The Foreshadowing by Marcus Sedgwick
Year 9 Reading Activities
Introduction
The following resources provide a three-lesson study of three key elements of the novel:
 How major events in the novel’s narrative are deliberately foreshadowed earlier on
(AF3).
 The theme of fate (AF6).
 The relationship between the novel and the story of Cassandra from Greek
mythology (AF7).
Each element is introduced and explored in whole-class work before students work
independently on an Assessment Task.
Resources include detailed lesson plans, marking guidance and student resource sheets.
Timing
It is envisioned that these reading activities will be taught over three lessons of about one
hour each, although you may wish to adjust timings to suit the needs of your class. The
Assessment Tasks are introduced discretely, one a lesson. It is suggested that each task is
completed before moving on to the next one. This might mean that extra time needs to be
given for task completion, either in the form of extra lessons or homework.
Framework Objectives and Assessment Focuses
Once you have completed the study with your students, they will have engaged with the
following Framework Objectives and Reading Assessment Focuses:
5.2 – Understanding and responding to ideas, viewpoint, themes and purposes in
texts.
6.1 – Relating texts to the social, historical and cultural contexts in which they were
written.
6.2 – Analysing how writers’ use of linguistic and literary features shapes and
influences meaning.
AF2 – Understand, describe, select or retrieve information, events or ideas from texts
and use quotation and reference to text.
AF3 – Deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts.
AF5 – Explain and comment on writers’ uses of language, including grammatical and
literary features at word and sentence level.
AF6 – Identify and comment on writers’ purposes and viewpoints and the overall effect
of the text on the reader.
AF7 – Relate texts to their social, cultural and historical contexts and literary traditions.
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The Foreshadowing Year 9 Reading Activities
LESSON 1
Learning objectives:
Resources:

To notice and interpret clues in
a text.

Copies of The Foreshadowing.


Resource sheet 1: Tom and Edgar.
To appreciate the significance
of small details in a text.

Resource sheet 4: The Assessment
Tasks.
Starter
Introduction
Development
Share the learning objectives with the class. Divide the class into pairs
and give them two minutes to discuss whether they noticed any clues
as to what was going to happen while reading the novel.
Tell the class that now you have all read the novel, you want to reread early parts to think again about their significance. Show the
paragraph from Chapter 99, pages 8–9 that is reproduced in
Resource sheet 1: Tom and Edgar. Model for the class how some
details have a new significance now that you know the rest of the
novel. Here are some aspects you might draw attention to:

The fact that Tom is gazing out to sea might suggest he is
more thoughtful than Edgar about life and the future.

Edgar is ‘bigger, and stronger’ and this fits with his
determination to do things without questioning them. For
example, he does what his father wants and enlists at once.
‘He never seems to worry about things, he just does them.’

As it turns out, when Edgar becomes deeply involved in the
fighting he softens and suddenly seems less strong and sure.
In this 'softer' state he even visits Tom and tells him he has
come round to his point of view.

In a way, this early paragraph deliberately misleads the reader.
Perhaps it wasn't surprising that Tom eventually enlisted as a
private and exposed himself to the most dangerous role in the
war: this early paragraph makes it quite clear that he is very
protective – he ‘worries about people’.
Ask the class to finish off the analysis of this paragraph. Ask them to
spot things in the paragraph that become more significant later in the
novel. Take feedback.
Now introduce the first Assessment Task, which is also set out on
Resource sheet 4: The Assessment Tasks:
‘Explain ways in which Chapter 86 foreshadows or hints at things that
happen later in the novel.’ (AF3)
Independent
work
2
Ask students to complete the first Assessment Task. More-confident
students can plan and write alone, but you may wish to pair lessconfident students for the planning stages of this task.
The Foreshadowing Year 9 Reading Activities
LESSON 2
Learning objectives:
Resources:

To notice and interpret clues in a
text.

To appreciate the significance of
small details in a text.

To examine the theme of fate in The
Foreshadowing.

