How to Draw Conclusions / Inferences
Making inferences is a strategy you use when you need to understand ideas and meanings
that are not directly stated in the material. When you use your understanding to read
between the lines, (using clues from something to figure out what the author/speaker is not
telling you) you are using inferencing skills. Once you have made an inference, you get to
make a conclusion such as answering "so what?" or answering "Why is this an important
idea?" Drawing conclusions is an opinion, judgment, or decision that you make after thinking
about the facts or circumstances presented.
One way to graphically represent what an inference looks like, we can create a simple
graphic organizer:
What I See
(Stimulus)
Inference
Made!
What I
Remember
Base your
to questions
29 overwhelming
and 30 on the
31in Which
foreign policy decision
by President
While
thisanswers
may sound
a bit
the beginning,
there are
some Harry
strategies you can
cartoon
below
and
on
your
knowledge
of
social
Truman
is
an
example
of
the
policy
of containuse to figure out what you are looking at is saying and not saying. Examine
the poster below
studies.
ment?
and then use the “What I See” and “What I Know” before reading the question.
(1) relieving General MacArthur of his Korean
command
What
(2)I See:
recognizing the new nation of Israel
(3) supporting the trials of war criminals in
with one person and one bed with many people
• One bed
Germany and Japan
• The bed with many people is labeled Europe
providing
military
aid to Greece
man
by himself
is happy
he hasand
hisTurkey
own bed
• The(4)
The
cartoon
was
drawn
in
1941
•
TheBefore
bed with
many people
is either
smokinginor stinks
• 32
ratification
of the 22nd
amendment
are
signs
above
each
person
thetwo
bed on the right
• There
1951, most presidents served no moreonthan
including the animal under the bed
terms because of
(1) a federal law
(2) a Supreme Court decision
(3) the elastic clause
(4) custom and tradition
What I Know:
33 Which constitutional principle was tested in the
• The signs represent people and events during World War II
cases/ of
Plessy
v. Ferguson
Brown/v.Blitzkrieg)
Board of
(Stalin
Hitler
/ Nazi
/ Italy /and
Fascists
Education
of
Topeka?
• The United States stayed out of the European conflict until
Japan’s
attack of
onpowers
Pearl Harbor
(1) separation
separate
beds reflect the policy of neutrality or
• The(2)
popular sovereignty
isolationism
(3) equal protection of the law
(4) separation of church and state
Source: PM, May 15, 1941 (adapted)
Ho Hum! No Chance of Contagion.
®SAISD Social Studies Department
34 “. . . My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what
America will do for you, but what together we can
do for the freedom of man. . . .”
29 In the cartoon, most of the “diseases”
refer to the
Reproduction rights granted only if copyright information
intact.
— John F.remains
Kennedy,
Inaugural Address, 1961
(1) military dictatorships of the 1930s
To implement the idea expressed in this
(2) Allied powers of World War II
Page 1
How to Draw Conclusions / Inferences
Base your answers to questions 29 and 30 on the
31 Which foreign policy decision by President Harry
cartoon below and on your knowledge of social
Truman is an example of the policy of containNow that we have described what we see and
studies.
ment?what we remember about the beginning of
World War II, we can draw a conclusion or inference
the intent
of the
(1) relieving on
General
MacArthur
of hisartist:
Korean
command
What
(2)I See:
recognizing the new nation of Israel
(3) supporting the trials of war criminals in
• One bed with one person and one bed with many people
Germany
and Japan
with many
people is labeled Europe
• The bed
providing
military
aid to Greece
man
by himself
is happy
he hasand
hisTurkey
own bed
• The(4)
• The cartoon was drawn in 1941
TheBefore
bed with
many people
is either
smokinginor stinks
• 32
ratification
of the 22nd
amendment
are signs above each person on the bed on the right
• There
1951, most
servedthe
nobed
more than two
including
thepresidents
animal under
terms because of
(1) a federal law
(2) a Supreme Court decision
(3) the elastic clause
What
(4)I Know:
custom and tradition
The signs represent people and events during World War II
• 33
Which
constitutional
principle
was tested
in the
(Stalin
/ Hitler
/ Nazi / Italy
/ Fascists
/ Blitzkrieg)
cases
of
Plessy
v.
