Making Inferences
Authors don’t always tell every detail or give every bit of information in nonfiction or in fiction stories.
Readers make inferences to supply information that authors leave out.
When you make an inference, you add what you already know to what an author has told you.
Examples
The weather had been scorching for weeks. What the author said + what I know = my inference The weather had been scorching for weeks. Summer is the hottest time of the year. It is summer.
Al took the lemonade out of the refridger-ator. What the author said + what I know = my inference Al took the lemonade out of the refridger-ator. Al took out a pitcher of cold lemonade. You keep things cold in a refridger-ator.
People get out glasses when they want to drink something. What the author said + what I know = my inference People get out glasses when they want to drink something. He got a glass out of the cupboard. Al wanted to drink a glass of lemonade.