Practice Flashcards
Flip to reveal answersWhat is foreshadowing?
Track your progress — Sign up free to save your progress and get smart review reminders based on spaced repetition.
All 10 Flashcards — Foreshadowing
Sign up free to track progress and get spaced-repetition review schedules.
Question
What is foreshadowing?
Answer
A small early hint that quietly warns the reader of what's coming later.
Question
Give an example of foreshadowing.
Answer
A mention of ‘the loose stair’ pages before someone falls.
Question
What is a planted detail?
Answer
A small object or fact dropped in early that seems minor but matters later.
Question
How can mood foreshadow?
Answer
A heavy or dark mood quietly warns the reader that trouble is coming.
Question
How do you analyse foreshadowing?
Answer
Name the hint AND the later event it sets up.
Question
Why do writers foreshadow?
Answer
To build tension and make a later event feel prepared, not random.
Question
Can a happy line foreshadow bad things?
Answer
Yes — ‘nothing could go wrong’ often warns the opposite.
Question
When do you often notice foreshadowing?
Answer
At the payoff — you feel it once the later event arrives.
Question
Foreshadowing vs a random detail?
Answer
Foreshadowing pays off later; a random detail leads nowhere.
Question
Commonest mistake here?
Answer
Calling every early detail foreshadowing without naming its payoff.
Read the notes
Full study notes for Foreshadowing
Topic 1.5 hub
Irony & meaning
More from Topic 1.5
All flashcards in this topic
English A Lang & Lit exam skills
Paper structures & tips
Track your progress with spaced repetition
Sign up free — Aimnova tells you exactly which cards to review and when, so you remember everything before your IB exam.
Start Free