Making Inferences

Inference
• Take what you know and make
a guess!

• Draw personal meaning from

text (words) or pictures.
 Make an Inference!
• What does
this image
tell me?
 Question…
• What did I already know that
helped me make that inference?

• What about the picture gave me

the necessary details?
 Help
Me
Make
an
Inference!
 More Questions…

• Did you use words, graphs, or

picture clues to help you make a
guess about what that cartoon
meant?
 Try Again!
• Can he draw
more than
tigers?
• Were there
any unknown
words?
 Make
one
more
Inference
How Do Good Readers Make
Inferences?
They use:
1.Word/text clues
2.Picture clues
3.Define unknown words
4.Look for emotion (feelings)
5.Use what they already know
6.Look for explanations for events
7.ASK themselves questions!
 Make Another
Inference
• The Chicago Tribune once wrote that Henry Ford,
the founder of Ford Motor Company, was an
ignorant man. Ford sued, challenging the paper
to “prove it.” During the trial, Ford was asked
dozens of simple, general information questions:
“When was the Civil War?” “Name the presidents
of the United States,” and so on. Ford, who had
little formal education, could answer very few.
Finally, exasperated, he said, “I don’t know the
answers to those questions, but I could find a man
in five minutes who does. I use my brain to think,
not store up a lot of useless facts.”
 which three inferences
could you make about Henry
Ford?
1. Henry Ford was probably angered by the article
in the Chicago Tribune.
2. Ford frequently sued people.
3. The Tribune won the case in court.
4. Ford believed that knowing where to find a
fact is good enough
5. Ford would have been even more successful in
his career had he had a form education.
6. Ford believed that knowing how to think is
more important than knowing facts.
What are the “clues” in the passage?
 What are the clues
in the passage?
The Chicago Tribune once wrote that Henry For,
the founder of Ford Motor Company, was an
ignorant man. Ford sued, challenging the paper to
“prove it.” During the trial, Ford was asked dozens
of simple, general information questions: “When
was the Civil War?” “Name the presidents of the
United States,” and so on. Ford, who had little
formal education, could answer very few. Finally,
exasperated, he said, “I don’t know the answers
to those questions, but I could find a man in five
minutes who does. I use my brain to think, not
store up a lot of useless facts.”
The Case
A man meets some visitors from Africa. The
visitors do not speak English, seem to be
friendly and are not wearing clothes. The
visitors are in the country legally and have
not committed a crime, but are behind bars.
The man feels for the visitors, but does not
try to help them escape.
The Mystery
Who are the visitors and why are they
behind bars?
 The Clues
• The man is in the United States
• The visitors are behind bars for life.
• The visitors make a lot of noise.
• The man pays to see the visitors.
• The visitors are not people.
• The visitors love bananas and are real
“Swingers”.
The visitors are monkeys in
a zoo.
The Case
A man walks to a place where nothing will
happen for several hours. He stands in a city
square with thousands of many other people –
many of whom are speaking foreign languages.
The man checks his watch regularly and looks
upward in nervous anticipation.
The Mystery
Where is the man and what is he waiting for?
 The Clues
• The man is in the United States.
• Camera crews are standing by.
• The man is waiting for something to begin – and to
end.
• The man in on Broadway, but is not a performer.
• The man receives several kisses from strangers.
• The man is expecting fireworks, but it is not the
fourth of July.
 
It is New Year’s Eve and the man
is in New York’s Times Square
waiting for midnight
The Case
Two men dressed in dark clothing enter
a wealthy neighborhood in the early
morning hours. They move quickly from
house to house, taking everything they
can. A policeman observes the pair – but
does not approach or arrest them.
The Mystery
Who are the men?
 Clues
• The men wear gloves and leave no
fingerprints.
• The men avoid certain houses.
• The men have worked this neighborhood
before and are experts at what they do.
• The men aren’t breaking the law.
• The homeowners prepared for the men’s
arrival.
• The men come every week at the same time.
Garbage men collecting trash!
Remember: Use
your
observations to
make an
inference
 Commercials
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 Authors vs. Readers
• Authors Imply, Readers Infer.
• Authors imply and readers have to
infer.
• What do I mean by these statements?
• Good Readers are Detectives who
are always looking out for clues to
help them better understand stories
and pictures.
Figurative
Language
 Figurative and
Literal Language

Literally: words function exactly as defined

• The car is blue.
• He caught the football.
Figuratively: figure out what it means
• I’ve got your back.

• You’re a doll.
Statements like these ae otherwise known
as a: Figures of Speech
 Figures of Speech
In order to read well, you must become a critical reader.
This means not only understanding the author’s literal
meaning, but also the author’s implied or inferential meaning.

Many authors use figures of speech or figurative language to

make their writing more colorful and interesting.

These figures of speech are expressions in which words are

used regardless of their true meanings in order to create a
special meaning or effect.

Often this specialized language enables the author to convey

meaning more clearly, making a comparison to something
that is more familiar or readily understood.
Figurative language creates a more enriched
form of speaking or writing.
•Words are used in a symbolic way to
represent feelings or ideas.

•Words and phrases are not meant to

communicate their literal meaning.

