Foreshadowing is a literary device that hints at future events in a story. It creates suspense by setting up expectations in the reader through recurring symbols, character reactions, settings, dialogue, and more. Examples include a mother's concern for her daughter in Little Red Riding Hood foreshadowing the appearance of the wolf, and Indiana Jones commenting on unstable ground before an earthquake. Foreshadowing has been used for centuries in literature to surprise readers or shift the mood.

2. 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.

3. • Writers and storytellers utilize recurring symbols, motifs, and
other elements 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
 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

4. In the fairy tale, Little Red Riding Hood, the mother is concerned for her
daughter's safety. Her concern foreshadows the appearance of the big bad wolf.
In Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, when Donavan says that they are a few
steps away from the Grail, Indy says, "that's usually where the ground falls out
from underneath your feet." Later, there is an earthquake when they find the
Grail.
Foreshadowing as a storytelling motif started from the very first star wars film.
In a NEW HOPE, Lucas uses light and dark colors to signify the good and bad
guys.

5. 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.
readers likely won’t realize the meaning of the clues until they witness the foreshadowed
event.
A great example of indirect foreshadowing occurs in The Empire Strikes Back: In a
mysterious vision, Luke Skywalker sees that the face behind Darth Vader’s mask is his own.

6. Foreshadowing has been used as a literary device for many centuries,
and can be found everywhere from ancient Greek tragedies and old
English epics to contemporary novels and plays. Authors might use
foreshadowing so as to prepare the reader for some sort of shock or
twist in the story. Foreshadowing can also subtly shift the mood of a
piece of literature by introducing either some optimism in a dark
piece or hinting at a tragic outcome in what otherwise seems to be a
happy story. This usage of foreshadowing adds tension and leads to
certain expectations on the part of the reader that the author can
either satisfy.