Copies of The Foreshadowing.

Resource sheet 2: Reading a book
backwards.

Resource sheet 4: The Assessment
Tasks.
Starter
Share the learning objectives with the class. Explain that the learning
for this lesson incorporates and builds on what was studied last
lesson.
Introduction
Suggest to the class that, just as Alexandra believes she can predict
the future, a careful reader can use clues to predict the rest of a
novel. Show the class Resource sheet 2: Reading a book backwards
and use it to develop a discussion around these questions:

Is Alexandra's gift a curse or a blessing?

If she can predict the future does that mean that our lives are
fated?

What does The Foreshadowing suggest about fate and how
people react to it?
You could also ask the class to try answering Alexandra's own
questions on the resource sheet.
Development
Introduce the second Assessment Task, which is also set out on
Resource sheet 4: The Assessment Tasks:
‘What does The Foreshadowing suggest about fate and how people
react to it?’ (AF6)
Explain that students will need to write about:
Independent
work
3

fate and how it affects the characters' lives

how characters react to Alexandra's ability to foretell the future

whether there might be more ordinary explanations for
Alexandra's apparent ability to see into the future.
Ask students to complete the second Assessment Task. Moreconfident students can plan and write alone, but you may wish to pair
less-confident students for the planning stages of this task.
The Foreshadowing Year 9 Reading Activities
LESSON 3
Learning objective:

To understand how Marcus
Sedgwick uses the story of
Cassandra in The
Foreshadowing.
Starter
Introduction
Resources:

Copies of The Foreshadowing.

Resource sheet 3: Cassandra.

Resource sheet 4: The Assessment Tasks.

