© laraine flemming. all rights reserved. no distribution allowed without express authorization....

© Laraine Flemming. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.

Chapter Eight: Focusing on Inferences in Paragraphs

Chapter Eight: Focusing on Inferences in Paragraphs

From this chapter, you’ll learn1. how we make inferences in daily life without

even realizing it.

2. about different ways readers infer main ideas that are not summed up in a topic sentence.

3. how to tell the difference between logical and illogical inferences.


Defining Terms: InferencesDefining Terms: Inferences

Inferences are1. conclusions we draw about the unknown based upon the known.2.educated guesses about something that’s been

implied, or suggested, but never said directly.3.central to understanding an author’s or speaker’s

meaning.4.the result of combining the meanings from specific

sentences to infer a more general main idea.


Inferences in Daily LifeInferences in Daily Life

• If someone says, “Hey, what’s up?” we infer that they are not asking about the state of the ceiling but about our state of mind.

• If someone makes a joke, we often supply the background information for the punch line, e.g., “If you look like the photo on your driver’s license, you aren’t well enough to drive.”


A Word to the Wise

Much as you draw inferences all the time in everyday life, you constantly draw inferences when you read. But here again, you may not always notice when you do. For example, taken together, the following picture and caption make what point?

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Unfortunately those who have contributed the most to global warming probably won’t be the ones paying the highest price.Unfortunately those who have contributed the most to global warming probably won’t be the ones paying the highest price.

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Drawing Inferences as a Reader Drawing Inferences as a Reader

What’s the author’s point?a. Polar bears have contributed heavily to global

warming, and they are going to pay the price because the icebergs they rely on for mobility are melting.

b. Humans have contributed heavily to global warming, but polar bears are paying the price

because the icebergs they rely on for mobility are melting.


Even Pictures with Captions Need Inferences from Readers

Even Pictures with Captions Need Inferences from Readers

Most people choose answer b. It seems the obvious answer. However, to arrive at that obvious answer, we have to infer that the author had the following thoughts in mind when writing the caption for this particular picture.


Reader-Supplied InferencesReader-Supplied Inferences1. Humans are the ones usually mentioned as contributors to global

warming.

2. The melting of icebergs has been repeatedly cited in the news as a consequence of global warming.

3. Because icebergs are melting, polar bears are getting stranded in Arctic waters when they fish.

4. Polar bears rely on icebergs as places to rest on periodically when they fish.

5. Dying in the Arctic seas will be the price that polar bears pay as a result of global warming they did not cause.


What information does the reader need to supply to get the point of these sentences?What information does the reader need to supply to get the point of these sentences?

“Miranda was ironing her favorite blouse for work when she was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. When she returned to her ironing, after a lengthy chat with her neighbor--who had brought over some mail

delivered to the wrong address--Miranda was horrified to see the horseshoe-shaped burn on what had once been her favorite blouse.”


A Few Words to the WiseA Few Words to the Wise

• It’s all but impossible for writers to put every thought essential to a text’s meaning on the page.

• Writers rely on readers to add information to the text by drawing logical inferences or conclusions.

• Those inferences are based on a combination of the author’s words and the reader’s background knowledge.

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Sometimes Inferring the Main Idea MeansPiecing Together Parts of Different Sentences

Sometimes Inferring the Main Idea MeansPiecing Together Parts of Different Sentences

Can you combine parts of two or more sentences to state the main idea of the following paragraph?



1Several times over the last few decades, research studies have suggested that drinking coffee may contribute to the onset of a variety of diseases ranging from cancer to heart attacks. 2New research, however, seems to contradict those previous studies. 3More recent studies emphasize the positive effects of drinking coffee. 4Researchers at the National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive Diseases, for instance, found that coffee drinking significantly reduces the risk of chronic liver disease. 5Similarly, two federal studies of American nurses found that the biggest coffee drinkers had the lowest risk of developing high blood pressure. 6A study done by researchers at Harvard found lower rates of depression among people who drank coffee as opposed to tea.

When There Are No Pieces to Combine, You Need toWhen There Are No Pieces to Combine, You Need to1. get a sense of the key elements in the main idea by

looking for words and phrases that are repeated or referred to throughout the paragraph.

2. ask yourself what each sentence adds to your understanding of the person, event, or experience

being described.

3. formulate a general statement that could sum up or include all the specific statements about the topic.



What words or phrases come up again and again in this paragraph?What words or phrases come up again and again in this paragraph?

