MIDDLE SCHOOL ENGLISH INSTRUCTION: Unit 2, Lesson 5
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Focus of the lesson: foreshadowing, flashback, symbolism,
irony
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FORESHADOWING
Foreshadowing is an author’s use of hints or clues to suggest events that
will occur later in the story. Not all foreshadowing is obvious. Frequently,
future events are merely hinted at through dialogue, description, or the
attitudes and reactions of the characters.
Foreshadowing frequently serves two purposes. It builds suspense by raising
questions that encourage the reader to go on and find out more about the
event that is being foreshadowed. Foreshadowing is also a means of making
a narrative more believable by partially preparing the reader for events which
are to follow.
Foreshadowing usually consists of only one or two sentences, and is
especially effective when ending a scene or chapter. An example of
foreshadowing:
Sam wished he could rid himself of the sick feeling in his gut that told him
something terrible was going to happen, and happen soon.
Many examples of foreshadowing are present in the story “The Landlady,”
which you read for Unit 2, Lesson 1.
ACTIVITY 2-5-1
Access page 73 in “The Landlady” in the Holt online text. Then complete
the Activity on Foreshadowing.
ACTIVITY ON FORESHADOWING
DIRECTIONS: There are many examples of foreshadowing in the story
“The Landlady” – hints that Billy was in great danger in the landlady’s
house.
Begin reading on page 73. As you read, identify four examples of
foreshadowing in the story and list them in the space provided on the next
page.
MIDDLE SCHOOL ENGLISH INSTRUCTION: Unit 2, Lesson 5
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EXAMPLES OF FORESHADOWING IN “THE LANDLADY”:
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MIDDLE SCHOOL ENGLISH INSTRUCTION: Unit 2, Lesson 5
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FLASHBACK
Flashback is a device that allows the writer to present events that happened
before the time of the current narration or the current events in the
narrative. Flashback techniques include memories, dreams, stories of the
past told by characters, or even an interruption by the author. (That is, the
author might simply say, "But back in Tom's youth . . .") Flashback is useful
for exposition or to fill in the reader about a character or place or about the
background to a conflict.
An example of flashback occurs in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol when
the Ghost of Christmas Past takes Scrooge into his past to see scenes from
his youth.
ACTIVITY 2-5-2
Complete the following brief activity on flashback.
ACTIVITY ON FLASHBACK
DIRECTIONS: Below is an excerpt from “Last Cover” by Paul
Annixter. Read the excerpt. Then underline the sentence or phrase
that signals the beginning the flashback in this passage.
At supper that night, Colin could scarcely eat. Ever since he’d
been able to walk, my brother had had a growing love of wild things,
but Bandit had been like his very own, a gift of the woods. One
afternoon a year and a half before, Father and Laban Small had been
running a vixen through the woods with their dogs. With the last of
her strength, the she-fox had made for her den, not far from our
house. The dogs had overtaken her and killed her just before she
reached it. When Father and Laban came up, they’d found Colin
crouched nearby holding her cub in his arms.
MIDDLE SCHOOL ENGLISH INSTRUCTION: Unit 2, Lesson 5
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SYMBOLISM
Symbolism is a device in literature where an object represents an
idea. In William Blake's poem "The Lamb," the speaker tells the lamb
that the force that made him or her is also called a lamb:
Little lamb, who made thee?
Little lamb, who made thee?
Little lamb, I'll tell thee,
Little lamb, I'll tell thee!
He is called by thy name,
For he calls himself a lamb;
The symbol of the lamb (representing innocence and purity) in the
above lines corresponds to the symbolism of the lamb in Christianity,
wherein Christ is referred to as The Lamb of God.
ACTIVITY 2-5-3 Complete the activity on SYMBOLISM.
ACTIVITY ON SYMBOLISM
DIRECTIONS: Read the poem by Langston Hughes. Then complete
the assignment that follows.
Mother to Son by Langston Hughes
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So, boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps.
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now—
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
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MIDDLE SCHOOL ENGLISH INSTRUCTION: Unit 2, Lesson 5
Identify the major symbol in this poem, and explain what you
believe it symbolizes. Cite lines in the poem that caused you to
choose this particular symbolism.
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IRONY
Irony is a term with a range of meanings, all of them involving some
sort of discrepancy or incongruity (that is, a disconnect between what
is expected and what actually occurs). It should not be confused
with sarcasm, which is simply language designed to cause pain. Irony
is used to suggest the difference between appearance and reality,
between expectation and fulfillment.
Types of irony include the following:
Verbal irony occurs when the opposite is said from what is intended.
For example, when a wife says to her husband who has just bought a
car they cannot afford, “Time to go home, Bill Gates,” she is using
verbal irony.
Dramatic irony is the contrast between what a character says or
knows and what the reader knows to be true. For example, in
Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello, Othello believes Iago to be his best
friend and advisor, while the audience knows that Iago hates Othello
and is doing everything in his power to destroy Othello.
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MIDDLE SCHOOL ENGLISH INSTRUCTION: Unit 2, Lesson 5
Irony of situation is discrepancy between appearance and reality, or
between expectation and fulfillment, or between what exists and what
would seem appropriate. For example, if we see a scene in which two
lovers on the deck of a ship swear eternal love for one another and
promise to be together all their lives, and then the camera pulls back
to reveal a life preserver stenciled RMS Titanic, that’s situational irony.
Other examples could be a firehouse burning down, or a person being
killed by being run over by an ambulance.
ACTIVITY 2-5-4
Complete the ACTIVITY ON IRONY that follows on pp. 7-8.
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MIDDLE SCHOOL ENGLISH INSTRUCTION: Unit 2, Lesson 5
ACTIVITY ON IRONY
DIRECTIONS: Read the poem “Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley Randall.
The poem is about the 1963 bombing of a church in which four little
African-American girls were killed. After reading the poem, complete the
activity that follows.
Ballad of Birmingham
(On the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963)
"Mother dear, may I go downtown
Instead of out to play,
And march the streets of Birmingham
In a Freedom March today?"
"No, baby, no, you may not go,
For the dogs are fierce and wild,
And clubs and hoses, guns and jails
Aren't good for a little child."
"But, mother, I won't be alone.
Other children will go with me,
And march the streets of Birmingham
To make our country free."
"No, baby, no, you may not go,
For I fear those guns will fire.
But you may go to church instead
And sing in the children's choir."
She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair,
And bathed rose petal sweet,
And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands,
And white shoes on her feet.
The mother smiled to know that her child
Was in the sacred place,
But that smile was the last smile
To come upon her face.
For when she heard the explosion,
Her eyes grew wet and wild.
She raced through the streets of Birmingham
Calling for her child.
She clawed through bits of glass and brick,
Then lifted out a shoe.
"O, here's the shoe my baby wore,
But, baby, where are you?"
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MIDDLE SCHOOL ENGLISH INSTRUCTION: Unit 2, Lesson 5
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Use the space provided to explain the irony in this poem. Be sure to
include examples from the text.
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