Internet or library access.
Share the learning objective with the class. Explain the importance
and influence of Greek myths on modern literature.
Show Resource sheet 3: Cassandra and ask the class how the details
of Cassandra's story are echoed in Alexandra's.
Divide students into small groups and allow them ten minutes to
discuss the parallels between the stories of Cassandra and
Alexandra. Then take some brief feedback, or re-group students to
share their ideas more widely.
Development
Introduce the third Assessment Task, which is also set out on
Resource sheet 4: The Assessment Tasks:
‘Explain how Marcus Sedgwick uses the story of Cassandra in The
Foreshadowing.’ (AF7)
The students would benefit from researching the story of Cassandra
in more detail, either in the library or through the Internet.
Independent
work
4
Ask students to complete the third Assessment Task. More-confident
students can plan and write alone, but you may wish to pair lessconfident students for the planning and research stages of this task.
The Foreshadowing Year 9 Reading Activities
Marking guidelines
Level
AF2
AF3
(Task 1)
4
Some relevant points
identified.
Comments supported by
some generally relevant
textual reference or
quotation, e.g. reference is
made to appropriate section
of novel but is unselective
and lacks focus.
Comments make simple
inferences based on
evidence, e.g. ‘Ray’s “voice
was flat” (page 40) because
he was depressed’.
Inferences often plausible,
but comments are not always
rooted securely in the text or
they simply repeat narrative
or content.
AF5
Some basic features of
writer’s use of language
identified, e.g. ‘Alexandra
uses mostly simple language
like in a diary’.
5
The most relevant points clearly identified,
including those selected from different
places in the novel.
Comments generally supported by
relevant textual reference or quotation,
even when points made are not always
accurate.
Comments develop explanation of
inferred meanings drawing on evidence
across the text, e.g. ‘When Alexandra
comments that Jack’s eyes are lifeless
and have lost their fire it reminds us of
Edgar’s dull and flat mood when he
returns from fighting’.
Comments make inferences and
deductions based on textual evidence,
e.g. in drawing conclusions about Edgar’s
feelings on the basis of his speech and
actions.
Various features of writer’s use of
language identified, with some
explanation, e.g. ‘When it gets to the
exciting part when Alexandra is about to
shoot Tom she writes with lots of short
sentences to keep up the tension’.
Continued
5
The Foreshadowing Year 9 Reading Activities
Continued
6
Relevant points clearly identified.
Evidence compared from different parts of
the novel.
Use of apt textual reference and quotation
to support main ideas or argument.
Comments securely based in textual
evidence.
Different layers of meaning identified, with
some attempt at detailed exploration of
them, e.g. explaining the conflicting impact
of words and phrases or exploring
connotations of clues in the text.
Comments consider wider implications or
significance of information, events or ideas
in the text, e.g. tracing how details
contribute to overall meaning or how hints
and clues have cumulative significance.
Some detailed explanation, with appropriate
terminology, of how language is used, e.g.
drawing attention to the use of ‘pathetic
fallacy’ to introduce Hoodoo Jack on page
139.
Continued
7
Evidence precisely chosen and
applied to the point being made,
e.g. close analysis of impact of a
single word, or, deft selection
across a longer textual stretch to
evaluate Alexandra’s viewpoint.
Ability to see the significance of a
reference within novel as a whole.
Comments begin to develop an
interpretation of characters and/or
themes, making connections
between insights, teasing out
meanings or weighing up
evidence, e.g. considering the
relative importance of different
pieces of evidence when
considering different
foreshadowings in the novel;
exploring more than one
interpretation.
Comments begin to develop
precise, perceptive analysis of
how language is used, e.g.
showing how Alexandra’s
repetition of ‘things’ on page 38
shows her growing determination
that ‘things will be all right’.
Continued
Level
AF5
(cont’d)
4
Simple comments on writer’s
choices, e.g. ‘“squirming” (page 26)
is a good word to use to show how
the soldier felt frightened and
trapped’.
5
Comments show some awareness of the
effect of writer’s language choices, e.g.
‘“devoted” (page 37) suggests that Miss
Garrett really loves her books’.
AF6
(Task 2)
Main purpose identified, e.g. ‘It’s
about how people can see things
through to the end’.
Sedgwick’s main purpose clearly
identified, often through general
overview, e.g. ‘Sedgwick thinks
Alexandra should be listened to and he
wants the reader to agree’.
Simple comments show some
awareness of writer’s viewpoint,
e.g. ‘You might begin to believe in
the power of premonition'.
Simple comment on overall effect
on reader, e.g. ‘Alexandra
describes herself as “alone, but not
alone” (page 241) so you know she
doesn’t feel as alone as she did’.
AF7
(Task 3)
Features common to both The
Foreshadowing and the Cassandra
myth are identified, with simple
comment, e.g. both main
characters are forced to do things
against their will and they have to
fight against restrictions.
Simple comment on how the time in
which the novel was set or written
affects the meaning of The
Foreshadowing.
6
The Foreshadowing Year 9 Reading Activities
Viewpoint clearly identified, with some,
often limited, explanation, e.g. “At the
