Making Inferences: Terms & Definitions
clues you can find to support a guess
evidence
"I grew up in the state of North Carolina. My hometown area got hit by hurricanes every year."
"I infer that New York probably also gets hit by hurricanes every year."
Why is this not a good inference?
There's no evidence given here to support the inference.
a point of view in which the story-teller is a part of the story's events
first person
What two kinds of point of view are commonly used for telling personal narratives and stories?
You should have two answers to this question.
First person
Third person
what you already know about a topic from your experience or education
schema
"I grew up in the state of North Carolina. My hometown area got hit by hurricanes every year."
"I infer that the teacher grew up in North Carolina."
Why is this not a good inference?
It isn't an inference at all. It is just a re-statement of a piece of evidence that was already given as a fact.
a point of view in which the narrator makes the reader part of the story's events
second person
What are some examples where a writer will probably use the second person point of view?
You should be able to think of at least two correct answers.
Instructions
Recipes
Explanations
Textbooks
Letters written to another person
a logical conclusion made from facts and knowledge
an inference
"I grew up in the state of North Carolina. My hometown area got hit by hurricanes every year."
"I infer that North Carolina will get hit by a hurricane next year."
Why is this not a good inference?
It's a prediction about the future.
a point of view in which the narrator is an observer of the story's events
third person
What does dialogue look like if characters are talking to each other?
What does dialogue look like if we are seeing a character's thoughts?
If characters are talking, we will see their words inside quotation marks:
"Mr. Character, this is what talking dialogue looks like."
If we are seeing a character's thoughts, we will usually see it in italics:
This is what thinking dialogue looks like!
"reading between the lines" or "an educated guess"
an inference
You need a pumpkin, a knife, and a black marker. You also need a place to work and a place to put food waste.
First, use the knife to cut a hole in the top of the pumpkin. Next, use your hands to pull everything out of the pumpkin.
I can infer that I am reading...
I can infer that I am reading instructions for carving a "Jack O' Lantern."
("Halloween Pumpkin" is also acceptable if the team does not know or remember the term "Jack O' Lantern.")
I'm so bored, Jill thought.
What term best fits what you see above?
third person limited
Sitting down at the long cafeteria table with his tray of food, Rick looked at his food with a familiar feeling of disappointment. Lunch was always better when I was still in elementary school. Looking across the table, he made eye contact with his friend, Stuart. Rick knew from the look on Stuart's face that his friend felt the same way.
What is the point of view of this passage?
Third person limited.
Even though it seems that we get to see both Rick and Stuart's feelings, in fact we only get to see Rick's viewpoint.
From Rick's viewpoint, we get to see a clue about how Stuart feels, but we do not actually see anything from Stuart's viewpoint.
what you can see...
evidence
"Cheer up -- you'll do better next time," said Tony's mom. "Mom, you don't understand," said Tony.
Tony was feeling pretty embarrassed. Tony's mom replied, "Don't worry -- I'll help you practice. You'll remember your script perfectly next week."
I can infer that Tony is upset because...
I can infer that Tony is upset because he couldn't remember his script during rehearsal for a stage drama performance.
("Practice" is also acceptable if the team doesn't know or remember the word "rehearsal.")
I'm so bored, Alan thought.
Alan always looks so bored, Frank thought.
What term best fits what you see above?
third person omniscient
What are the steps, in correct order, to find the point of view in a reading passage?
Step 1: read the passage
Step 2: cross out the dialogue
(including both conversations and thoughts)
Step 3: focus on the pronouns in the narration and figure out what kind they are
Step 4*: *if* the narration is third person, count how many characters' viewpoints you see