Examination Day

“Examination Day” uses subtle foreshadowing throughout. Foreshadowing is a literary technique used to hint at what will unfold in a story. In “Examination Day,” the demeanor of Mr. and Mrs. Jordan foreshadows their son’s tragic end. Mrs. Jones has been crying while thinking about the exam, as the expression “the moistness of [her] eyes” (Paragraph 3) suggests. Mr. Jones is tense and on edge when discussing the exam with his son. This emotional tension suggests that the exam is a bad thing and they fear its outcome. At the same time, they want to protect their son’s innocence and hide the exam’s true nature, which leads them to deflect or avoid the subject 

Mr. Jordan’s attempts to stifle his son’s curiosity are also foreshadowing. Dickie’s insistence on asking questions about the world and his father’s abrupt and incorrect answers suggest that Dickie’s curiosity will get him into trouble. For instance, when Dickie asks, “what makes [the grass] green,” Mr. Jordan responds abruptly, “Nobody knows” (Paragraph 13). He may truly be ignorant of the cause, or he is trying to shield his son from gaining too much knowledge.