near-subconscious level.

Ideally, when an event that will later prove significant occurs, the reader will be able to look back and see that the event was clearly foreshadowed even though she did not pick up on the clues. Often the best plot reveals combine surprise with inevitability. Of COURSE they were the killer , we say, even though there were other equally plausible candidates.

One way to ensure your forewarning isn’t too ham-fisted is to slip it into surrounding action or events. Perhaps character Pete is going over an insurance document when he notices something irregular, but he’s interrupted by a knock at the door and forgets about his discovery. Interruptions and changes of focus help to distract the reader from significant plot points (had the chapter ended with Pete’s discovery, readers would see the discovery as a weightier plot point and it would linger longer in their minds).

Rule 6: Make plot pay-offs fit their buildup

Make sure the pay-off in your plot fits the tone and mood of your foreshadowing. If you think back to movies you’ve seen and books you’ve read, you can probably remember examples where you’ve been let down by this. The story built until you expected something spectacular: a conspiracy unmasked, a great love revealed, a criminal brought to justice, an enormous secret finally told.

When what happens does not live up to these expectations the author has deliberately stoked, the disappointment can be crushing for the reader. It can, in fact, ruin the entire novel even if it has been satisfying up to that point. Even so, there are authors such as Kazuo Ishiguro who masterfully use anticlimax or bathos to thwart our expectations. Your leeway also depends on your genre – you can get away with more experimental and daring strokes in literary fiction than genre fiction where genre conventions (e.g. ‘the lovers unite’) are expected.

Rule 7: Use the revision stage to add or fix plot links

When you come to revising your draft, look for events that may need preceding shadows cast back through your narrative.

What events require foreshadowing? Plot events that would otherwise seem improbable, for one. If we know a character from the start of the book but he suddenly shoots up a mall in Chapter 7, it might read strangely if we have utterly no inclination of his violent potential.

Although shocking events have their place and can be effective, scattering a trail of crumbs through your story for readers to pick up or ignore will make your book one that rewards alert or repeat readings.

Rule 8: Get feedback on how you foreshadow your plot

Often you are so immersed in your fictional world and creative process that it’s difficult to get a more cohesive view of your story. To improve your foreshadowing, get feedback from others. You are likely so close to the story that plot points that make complete sense to you could confuse others.

Join Now Novel now to get feedback on your opening hook or a foreshadowing scene and improve your craft.

Related Posts:

• Foreshadowing in a sentence: Connecting story events
• Foreshadowing examples: How to tease plot developments
• Tags foreshadowing

By Bridget McNulty

Bridget McNulty is a published author, content strategist, writer, editor and speaker. She is the co-founder of two non-profits: Sweet Life Diabetes Community, South Africa's largest online diabetes community, and the Diabetes Alliance, a coalition of all the organisations working in diabetes in South Africa. She is also the co-founder of Now Novel: an online novel-writing course where she coaches aspiring writers to start - and finish! - their novels. Bridget believes in the power of storytelling to create meaningful change.

8 replies on “8 foreshadowing laws: How to foreshadow right”

Douglas Adams, in his fifth book, *Mostly Harmless*. Outstanding use of foreshadowing and pays off brilliantly.

Thanks for the recommendation, Dave. Hitchhiker’s Guide is great but I haven’t read that one yet.

My pleasure! It’s also a strong re-read for this very reason.

it’s been two years. have you read them yet?

The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle: The Thing Beneath the Bed has great foreshadowing.

Thanks for the recommendation, Isaac!

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[…] course, this comes with an important warning: You must pay off your symbolism. This is a core tenant of Chekov’s Gun, and for good reason. If you foreshadow a symbol […]

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15 Short Stories for Teaching Foreshadowing in Literature

Not sure where to start with teaching foreshadowing? Learn why short stories are my go-to method for teaching this literary technique. I’ll also share my favorite titles and best tips for using short stories for teaching foreshadowing .

Using Short Stories for Teaching Foreshadowing in Literature

Your students are likely familiar with the phrase “Hindsight is 20/20,” right? However, they may not be as familiar with foreshadowing—even though the two concepts have a lot in common. And that’s where explicit instruction and engaging short stories come into play. Because, much like hindsight, foreshadowing in a story can make things a lot clearer and help the plot, tensions, characters, and themes (you name it) make much more sense. Lucky for you, my teacher friend, I’m spilling all my secrets about using short stories for teaching foreshadowing in literature. Better yet, I’m sharing 15 short story titles with teaching-worthy foreshadowing that will engage your students.

