Modeling: Unfolding Foreshadowing in Literary Works

The Root-Bernstein text states that modeling is meant to “make accessible something that is difficult to experience easily” (229). For instance, a small-scale model of the solar system can help students in an elementary science class understand the relative distances between planets and the spatial relationships between heavenly bodies. Creating models requires thorough understanding of what is being modeled, but it can also lead to new and better understandings for the creator.

In a high school English classroom, when I incorporate modeling it is generally to demonstrate a skill to my students, providing them a model to mirror. This is something that occurs all the time. However, when the concept of dimensional thinking is added to the mix, the clear connections to what takes place in my classroom are lost. Dimensional thinking plays with space and time and requires abstract reasoning - not one of my strong points.

At the beginning of the semester, my sophomores spend some time reviewing literary devices in order to enrich both their analysis of the texts we read, and our classroom discussions. One of the concepts we review is foreshadowing - hints in the text of later plot points. Foreshadowing can heighten suspense, and add tension to a work. In order to help students appreciate the way in which foreshadowing functions in a plot, I have them create a model of the foreshadowing in a story. Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game” works well for this conceptual exercise. The model relies on simple pen and paper, and the students' ability to recognize Connell’s use of foreshadowing in the text. The unfolding of the paper with the series of hints at what is to come pulls on the students’ experiences of suspense that comes with opening a birthday or holiday present. Invariably, students come away from this exercise in modeling foreshadowing with a strong understanding of the potential powers of this literary device, and an appreciation for the writer’s craft that is involved in employing the device successfully.