Making Inferences

What is an Inference?

•Inference – A conclusion made based on evidence and reasoning.

•Evidence + Reasoning = Inference

Let’s make an inference

• Evidence: There is a man at the front of the class dressed in a button down shirt.

• Reasoning: I know that teachers usually wear button down shirts and stand in front of the class.

• Inference: The man standing in front of the class must be a teacher.

Inferences in Literature

• Evidence: The lady in the story makes the boy wash his dirty face.

• Reasoning: I know that Langston Hughes wrote during the Harlem Renaissance, when African American artists were calling for a cultural rebirth

• Inference: Langston Hughes uses the cleaning of the boy’s face to symbolize the rebirth that he is calling for in African America Culture.14338

Using Evidence From the Text

•When we make inferences in literary study we need to support them with textual evidence.

• Textual evidence- Specific passages and details from the text that are used to support our ideas and inferences.