Now, before jumping into a short story, you need to ensure your students know what the heck foreshadowing is.

What is Foreshadowing in Literature?

Foreshadowing is a storytelling technique where authors weave direct or subtle hints or clues about future events or development within the narrative. These hints can come in the form of setting, tone and mood, symbols, imagery, character, or recurring motifs and work to build a sense of anticipation and tension in the story. As a result, readers begin to speculate and make predictions or interpretations about where the story is going. Authors use foreshadowing to add depth to the plot, enhance character development, and engage readers on a deeper level. 

Two Types of Foreshadowing

There are two main types of foreshadowing in literature: direct and indirect. Direct, or explicit, foreshadowing is when an author provides an overt heads-up about future events or plot twists in a story. These straightforward hints give the reader clear expectations of what’s to unfold as the story progresses. In these cases, the reader is often privy to this information while the characters are not, leading to dramatic irony .

Indirect, or implicit, foreshadowing is far more subtle. With indirect foreshadowing, authors often rely on subtle clues, symbolism, or recurring motifs to hint at what is to come for the story’s characters and plot. Unlike direct foreshadowing, these indirect clues require a closer look as readers may overlook them the first time, only making complete sense of these hints at the very end or in hindsight after analyzing the text more closely.

Why Short Stories?

The key to teaching foreshadowing is compelling short stories. Thanks to their compact nature, short stories offer a manageable plot for analyzing foreshadowing in literature. Since foreshadowing isn’t always clear until a story’s end, shorter narratives allow students to fully understand the impact foreshadowing has on the plot, characters, and readers. Rather than taking weeks for a narrative arc to come together, students can comb through a story multiple times, looking for implicit and explicit hints from the author that they may have missed the first time around.

Overall, short stories provide a focused narrative for students to analyze the author’s use of foreshadowing techniques. Moreover, students can explore diverse themes, settings, and characters as they look at various uses and effects of foreshadowing across multiple works written by different authors.

15 Short Stories for Teaching Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is literally used for the sake of building suspense or anticipation, drawing a reader into the text—Even your most reluctant readers are sure to be engaged with these short stories perfect for teaching foreshadowing. Let me start by sharing 6 of my favorites.

1. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson

Students are always shocked when they realize what winning the lottery means in this short story. They will be on the edge of their seats as a town’s annual tradition takes a dark turn. Jackson employs subtle foreshadowing throughout her story to build tension until the big reveal: the “winner” is stoned to death by their fellow townspeople. This unexpected plot twist challenges readers to question the blind acceptance of tradition and the darker side of human nature.

2. “The Landlady” by Roald Dahl

Much like Jackson’s “The Lottery,” this story has a rather horrific ending—and students devour it every. single. time. When young Billy Weaver checks into a quaint bed and breakfast, he has no idea what he is truly in for. Despite the innkeeper’s initial warmth and friendliness, Dahl drops subtle hints that she may be hiding a more sinister side. Like Billy, students are quick to take note of the inn’s increasingly eerie décor and atmosphere and the landlady’s eccentric behaviors. Dahl keeps readers on edge as the story unfolds, building tension and suspense until finally revealing the landlady’s true intentions.

3. “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe

Poe is the master of foreshadowing, with “The Tell-Tale Hearts” being one of my (and my students) favorite examples. The story is told from the perspective of a “very dreadfully nervous” narrator as he attempts to convince the reader of his sanity as he, ironically, falls into a spiral of madness and guilt.  The narrator’s obsessive focuses, such as the old man’s eye and the heartbeat, hint at his murderous act and the plague of insanity that follows. Poe skillfully employs foreshadowing as he builds suspense leading up to the narrator ultimately confessing the crime.

4. “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs

Jacobs brings the classic saying “Be careful what you wish for” to life while this suspenseful tale. The story follows the White family and how their life changes after they come to possess a (creepy yet) magical monkey’s paw.  As the narrative unfolds, Jacobs foreshadows the story’s tragic ending through various warnings and superstitions surrounding the paw. With every wish the Whites make, there’s another warning that things may not be as they seem. However, as the Whites continue to push their luck, they find themselves faced with an unexpected—though expected if you understand the foreshadowing—tragedy.