end Alexandra feels at peace at last
because….”.
6
Some drawing together of comments
on how the writer’s language choices
contribute to the overall effect on the
reader, e.g. pointing out the sort of
language that typifies characters’
horrified reactions to those who can
see their futures.
Evidence for identifying Sedgwick’s
purposes precisely located at
word/sentence level or traced through
the novel.
Viewpoint clearly identified and
explanation of it developed through
close reference to the text, e.g. ‘At this
point Alexandra seems obsessed and
willing to do anything’.
General awareness of effect on the
reader, with some, often limited,
explanation, e.g. ‘You’d probably be
horrified by Alexandra’s premonitions
because you’d know she couldn’t do
anything about them’.
The effect on the reader clearly
identified, with some explicit
explanation as to how the effect has
been created.
Comments identify similarities and
differences between the novel and the
Cassandra myth with some explanation.
Some exploration of parallels between
The Foreshadowing and the
Cassandra myth, and of how the latter
enhances the effect of Sedgwick’s
novel.
Some explanation of how the contexts in
which texts are written, set and read
contribute to meaning, e.g. some
comparison of Cassandra’s and
Alexandra’s struggle against oppression.
Some detailed discussion of how the
contexts in which texts are written, set
and read affect meaning, e.g. how the
role of the heroine is treated differently.
7
Some appreciation of how
Sedgwick’s language choices
contribute to the overall effect on
the reader, e.g. how Alexandra’s
language reveals the urgency and
determination of her search for
Tom.
Responses begin to develop
some analytic or evaluative
comment on how Sedgwick
presents the theme of fate, e.g.
considering whether Sedgwick is
suggesting that the power to see
the future is real, or whether
Alexandra’s premonitions can
have other explanations.
Responses begin to develop
some analytic or evaluative
comment on how viewpoint is
established or managed across
the novel, e.g. tracing how our
attitudes towards Alexandra’s
powers of foresight develop
during the novel.
Responses begin to show some
analysis of how The
Foreshadowing is influenced by
the Cassandra myth, e.g. how the
essential features of Cassandra’s
story are threaded through the
novel to amplify its themes and
mood.
Resource sheet 1: Tom and Edgar
Tom was gazing out at the sea lapping way
beyond the West Pier, his thin frame silhouetted
by a bright summer's sun outside. It made me
think as I often did that it was hard to imagine
my two brothers were related. Edgar's so much
bigger, and stronger. He never seems to worry
about things, he just does them, whereas Tom
worries about everything and everyone. I'm told
that once, when I was little, I was crying about a
dead bird in the garden, and he put his arm
round me and told me that animals go to
heaven too. I don't suppose that's true, but he
wanted to make me happy. That's how much he
worries about people.
Pages 8–9
7
The Foreshadowing Year 9 Reading Activities
Resource sheet 2: Reading a book backwards
A thought strikes me. What if I see something
about someone I love, someone in my family?
What if I see something about myself?
And if I really can see the future, then what
does it mean? Is there any sense in our lives if
everything is already out there, just waiting to
happen?
For if that were so then life would be a horrible
monster indeed, with no chance of escape from
fate, from destiny.
It would be like reading a book you know very
well, but reading it backwards, from the final
chapter, down to chapter one, so that the end is
already known to you.
Page 65
8
The Foreshadowing Year 9 Reading Activities
Resource sheet 3: Cassandra
In Greek mythology Cassandra
had the gift of prophecy – she
could predict the future.
When Cassandra disobeyed a
god she was punished by
having all her prophecies
disbelieved.
Cassandra kept warning people
about the coming disaster of the
Trojan wars.
Cassandra was declared a
mad woman and imprisoned.
9
The Foreshadowing Year 9 Reading Activities
Resource sheet 4: The Assessment Tasks
For all of the following tasks you will need to:
 use evidence to support your ideas (AF2)
 interpret evidence (AF3)
 explore examples of the language that Alexandra uses in her narrative (AF5).
Assessment Task 1
Re-read Chapter 86.
Explain ways in which Chapter 86 foreshadows or hints at things that happen later
in the novel. (AF3)
Here are some aspects of Chapter 86 you might choose to explore:
 Miss Garrett's attitude towards Alexandra.
 The significance of the book that Alexandra borrows.
 Alexandra's promise to look after the book.
 How the last paragraph prepares the reader for the rest of the novel.
Assessment Task 2
At the end of Chapter 75 Alexandra says that if our lives are fated, ‘It would be like reading
a book you know very well, but reading it backwards, from the final chapter, down to
chapter one, so that the end is already known to you’.
What does The Foreshadowing suggest about fate and how people react to it?
(AF6)
Write about:
 fate and how it affects the characters' lives
 how characters react to Alexandra's ability to foretell the future
 whether there might be more ordinary explanations for Alexandra's apparent ability
to see into the future.
Assessment Task 3
To do this task you will need to find out about the story of Cassandra in Greek mythology.
Explain how Marcus Sedgwick uses the story of Cassandra in The Foreshadowing.
(AF7)
10 The Foreshadowing Year 9 Reading Activities