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Foreshadowing
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{{Short description|Literary technique}} {{About|the literary device|the security vulnerability|Foreshadow|other uses|Foreshadowing (disambiguation)}}{{Multiple image | image1 = Joseph dreams of wheat.JPG | image2 = Bourgeois Joseph recognized by his brothers.jpg | direction = vertical | caption1 = In the [[Book of Genesis]], [[Joseph (Genesis)|Joseph]] dreams of his brothers' grain bundles bowing to his own. | caption2 = Later on, when Joseph becomes [[Vizier (Ancient Egypt)|vizier of Egypt]], his brothers bow to him as hinted by the dream. }} '''Foreshadowing''' is a [[narrative device]] in which a storyteller gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story. Foreshadowing often appears at the beginning of a story, and it helps develop or subvert the audience's expectations about upcoming events.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ginsburg|first=Michal Peled|date=1997|editor-last=Prince|editor-first=Gerald|editor2-last=Reid|editor2-first=Ian|editor3-last=Duyfhuizen|editor3-first=Bernard|title=Framing Narrative|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1773187|journal=Poetics Today|volume=18|issue=4|pages=571β588|doi=10.2307/1773187|jstor=1773187 |issn=0333-5372|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-10-08|title=What is Foreshadowing? {{!}}{{!}} Oregon State Guide to Literary Terms|url=https://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/wlf/what-foreshadowing|access-date=2021-06-30|website=College of Liberal Arts|language=en}}</ref> The writer may implement foreshadowing in many different ways such as character dialogues, plot events, and changes in setting. Even the title of a work or a chapter can act as a clue that suggests what is going to happen. Foreshadowing in fiction creates an atmosphere of suspense in a story so that the readers are interested and want to know more. The literary device is generally used to build anticipation in the minds of readers about what might happen next to add dramatic tension to a story. Moreover, foreshadowing can make extraordinary and bizarre events appear credible, and some events are predicted so that the audience feels that it [[anticipate|anticipated]] them.<ref name=devices>{{cite web|title=Foreshadowing|url=https://literarydevices.net/foreshadowing/|website=Literarydevices.net|access-date=December 8, 2017}}</ref> Hints may be about future events, character revelations, and plot twists to create mood, convey theme, and build suspense, usually to hint at the good events that will likely cross paths with or happen to the main character later on.<ref>{{cite web |title=Foreshadowing |url=https://literarytechniques.org/foreshadowing/ |website=www.literarytechniques.org |access-date=20 June 2019}}</ref> Plot can be delayed by situations or events to give the impression that something momentous will occur to build anticipation and emphasize importance to them, which gives the audience a series of questions, particularly after [[cliffhangers]]. The literary device is frequently adapted for use by [[composers]] of theatrical music, in the composition of [[operas]], [[Musical theatre|musicals]], [[radio]], [[films]], [[television]], [[video game|gaming]], [[podcasts]], and internet scores and [[underscoring|underscores]], and [[incidental music]] for spoken theatrical productions.
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