What is an Inference? Lesson and Activity
8.2 هزار بار بازدید -
3 سال پیش
-
Here is the worksheet to
Here is the worksheet to this lesson: https://briantolentino.com/what-is-an...
An inference is an educated guess, or a conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning.
For example, if your friend Tim came to your house wearing a dirty and sweat-stained football uniform, and you knew he was a member of the high school football team, then--on the basis of evidence and reasoning--you could infer that Tim just finished playing football. And you would probably be right.
in this picture you could make several inferences as well. You could infer that these people are friends by their body language and closeness to one another. You could infer by their backpacks that they did some hiking. And you could infer that the weather is warm by what the people are wearing, the lack of snow in the background, and the water bottle nestled in a backpack.
As language becomes more complex, and as we read literature, the inferences within these texts become more nuanced and sophisticated.
For example, if you take this excerpt from Herman Melville’s book Moby Dick, you could make a few inferences.
“Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet…then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.” (Moby-Dick)
First, you could infer that the narrator sometimes feels depressed. And Second, you could infer that going to sea is something the narrator enjoys, and thus makes him feel less depressed.
Learning how to make inferences from a text is difficult because you must rely on mental pictures, not actual ones. A writer can’t explain everything explicitly. You, the reader, have to develop the ability to read between the lines, and see things the text is saying without actually saying it.
Your mission is to read the following excerpts, and make inferences (or educated guesses) on what the text is saying. Good luck.
1. On The Road (Jack Kerouac)
I first met Dean not long after my wife and I split up. I had just gotten over a serious illness that I won’t bother to talk about, except that it had something to do with the miserably weary split-up and my feeling that everything was dead. With the coming of Dean Moriarty began the part of my life you could call my life on the road. Before that I’d often dreamed of going West to see the country, always vaguely planning and never taking off. Dean is the perfect guy for the road because he actually was born on the road, when his parents were passing through Salt Lake City in 1926, in a jalopy, on their way to Los Angeles.
2. Notes From Underground (Fyodor Dostoevsky)
I am a sick man. ... I am a spiteful man. I am an unattractive man. I believe my liver is diseased. However, I know nothing at all about my disease, and do not know for certain what ails me. I don't consult a doctor for it, and never have, though I have a respect for medicine and doctors. Besides, I am extremely superstitious, sufficiently so to respect medicine, anyway (I am well-educated enough not to be superstitious, but I am superstitious). No, I refuse to consult a doctor from spite. That you probably will not understand. Well, I understand it, though. Of course, I can't explain who it is precisely that I am mortifying in this case by my spite: I am perfectly well aware that I cannot "pay out" the doctors by not consulting them; I know better than anyone that by all this I am only injuring myself and no one else. But still, if I don't consult a doctor it is from spite. My liver is bad, well then let it hurt even worse!
👉Blog and Website: https://briantolentino.com
👉Tolentino Teaching Merch: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TolentinoTe...
🔔 SUBSCRIBE for more for online teaching resources:
@tolentinoteaching
🎥 WANT TO CREATE VIDEOS LIKE THESE?
This is the software I use: https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinm...
👨💻 LET'S CONNECT
Instagram: Instagram: tolentinoteaching
Facebook: Facebook: tolentinoteaching
Twitter: Twitter: TolentinoTeach
Facebook ELA Group: Facebook: 241115104094311
👉My FAVORITE books on writing:
The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century by Steven Pinker: https://amzn.to/38m0FWm
How to Argue with a Cat by Jay Hendrichs: https://amzn.to/2MWQXCs
The Elements of Style Fourth Edition: https://amzn.to/2MZeent
On Writing Well by William Zinsser: https://amzn.to/30ouPnJ
**Disclaimer: Tolentino Teaching is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and AWIN, affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to www.amazon.com and http://paidforadvertising.com/
An inference is an educated guess, or a conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning.
For example, if your friend Tim came to your house wearing a dirty and sweat-stained football uniform, and you knew he was a member of the high school football team, then--on the basis of evidence and reasoning--you could infer that Tim just finished playing football. And you would probably be right.
in this picture you could make several inferences as well. You could infer that these people are friends by their body language and closeness to one another. You could infer by their backpacks that they did some hiking. And you could infer that the weather is warm by what the people are wearing, the lack of snow in the background, and the water bottle nestled in a backpack.
As language becomes more complex, and as we read literature, the inferences within these texts become more nuanced and sophisticated.
For example, if you take this excerpt from Herman Melville’s book Moby Dick, you could make a few inferences.
“Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet…then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.” (Moby-Dick)
First, you could infer that the narrator sometimes feels depressed. And Second, you could infer that going to sea is something the narrator enjoys, and thus makes him feel less depressed.
Learning how to make inferences from a text is difficult because you must rely on mental pictures, not actual ones. A writer can’t explain everything explicitly. You, the reader, have to develop the ability to read between the lines, and see things the text is saying without actually saying it.
Your mission is to read the following excerpts, and make inferences (or educated guesses) on what the text is saying. Good luck.
1. On The Road (Jack Kerouac)
I first met Dean not long after my wife and I split up. I had just gotten over a serious illness that I won’t bother to talk about, except that it had something to do with the miserably weary split-up and my feeling that everything was dead. With the coming of Dean Moriarty began the part of my life you could call my life on the road. Before that I’d often dreamed of going West to see the country, always vaguely planning and never taking off. Dean is the perfect guy for the road because he actually was born on the road, when his parents were passing through Salt Lake City in 1926, in a jalopy, on their way to Los Angeles.
2. Notes From Underground (Fyodor Dostoevsky)
I am a sick man. ... I am a spiteful man. I am an unattractive man. I believe my liver is diseased. However, I know nothing at all about my disease, and do not know for certain what ails me. I don't consult a doctor for it, and never have, though I have a respect for medicine and doctors. Besides, I am extremely superstitious, sufficiently so to respect medicine, anyway (I am well-educated enough not to be superstitious, but I am superstitious). No, I refuse to consult a doctor from spite. That you probably will not understand. Well, I understand it, though. Of course, I can't explain who it is precisely that I am mortifying in this case by my spite: I am perfectly well aware that I cannot "pay out" the doctors by not consulting them; I know better than anyone that by all this I am only injuring myself and no one else. But still, if I don't consult a doctor it is from spite. My liver is bad, well then let it hurt even worse!
👉Blog and Website: https://briantolentino.com
👉Tolentino Teaching Merch: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TolentinoTe...
🔔 SUBSCRIBE for more for online teaching resources:
@tolentinoteaching
🎥 WANT TO CREATE VIDEOS LIKE THESE?
This is the software I use: https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinm...
👨💻 LET'S CONNECT
Instagram: Instagram: tolentinoteaching
Facebook: Facebook: tolentinoteaching
Twitter: Twitter: TolentinoTeach
Facebook ELA Group: Facebook: 241115104094311
👉My FAVORITE books on writing:
The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century by Steven Pinker: https://amzn.to/38m0FWm
How to Argue with a Cat by Jay Hendrichs: https://amzn.to/2MWQXCs
The Elements of Style Fourth Edition: https://amzn.to/2MZeent
On Writing Well by William Zinsser: https://amzn.to/30ouPnJ
**Disclaimer: Tolentino Teaching is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and AWIN, affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to www.amazon.com and http://paidforadvertising.com/
3 سال پیش
در تاریخ 1400/08/29 منتشر شده
است.
8,297
بـار بازدید شده