Thirteen Reasons Why Literary Devices
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Types of Foreshadowing
Lesson Plans by Rebecca Ray
Foreshadowing can be a difficult element to grasp, and can provide readers with hints and a sense of events to come, or be used as a red herring, leading the reader in the wrong direction. Find out more about foreshadowing with Storyboard That!
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Lesson Plans by Bridget Baudinet
Thirteen Reasons Why tells the story of thirteen people who influenced high schooler Hannah Baker to commit suicide. Told from the point of view of her classmate Clay, who is slowly listening to seven cassette tapes on which Hannah has recorded her story, the novel is a suspenseful revelation of the many forces that combined to demoralize Hannah.
Storyboard Description
Thirteen Reasons Why Literary Devices - 13 reasons why
Storyboard Text
- TRAGIC FLAW
- You should come to the party with me, Hannah!
- Me? Okay...
- I should have given Jenny one final day of peace. Though she doesn't deserve it...
- FORESHADOWING
- Although Hannah certainly faces many difficult and unjust challenges, she is not without flaws herself. Her tragic flaw is that she is too trusting. On multiple occasions, Hannah confides in someone or agrees to something against her better judgment. If she had followed her instincts and said "no", she might have avoided some painful situations.
- STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS
- LITERARY DEVICES IN THIRTEEN REASONS WHY
- By hinting at secrets to come, Asher increases the reader’s sense of dread and heightens the ominous, heavy tone of the novel. The very first chapter foreshadows several later events. As Clay mails the tapes to the next recipient, he hints at the pain that they contain. He also makes cryptic comments about Jenny and Mr. Porter that leave us wondering what they did wrong. The foreshadowing continues throughout the tapes when Hannah refers to people, but does not name them until later tapes.
- FOIL
- I get on the bus. I know where the next star on Hannah's map will be.
- Author Jay Asher uses Clay Jensen’s stream of consciousness to give the reader a window into the events of the novel. Clay’s thoughts jump from the past to present. Some are complete sentences, others are fragments. This point of view helps build the suspense of the novel since Clay often makes statements that the reader must keep reading in order to understand. (e.g. “I know who she’s talking about now”)
- Clay Jensen acts as a foil for Hannah Baker. Clay is successful in school and liked by his peers. He seems to act without regard to public opinion, yet the rumors about him are all positive. By contrast, Hannah is dogged by hurtful rumors. She tries everything to fit in, but ends up attacked and betrayed by her classmates. Had small events unfolded differently, her life could have gone in an entirely different direction. Clay’s happy life magnifies the tragedy of Hannah’s suicide.
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