What is Foreshadowing?
Hinting at something that comes later in your story (without giving it away).
Writers use foreshadowing to:
- Build suspense
- Suggest a future outcome
- Set the stage
- Get readers invested
Examples
- Shakespeare’s Macbeth features foreshadowing. When the witches meet Banquo and Macbeth, they predict two things:
Banquo will become an ancestor to a line of kings but won’t rule himself.
And Macbeth will become the King of Scotland.
Both prophecies foreshadow events later in the play.
- In Little Red Riding Hood, Red’s mother worries about her safety, foreshadowing the appearance of the Big Bad Wolf.