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Literary notes about Forewarning (AI summary)

In literature, "forewarning" functions as a multifaceted device that both imbues a narrative with impending tension and reflects the inner intuitions of its characters. Authors may use it to signal an imminent danger or change, as when an unshakable premonition hints at personal downfall [1] or when an observable phenomenon subtly intimates a looming misfortune [2]. At times, it appears as a barely perceptible instinct that one experiences without conscious realization [3], while at other moments it is employed more dramatically to herald catastrophic events or emotional upheaval [4]. This dual usage—oscillating between a natural omen and an introspective alert—allows the term to enrich the narrative, deepening both the foretelling of fate and the exploration of a character’s inner life [5].
  1. I have a sort of forewarning that I ain't agoing to walk straight into this thing.
    — from Dixie Hart by Will N. (Will Nathaniel) Harben
  2. Some dread forewarning of a sterner fate seemed to hang above him.
    — from The Shadow of a Crime: A Cumbrian Romance by Caine, Hall, Sir
  3. She was a wide-awake, observing girl, and throughout the trip she had noticed instances of a forewarning instinct that she herself did not possess.
    — from The Snowshoe Trail by Edison Marshall
  4. Unexpectedly, and without any forewarning, she fell into a profound sleep, which continued several hours beyond the ordinary term.
    — from The Philosophy of Mystery by Walter Cooper Dendy
  5. The forewarning of my instinct was but fulfilled, when I discovered her, all cold and vigilant, perched like a white bird on the outside of the bed.
    — from Villette by Charlotte Brontë

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