Ninth graders learn two powerful narrative techniques — flashback (showing a scene from the past) and foreshadowing (hinting at what’s to come) — and how authors use them to shape time, build suspense, and deepen a story.
Students will be able to…
Authors don’t have to tell stories in a straight line — they can jump back in time, or drop hints about the future. What are these techniques, and why are they so powerful?
Project each item and have students identify the technique. The tool explains how each shapes the reader’s experience.
Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.
Authors can jump back in time or hint at the future — how?
Teacher models.
Class uses Flashback or Foreshadowing?
Students analyze.
Students share an example.
Aligned to the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (Grades 9–10).
Analyze how manipulating time (flashbacks, pacing) creates effects such as suspense.
Analyze how characters develop and interact.
Analyze a point of view or cultural experience.
Analyze theme development.
Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.
Have students find a piece of foreshadowing early in a text and trace it to the moment it pays off later. A printable narrative-techniques sheet is in the ELA library.
Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.
A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.
A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.