Today’s Key Terms Imply: to suggest or indicate WITHOUT being directly stated Infer: to draw a conclusion (or guess) based on provided information or evidence

What is an Inference? !

Inference… Reading between the lines Inference can be used in several ways. You can infer a general fact or a precise piece of information. You can infer emotions and feelings of characters in passage. You can infer information about the author - his/her opinions, feelings, point of view.

To infer successfully you can: Work out the answer from clues or references in the text. Match something in the text to your own understanding, experience or knowledge to come up with the correct answer.

What was the weather like as the men walked to the mine? Have a look at this extract, "The men walked down the streets to the mine with their heads bent close to their chests. In groups of five or six they scurried on. It was impossible to recognize individuals from the small gaps between their caps, pulled down over their eyes, and the tightly bound scarves tied tightly over the bottom half of their faces.” What was the weather like as the men walked to the mine?

Answer: Bitterly cold! The underlined words were your clues. You INFERRED the answer, even though it was NOT stated directly in the passage. When you INFER, read between the lines…or be a good detective, like Sherlock Holmes!

If your best friend is not in school one day, you could infer that: Inferring means to take what you know and make a guess. Read the following situations and pick which answer you could infer. If your best friend is not in school one day, you could infer that: He is out sick or on vacation. He is never coming back. He moved to a new state. He went to the wrong school by mistake.

If you see someone holding an umbrella, what can you infer? It might rain. He hurt himself. He lives in California. Today is Sunday.

If you forget to study for a test, you can infer that: The teacher will let you take it tomorrow. You might not do well. You will be better off than if you had studied. The teacher will send you to the principal’s office.

If you see someone with a cast on his leg, you can infer that: He will have a cast on his arm too. He broke his leg. He fell off of a horse. He will have to wear the cast for six months.

Examples Have a look at the following extract and questions and spot how the clues help you come up with the answer. "Rain lashed against the windows as Jane stamped up and down the room stopping only to check the time on the mantle clock every five minutes. Her book, bought with such enthusiasm the day before, was flung carelessly in the corner beside the abandoned picnic basket. Jane stamped her feet and began to repeat her earlier tedious complaints against nature. Emily merely smiled to herself and carried on reading the newspaper without as much as a nod of the head.”

Question 1 Happening Hint The Answer (question to infer information) What plans did Jane have for the day? Happening Hint the abandoned picnic basket The Answer A picnic

Question 2 Happening Hint The Answer (question to infer emotion) How would you describe Jane's mood ? Happening Hint unable to sit still, watching the clock, fed-up with reading, complaining The Answer Angry, frustrated, bad-tempered and disappointed

(question to infer author's opinion or point of view) What expression does the author use to suggest her disapproval of the main character? Happening Hint The word tedious has negative connotations and suggests disapproval of Jane's tiresome behavior. The Answer "tedious complaints"

Excellent Work!!!