Which term involves hints about what will happen later, scattered through the narrative?

Which term involves hints about what will happen later, scattered through the narrative?

• A. Foreshadowing
• B. Exposition
• C. Hyperbole
• D. Imagery

Answer: (A)

Foreshadowing involves hints about what will happen later, scattered through the narrative. These clues prepare readers for upcoming events, creating suspense and a sense of inevitability without giving away the exact outcomes. The hints can appear in small details—a character’s line, a symbolic object, a threatening weather pattern, or a seemingly minor event that later takes on greater significance. This technique helps knit the story together, rewarding attentive reading when the later developments click with the earlier threads. In contrast, exposition delivers background information about setting, situation, and characters at the outset; it’s about establishing context rather than forecasting events. Hyperbole is exaggeration used for emphasis or humorous effect, not to signal future plot points. Imagery focuses on vivid sensory details to create a mood or picture, not specifically to hint at what will happen next.

Foreshadowing involves hints about what will happen later, scattered through the narrative. These clues prepare readers for upcoming events, creating suspense and a sense of inevitability without giving away the exact outcomes. The hints can appear in small details—a character’s line, a symbolic object, a threatening weather pattern, or a seemingly minor event that later takes on greater significance. This technique helps knit the story together, rewarding attentive reading when the later developments click with the earlier threads.

In contrast, exposition delivers background information about setting, situation, and characters at the outset; it’s about establishing context rather than forecasting events. Hyperbole is exaggeration used for emphasis or humorous effect, not to signal future plot points. Imagery focuses on vivid sensory details to create a mood or picture, not specifically to hint at what will happen next.