Making Inferences

1. Making
Inferences

2. Inference:
A conclusion reached on the basis of
evidence and reasoning.
For EXAMPLE,
I infer that there is a
ghost in my house based
on the evidence that I
have seen objects
moving on their own.

3. Inference:
A conclusion reached on the basis of
evidence and reasoning.
For EXAMPLE,
If my best friend stops
talking to me, I can infer
that he is angry at me, or
he think’s I’m crazy and
doesn’t want to be seen
with me.

4. Inference:
When you read, you need to make inferences about
things happening in the story. (This process will help
you write your essay at the end of the unit).
For EXAMPLE,
If I read that the main character
hates old people, but then later
becomes friends with an old
person, I can infer that a theme of
this story relates to “challenging
your prejudices.”

5. Inference:
An inference is not based solely on your opinion. It
is based on EVIDENCE. In a story, everything you
read in the text (what characters say or do, what
events happen in the plot, etc.) can be used as the
basis for making an inference.
THE TEXT SAYS:
The main character
hates old people.
I CAN INFER…
That the main character
has a mean and
childish personality.

6. Things to make inferences about:
Character development (how a character’s
personality or motivation changes over the
course of the story)
Themes (what messages/morals are revealed
to the readers over the course of the story)
Symbols (what things in the story represent
(symbolize), and how those symbols are
developed over the course of the story).
Plot (how the author develops, progresses, and
resolves conflicts over the course of the story).

7. Inference:
Making an inference can be thought of as
“reading between the lines” of what
you read or observe.
Clues in
the book + My own
thinking = Inference!

8. Activity:
Make inferences based on evidence
in images and text.
Open your JOURNAL.
Title this journal entry:
“Making Inferences”.
Answer the following questions in
your journal…

9. #1) What can you INFER about this
character’s personality?

10. #1) What evidence is your inference
based on?

11. #1) Example:
Inference:
The woman is jealous
and very emotional.
Evidence:
I think she is jealous because she is
upset to see a couple kissing.
(Presumably, she would rather be kissing
the man). I think she is a very emotional
person because she is crying.

12. #2) What can you INFER about this
character’s personality?

13. #2) What evidence is your inference
based on?

14. #3) What can you INFER about this
character’s personality?

15. #3) What evidence is your inference
based on?

16. #4) What can you INFER about the
personalities of BOTH characters?

17. #4) What evidence is your inference
based on?

18. #5) What can you INFER about the
relationship between these characters?

19. #5) What evidence is your inference
based on?

20. #6) What can you INFER about the
situation taking place in this image?
(what do you think is happening here?)

21. #6) What evidence is your inference
based on?

22. Activity:
Make inferences based on evidence
in a short film.
Answer the following question in your
journal…
What is the THEME of this story,
and what evidence can you find to
support your inference?

23. Inference Notes:
In this note-taking style, you will write
observations from the text in column 1,
and you will write what you can infer
from that observation in column 2.

24. Inference Notes: Example