Aling Marta closed the sari-sari store early and said nothing. Only at dawn did the neighbors learn that her son had come home from Manila. Which technique does the writer use?

Every morning Nanay checked the sky before letting Jun swim. On Friday she checked twice and said nothing. By noon the waves had turned rough. The detail about checking twice is an example of what?

Lolo Tino begins, "Before the highway, this was all rice." The rest of the chapter tells that older story. At the end, Lolo Tino sets down his cup. Which technique shapes this chapter?

The story opens with Bea crying at the pier. Only in chapter three does the writer explain that the ferry left without her. What does opening this way achieve?

The narrator calls him only "the man from Cebu" for most of the book. In the final scene he is named as her father. What is the effect of withholding his name?

The lights above the plaza flickered twice. Ramil tightened a loose bolt on the ferris wheel. Vendors sold halo-halo in tall glasses. Later the wheel stopped mid-turn. Which detail only describes the scene?

Marites packed her school papers inside a plastic bag even though the sky was clear. Two hours later, rain flooded the barangay road. Which detail foreshadows the flood?

The reader has already seen the letter burn, but Jomar has not. What does the writer create by letting the reader know more than Jomar does?

The narrator says, "I heard Tita Rosa laugh from the kitchen, but I could not see her face." What does this show about what the narrator can know?

The story follows only Lian. When Lian leaves the room, the writer stops reporting what happens there. Which point of view is the writer using?

Rain fell on the tin roof while Kiko studied. The rain is mentioned once and never matters again in the story. What is that detail?

The kitchen smelled of tuyo. Nena set down the pan. She was ten again, watching her father mend nets in Bantayan. Then the kettle whistled and she was back. Which sentence shifts the story back in time?

"You know why I left," Tatay said. The writer never explains what he means until the last chapter. What is the writer doing with that unexplained line?

The novel opens with a fire already burning. Chapter two goes back to the morning before it started. How is the writer arranging the disclosure of events?

A writer mentions a cracked dam wall in chapter one. The dam bursts in chapter nine. What does the early mention of the crack do for the reader?

Every Sunday, Auntie Delia set a fourth plate on the table and said nothing about it. In the last chapter we learn that her eldest son died at sea. Which technique does the fourth plate show?

A whole story sits inside Lola's evening telling to her grandchildren. What does that frame add to the story?

Danica's flashlight flickered while she packed it. Her cousin joked about ghosts. The trail smelled of pine. Deep inside the cave, the light died. Which detail is foreshadowing?

The narrator tells the reader what both Ben and Cely are thinking while they argue. Which point of view lets a writer reveal both minds?

Foreshadowing gives the reader a hint about something that will happen later in a story.