5. “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury

What happens when humans become too reliant on technology? Nothing good, according to Ray Bradbury. The story begins by introducing the Hadley family and their highly tech-advanced Happylife Home. However, as soon as the parents start trying to limit their children’s dependence on technology, things slowly begin to hint at the not-so-happy ending for Mr. and Mrs. Hadley. Leave it to Bradbury to masterfully employ foreshadowing to create an atmosphere of eerie suspense and impending doom.

6. “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell

Students will be on the edge of their seats as a hunter becomes the hunted in this thrilling tale.

When Rainsford, an experienced hunter, finds himself trapped on a remote island with only two other people, including the mysterious General Zaroff, he doesn’t realize he will soon become victim to a rather sadistic game—at first. And neither do the readers. That is, until Connell starts to sprinkle various (and rather creepy) clues throughout the story, leading readers to anticipate the danger that lies ahead for Rainsford.

More Engaging Short Stories for Teaching Foreshadowing

The list above is far from exhaustive, and there are tons of short stories you can use to teach foreshadowing. Here are some other titles that I would highly recommend for teaching foreshadowing:

7. “The Birds” by Daphne du Maurier

8. “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe

9. “Death by Scrabble” by Charles Fish

10. “Click-Clack the Rattlebag” by Neil Gaiman

11. “The Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury

12. “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl

13. “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst

14. “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant

15. “Winter Dreams” by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Tips for Teaching Foreshadowing with Short Stories 

Short stories are a great teaching tool when it comes to foreshadowing. Pair a good short story with the following tips to engage even those reluctant students.

• Start with the Title: Begin the lesson by displaying the short story’s title (and cover image if applicable). Discuss how titles can serve as foreshadowing elements and ask students to make predictions about the narrative based on these initial clues. Not only does this get students thinking about foreshadowing, but it builds anticipation for the story ahead.
• Press Pause after the Story’s Beginning: If students are focused on reading comprehension, they may fail to pick up on both subtle and more direct foreshadowing clues authors drop at the beginning of a story. After reading the first paragraphs of the story, work as a class to analyze the setting, tone, mood, and characters. Prompt students to use their observations to speculate about what lies ahead.
• Connect to Author’s Craft: Teaching foreshadowing gives students a glimpse into the power of author’s craft . Make this connection even stronger by having students read and compare works from various authors to showcase a variety of uses of foreshadowing. Discuss how each author’s unique approach enhances the narrative and the reader’s experience.
• Provide Graphic Organizers: Foreshadowing, especially when indirect, can be a challenging concept for many students, especially struggling readers. Providing graphic organizers can help students process their thoughts and track foreshadowing elements as they read, rather than attempting to keep track of it in their head (or not at all).
• Post-Reading Close Reading: Readers don’t always pick up on, or make complete sense of, foreshadowing the first time around. In other cases, an author’s subtle hints don’t make sense until the story’s end. After reading, have students closely analyze instances of foreshadowing for a deeper understanding of how the literary technique impacts a narrative.
• Write an Alternate Ending: If you’re looking for a challenging yet creative way to get students thinking about foreshadowing, have them write an alternative ending to or continuation of the short story. This activity requires students to think critically and creatively as they must look closely at the author’s hints and consider how foreshadowed events could have unfolded.

Time to Get Planning!

If you’ve made it this far, you have the information you need to start outlining a highly engaging foreshadowing lesson using short stories. Between definitions, short story titles, and teaching tips, you’re ready to go! Talk about a worthwhile read.

So, what are you waiting for? Choose one (or several) of the titles and tips above and start planning. Just make sure to come back to let me know how it went. And if you have any other short stories to add to the list, leave a comment below. The more short stories the merrier! If you love using short stories in your classroom as much as I do, don’t miss my posts about using these short narratives to teach setting , tone and mood ,  inferences , point of view , and plot .

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Divine G, imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn't commit, finds purpose by acting in a theatre group alongside other incarcerated men in this story of resilience, humanity, and the tra... Read all Divine G, imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn't commit, finds purpose by acting in a theatre group alongside other incarcerated men in this story of resilience, humanity, and the transformative power of art. Divine G, imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn't commit, finds purpose by acting in a theatre group alongside other incarcerated men in this story of resilience, humanity, and the transformative power of art.

• Greg Kwedar
• Clint Bentley
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• Sean Dino Johnson
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• 1 User review
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• John 'Divine G' Whitfield

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• Trivia Most of the cast is made up of formerly incarcerated members of the real-life theatre troupe.

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• Mar 19, 2024
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• August 2, 2024 (United States)
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