MAKING INFERENCES WITH
TEXTUAL EVIDENCE…
1/15/2015
MAKING INFERENCES
We make inferences all the time whether we
realize it or not. Good readers make inferences
while reading when we predict what will happen
next or ask ourselves why character is behaving a
certain way.
An inference is an educated guess that we make
based on what we see or, while reading, the
information provided in the text combined with our
own experiences.
WHAT CAN YOU INFER ABOUT THE
FOLLOWING PICTURES:
1.) ______________________________
2.) ______________________________
1.) ______________________________
2.) ______________________________
TEXTUAL EVIDENCE
Textual Evidence is specific information from a
text that we use to support our inferences.
**We use textual evidence to prove that our
inferences are logical and accurate.
READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND
ANSWER THE QUESTION THAT FOLLOWS.
Kyle ran into his house, slamming the door behind him. He
threw his book bag on the floor and plopped on the couch. After
six hours of playing Grand Larceny VII, he ate some pizza and
fell asleep with a slice in on his belly and his feet on his book bag.
When Kyle came home from school the next day, he was
noticeably distraught. He balled up his report card and placed it
inside of a soup can in the garbage. He then flipped the soup can
upside down and relocated garbage from other parts of the can,
arranging over the soup can. He then plopped down on the couch
and picked up his controller.
(SUPPORT YOUR ANSWER WITH TEXT FROM THE
PASSAGE.)






1. Why is Kyle distraught?
How do you know this?
2. Why does Kyle put the report card in a soup can?
How do you know this?
3. Was Kyle’s report card good or bad and why was it
like that?
How do you know this?
READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND
ANSWER THE QUESTION THAT FOLLOWS.
W hen Dorothy stood in the doorway and
looked around, she could see nothing but
the great gray prairie on every side. Not a tree nor
a house broke the broad sweep of flat country that
reached to the edge of the sky in all directions. The
sun had baked the plowed land into a gray mass,
with little cracks running through it. Even the grass
was not green, for the sun had burned the tops of
the long blades until they were the same gray color
to be seen everywhere. Once the house had been
painted, but the sun blistered the paint and the
rains washed it away, and now the house was as dull
and gray as everything else.
1.) WHAT CAN YOU INFER ABOUT
DOROTHY’S LIFE ON PLAINS?
Make at least 2 inferences.
 (Support your answer with text from the
passage.)

STAGE DIRECTIONS AND DIALOGUE
When reading a play Stage Directions help the
reader visualize what it might look like if they
were watching the play rather than reading it.
 Stage directions tells where a person is standing
on stage, how the might sound when they say
particular line—also how they might react to a
situation.
 Dialogue is the conversation between two or more
characters in a play. Dialogue is what carries the
storyline forward in a play.

CHARACTER MOTIVATION




Motive is the reason for which a character does
something.
Characters are usually motivated by a feeling, need,
or want.
You can usually determine the motive by asking
WHY. Why did the character do whatever it is he/she
did? What drove them to/caused/made them do that?
Powerful motives include:





Love
Anger
Jealousy
Desperation
Fear
SUMMARY






When we try to fill in the gaps between what is
explicitly said and what is implied, we are making
inferences.
We do this by making logical guesses based on what
we observed and our own prior knowledge.
When reading a play, the dialogue tells us explicitly
what is happening (or how a character feels).
Stage directions are unspoken bits of the story that
help the reader to understand a character’s motive
(i.e. feelings, wants, or needs).
Motive is the reason why a character behaves/reacts
in a certain way.
When we try to determine the character’s motive we
are making an inference.