Inferences

Do writers always tell their readers exactly what they mean all the time, or do they allow readers to draw conclusions and at least discover some of the meanings on their own?

• Always tell the reader exactly what they mean

• Allow the readers to draw conclusions and discover some of the meanings on their own

• Authors don’t include meanings in their work.

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Writers of fiction often show their characters in action and allow them to speak for themselves. Readers then have the job of deciding what those actions and words mean and what they reveal about the characters, the events of the story and the message.

• The passage above is explaining central idea/theme

• The passage above is explaining summary

• The passage above is explaining inference

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An inference in fiction is a reasonable conclusion or judgment about some element of a story based on information given in the story and the reader's personal knowledge of how the world works.

• An inference is a conclusion about some element of a story based on information from the story and a persons knowledge of how the world works

• A theme is a conclusion about some element of a story based on information from the story and a persons knowledge of how the world works

• An inference is a conclusion about some element of a story based on information from the story and a communities knowledge of how the world works

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You've made many inferences in your life, but you might not even know it. For instance, your cat runs up to you the minute you step through the door. She meows, rubs your legs, runs into the kitchen and stares at the cupboard where you normally store the cat food. It doesn't take much effort to figure out that your cat wants food. You've just drawn an inference.

• People make inferences constantly in their daily lives

• People do not make inferences constantly in their daily lives

• People are unable to make inferences in their daily lives

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Drawing inferences from fiction follows a similar process. Suppose you are reading along, you notice that the writer seems to leave out a piece of information, or you have a question about something in the story like a character's motivation or the meaning of a piece of dialogue. How do you find the missing information or answer your question?

• You make an inference

• You sequence the information

• You summarize

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How do you make an inference?

• You look for clues in the text, little pieces of information that seem to relate to the missing information or your question.

• You think about what you already know from your own experience in the real world.

• You look for clues, hints, and evidence, and think about what you know together in a logical way to produce a reasonable conclusion that supplies the missing piece of information or the answer to your question.

• All the above

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Evidently, there was a disturbing quality in the sound that Sabor heard, something that inspired a certain restlessness, if not actual apprehension, though she could not be sure as yet that it boded ill. It might be her great lord returning, but it did not sound like the movement of a lion, certainly not like a lion dragging a heavy kill. She glanced at her cub, breathing as she did so a plaintive whine. There was always the fear that some danger menaced him, this last of her little family, but she, Sabor, was there to defend him.

Based on details in the excerpt, the reader can conclude that Sabor is -

• a pet bear

• the pack leader

• a mother lion

• the cub

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Evidently, there was a disturbing quality in the sound that Sabor heard, something that inspired a certain restlessness, if not actual apprehension, though she could not be sure as yet that it boded ill. It might be her great lord returning, but it did not sound like the movement of a lion, certainly not like a lion dragging a heavy kill. She glanced at her cub, breathing as she did so a plaintive whine. There was always the fear that some danger menaced him, this last of her little family, but she, Sabor, was there to defend him.

The reader can infer that-

• the cub will be taken

• someone is hunting Sabor

• there is nothing to fear

• there is danger coming

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"I hate to think I've got to grow up, and be Miss March, and wear long gowns, and look as prim as a China Doll! It's bad enough to be a girl, anyway, when I like boy's games and work and manners! I can't get over my disappointment in not being a boy. And it's worse than ever now, for I'm dying to go and fight with Papa. And I can only stay home and knit, like a poky old woman!"

Based on details in the excerpt, the reader can conclude that the...

• characters are living in a war

• narrator is usually unhappy

• characters are a close family

• narrator hates all girls

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"I hate to think I've got to grow up, and be Miss March, and wear long gowns, and look as prim as a China Doll! It's bad enough to be a girl, anyway, when I like boy's games and work and manners! I can't get over my disappointment in not being a boy. And it's worse than ever now, for I'm dying to go and fight with Papa. And I can only stay home and knit, like a poky old woman!"

The reader can infer that the narrator...

• would like to look like a boy

• wants the freedom boys have

• thinks she is different

• does not want to grow up

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