Ferguson
and
Brown
v.
Board
of conflict until
The
United
States
stayed
out
of
the
European
•
Education
of Topeka?
Japan’s
attack
on Pearl Harbor
separate
beds
reflect the policy of neutrality or
• The(1)
separation
of powers
isolationism
(2) popular sovereignty
hat and beard of the man in the left bed is usually used
• The(3)
equal protection
of theStates
law (Uncle Sam)
as a symbol
of the United
(4) separation of church and state
Source: PM, May 15, 1941 (adapted)
34 “. . . My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what
America will do for you, but what together we can
do for the freedom of man. . . .”
29 •In The
the cartoon,
mostis of
the “diseases”
referof
to Neutrality
the
cartoonist
against
the policy
— John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, 1961
cartoonist
feels we
need
to help Europe fight against military dictatorships in Europe
•(1)The
military
dictatorships
of the
1930s
cartoonist
beWar
hinting
separate the
beds,
the expressed
illness mayincome
•(2)The
To in
implement
idea
this over to the
Allied
powers ofmay
World
II that although we are
U.S.
statement,
President
Kennedy
supported
the
(3) nations banned from the United Nations after
World War II
(1) creation of the Marshall Plan
(4) Communist bloc countries in the Cold War
(2) formation of the Peace Corps
(3) removal
of as
United
States troops
from Korea
Now, let’s take a look at something more difficult
such
a reading
passage
or excerpt:
(4) establishment of the South East Asia Treaty
30 Which action is most closely associated with the
Organization
situation shown in the cartoon?
Ho Hum! No Chance of Contagion.
What I Think:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
. . . Butof this
secret,
swift, and extraordinary buildup of Communist missiles—in an area
signing
the Atlantic
Charter
well known
to have
a special
and historical relationship to the United States and the
passage
of the Neutrality
Acts
of 1935–1937
nations
the
in violation of Soviet assurances, and in
first
firesideofchat
of Western
Franklin D.Hemisphere,
Roosevelt
defianceofof
and hemispheric policy— this sudden, clandestine [secret]
declaration
warAmerican
on Japan
decision to station strategic weapons for the first time outside of Soviet soil—is a
deliberately provocative and unjustified change in the status quo which cannot be
accepted by this country, if our courage and our commitments are ever to be
trusted again by either friend or foe. . . .
— President John F. Kennedy, October 22, 1962
U.S. Hist. & Gov’t.–Jan. ’05
[6]
®SAISD Social Studies Department
Page 2
Reproduction rights granted only if copyright information remains intact.
How to Draw Conclusions / Inferences
The main idea of the passage would contain information found directly in the passage. One
example is, Kennedy stated that Communist missiles are being stationed outside of the USSR
by the Soviets for the first time and the United States is protesting that action.
However, if we are asked to draw a conclusion, we have to do a little bit more. At first
glance, we notice that the passage has several clues that we will use to find out what the
passage is about. Using key vocabulary words that we remember from our investigations, we
can highlight those words.
. . . But this secret, swift, and extraordinary buildup of Communist missiles—in an area
well known to have a special and historical relationship to the United States and the
nations of the Western Hemisphere, in violation of Soviet assurances, and in
defiance of American and hemispheric policy— this sudden, clandestine [secret]
decision to station strategic weapons for the first time outside of Soviet soil—is a
deliberately provocative and unjustified change in the status quo which cannot be
accepted by this country, if our courage and our commitments are ever to be
trusted again by either friend or foe. . . .
— President John F. Kennedy, October 22, 1962
We can now take those words and string them together to infer what this passage is about.
• Communist missiles
• Western Hemisphere
• clandestine
• station strategic weapons for the
first time outside of Soviet soil
• President John F. Kennedy
• October 22, 1962
Cuban Missile Crisis
What I See
What I Know
Now, on your own, answer the following sentence stems:
The speech above is part of an incident in which The effect of the incident mentioned in the passage was The incident above was in reaction to Kennedy’s role in the incident above was -
®SAISD Social Studies Department
Page 3
Reproduction rights granted only if copyright information remains intact.