Literary Devices Literary Devices    

Lesson 21: Foreshadowing: Spring Rain

by Sara Teasdale

Performer: Librivox - Gaby

Directions

Study the poem for one week.

Over the week:

• Read or listen to the poem.
• Review the synopsis.
• Read about the poet.
• Complete the enrichment activities.

Synopsis

Sara Teasdale's 'Spring Rain' uses both flashbacks and foreshadowing for effect. A spring thunderstorm causes the narrator to flash back to a time when she waited out a storm in a doorway with another person. Little details, such as the passing busses and the light shining on the water, have stuck in the narrator's memory. The narrator gazed into the other person's eyes as her heart pounded, hinting at romance. The two exchanged looks surpassing the significance of any of their future conversations, foreshadowing the moment's importance in the narrator's future life.

Concepts

Poets often use literary devices, defined as 'rules of thumb, convention, or structure that are employed in literature and storytelling.'

The nine literary devices we'll study include:

1. Rhyming
2. Alliteration
3. Similes
4. Metaphors
5. Personification
6. Foreshadowing
7. Allusion
8. Hyperbole
9. Onomatopoeia

Foreshadowing is a literary device whereby an author drops hints or symbolic representations of plot developments to come later in the story.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Recite Poem Information

Recite the title of the poem and the name of the poet.

Activity 2: Study the Poem Picture

Study the poem picture and describe how it relates to the poem. How does the image differ from the poem?

Activity 3: Recite the Poem

Practice reciting the poem aloud.

Activity 4: Identify Foreshadowing in the Examples

Read aloud the examples below and predict the future event being foreshadowed.

• The pack of children ran away from the furious man. 'Don't fall behind,' Sarah warned Timmy, who was the youngest and had the shortest legs.
• 'I could easily carry you,' Mark boasted to Sally, flexing his biceps. 'Don't bet on it,' Sally replied.
• 'If you need me, call me,' Peter's mother said. 'Yeah, yeah, Mom, I will,' said Peter, not realizing he'd forgotten his phone in his other jacket.
• Every time the boy passed the woman's perfectly groomed house, he shivered.
• Larry's father hung up the phone, shaking his head. 'Better hope you never meet your Uncle Jim,' he said to Larry.

Activity 5: Identify the Rhyme Scheme

Review the poem and identify the pattern of its rhyming scheme. (e.g. ABBACDCD, etc.)

Activity 6: Identify Alliteration

Review the poem and point out any instances of alliteration.

Activity 7: Identify Foreshadowing

Review the poem excerpt. How does it foreshadow the future?

• Your eyes said more to me that night - Than your lips would ever say...

Activity 8: Complete Book Activities   

• Click the crayon above, and complete pages 64-66 of 'Elementary Poetry 5: Literary Devices.'

References

'Foreshadowing.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.