The reader actively visualizes and interprets

the ideas
 from Harry Potter
and the Deathly
Hallows
“Harry hurried back to the entrance to find
Ron face-to-face with a most eccentric
looking wizard. Slightly crossed-eyed,
with shoulder length hair like shards or
mis-bundled wheat, he wore a cap thats
tassel dangled in front of his nose and
robes of an eye-watering shade of egg-
yolk yellow. An odd symbol like a
triangular eye glistened from a golden
chain around his neck.”
 What is figurative
language?
• Whenever you describe something by
comparing it with something else, you
are using figurative language.
 Similes
A simile is a figure of speech
that compares two dissimilar things.
Similes usually use the words
like, as or as if to show the
comparisons.
Both poems and prose contain similes.

is like
The soldier was as tough as nails.
His skin was as cold as ice.
My love is like a red, red rose.

He eats like a pig.

As blind as a bat

Happy as pigs in mud -

It's been a hard day's night, and I've been

working like a dog - The Beatles
 Simile — a comparison
introduced with like,
as, or as if.

In the cartoon, Snoopy writes about a pair of

beautiful eyes that they are “like two supper
dishes.” (The joke, of course, is that the comparison
is hardly a flattering one.)
 In the
quotation from Middlemarch, George Eliot uses
two similes.
If we had a keen vision and feeling
of all ordinary human life, it would
be like hearing the grass grow and
the squirrel’s heart beat, and we
should die of that roar which lies on
the other side of silence.
 Important!
Using “like” or “as” doesn’t
make a simile.
• A comparison must be made.
I like pizza.
Not a Simile

The moon is like a pizza.

A simile:
 Metaphors
A metaphor connects two unlike things
directly
without using like, as, or as if.
One thing is spoken of as if it is something
else

is
Broken heart - Your heart is not literally broken into
pieces; you just feel hurt and sad.

Bubbly personality - A bubbly personality

doesn't mean a person is bubbling over with
anything, just that the person is cheerful.

Rollercoaster of emotions - A rollercoaster

of emotions doesn't exist anywhere, so when
people are on a rollercoaster of emotions, they
are simply experiencing lots of ups and
downs.
More Examples
All the world is a stage.

Men are dogs.

Her heart is stone.

Brian was a wall, bouncing every
tennis ball back over the net.

This metaphor compares Brian to a

wall because __________.

a. He was very strong.

b. He was very tall.
c. He kept returning the balls.
d. His body was made of cells.
 Brian was a wall, bouncing every
tennis ball back over the net.

This metaphor compares Brian to

a wall because __________.

c. He kept returning the balls.

We would have had more pizza to eat if
Tammy hadn’t been such a hog.

Tammy was being compared to a hog

because she __________.
a.looked like a hog
b.ate like a hog
c. smelled like a hog
d.was as smart as a hog
We would have had more pizza to
eat if Tammy hadn’t been such a
hog.

Tammy was being compared to a

hog because she __________.

b. ate like a hog

Cindy was such a mule. We couldn’t get
her to change her mind.

The metaphor compares Cindy to a

mule because she was __________.
a.always eating oats
b.able to do hard work
c. raised on a farm
d.very stubborn
Cindy was such a mule. We
couldn’t get her to change her
mind.

The metaphor compares Cindy to

a mule because she was
__________.

d. very stubborn
 Personification

Personification is a
type of figurative
language
that gives human
attributes to a
nonhuman subject
 My heart has been skipping around in my
chest since I saw her.
The candle flame danced in the dark.

The sunflowers nodded in the wind.

This city never sleeps.
He had little to live for now that his dreams were dead.

The party died as soon as she left.

A case of cupcakes can be quite charming to an

empty stomach.
 Imagery
• Language that appeals to the senses.
Descriptions of people or objects stated
in terms of our senses.
 The FIVE Senses
• Sight—visual imagery
• Sound—auditory imagery
• Touch—tactile imagery
• Smell—olfactory imagery
• Taste—gustatory imagery
 Imagery
• Creates a mental picture.
• Example:
­ The hot July sun beat relentlessly
down, casting an orange glare over the
farm buildings, the fields, the pond.
Even the usually cool green willows
bordering the pond hung wilted and
dry.
• The leaves were green and stirring;
the berries were luster-glossed.

• He was a shaggy, thick fellow; his

coat was greasy about the lapels
and pockets, and his hand splayed
over the cane’s crook with a futile
sort of clinging.
When she screeched her fingers
across the blackboard, our cat
jumped into the air and chills ran
up my spine.
Additional Examples:
Onomatopoeia
Alliteration
Symbolism
Oxymoron
Allusion
Hyperbole
Idioms
Onomatopoeia
Alliteration
Symbolism
Oxymoron
My father told me to never due
tomorrow what I can do today,
for if Noah would have waited a
day to build the ark, he would
have found himself all wet.

allusion
 Hyperbole
Hyperbole is an obvious or intentional
exaggeration.
  It is an inflated statement that is not
meant to be taken literally.

Example:
•He was willing to wait an eternity for her to
change her mind.
•It was so hot I was burning up!
 Idioms
An idiom is an expression that cannot be
understood from the meanings of its
  separate words – it will have a separate
meaning of its own.

Example:
• Hold your horses
• Lend me a hand
 Why Figurative Language?
Figurative Language does not always
mean what is being said or read,
but serves to make it more
interesting.