1Biographers of the New England, local color writer Sarah Orne Jewett always mention how Jewett adored her doctor-father. 2They never seem to notice that in Jewett’s fiction, doctors and fathers don’t fare very well. 3Jewett’s fictional fathers are inclined to sacrifice their families in the name of their own extravagant dreams and social schemes. 4Driven by their desires, they never seem to notice the suffering they cause others. 5It’s also true that Jewett’s fictional doctors are inclined to be arrogant and are frequently shown up by female healers, who rely on home remedies rather than fancy medical treatments.


Taken together, what main idea do thesentences suggest?Taken together, what main idea do thesentences suggest?

a. Jewett was very good at portraying the flaws of pompous doctors and self-serving fathers.

b. Jewett’s fiction suggests that her admiration for her doctor-father may have had some anger mixed in.

c. Jewett may have adored her father, but as a local colorist, she was still inclined to follow the literary tradition of making men look silly.


Just So you KnowJust So you Know

The local color literary tradition began after the Civil War ended in 1865, when writers all across the United States were concerned that the war’s devastation, along with the spread of cities and industry, were destroying the customs, speech, and look of different regions in the United States. Writers like Sarah Orne Jewett in the North, Sidney Lanier in the South, and Bret Harte in the West tried to preserve the characteristics of their region in the fiction they created. They also tried to show the value of the regional traditions that were fast disappearing under the onslaught of industrialization and passing time.

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Defining Terms: Logical Inferences Defining Terms: Logical Inferences

Logical Inferences are• based on the author’s words more than your personal

experience and opinions.

• not contradicted by anything else said in the passage.

• capable of being explained or proven by the other sentences in the paragraph.

• frequently require readers to call upon background knowledge about the topic under discussion.


Defining Terms: Illogical InferencesDefining Terms: Illogical Inferences

Illogical inferences• favor the reader’s experiences and opinions more

than the author’s words. • are based on a few words rather than the

majority of sentences in the paragraph.• may be contradicted by statements in the

paragraph.• divert readers from the intended meaning,

sending them off on a train of thought not implied by the author.


A Word to the Wise

The final test of an inference is how it matches what the author actually says.

• Take, for instance, the paragraph on Sarah Orne Jewett. If a reader had read a biography that stressed Jewett’s warm relationship with her father and wanted to infer that the passage focused on the benefits of father-daughter bonding, the reader would be off the mark. That inference does not match up with the author’s words, which describe negative images of fathers.

In reading, it’s the actual text--not the reader’s personal experience--that is always the final test of an inference.

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What’s the logical inference you could draw from the following paragraph?What’s the logical inference you could draw from the following paragraph?

In an effort to help ranchers protect their sheep fromcoyotes, researchers injected dead sheep with a poisonand left the carcasses strewn in pastures, where the wolvescould find and eat the remains. As intended, the poison madethe coyotes horribly sick. Within a short time, the coyotes, who had been routinely slaughtering live sheep for their dinner, stopped. In fact, it wasn’t long before the coyotes ran away at the very sight or smell of sheep, and sheep had been crossed off the coyote menu.

Guess Who’s Not Coming for Dinner?


Which implied main idea is the most logical inference?Which implied main idea is the most logical inference?1. The sheep had learned how to outsmart and get away from the coyotes.

2. After the coyotes associated eating the sheep with getting sick, they didn’t want to hunt them them anymore.

3. The poisoned sheep carcasses didn’t taste very good, so the coyotes decided to hunt different prey that tasted better.


Distinguishing Between Logical and Illogical Inferences


Inference 2 is the logical inference because it follows from the information supplied by the author.

We can say that eating the poisoned sheep carcasses stopped the coyotes from killing because according to the paragraph,

1. the killings stopped after the coyotes ate the poisoned carcasses.

2. the coyotes didn’t even want to see the sheep after eating some poisoned ones that made them sick.




• Implied main idea 1, about the sheep outsmarting coyotes, is not a logical inference. There’s no mention in the paragraph of the sheep being either smart or dumb.

• Implied main idea 3 doesn’t work because the text doesn’t say that the sheep didn’t taste good. It says the coyotes got sick AFTER eating the sheep and that made them take sheep off the menu.


Just So You Know

The description of how the coyotes came to associate the sheep with being sick and therefore avoided them is a good example of what’s called classical conditioning, or associated learning.• This kind of learning occurs when a formerly neutral or even

pleasant object or experience gets associated with something positive or negative. • In a famous experiment based on classical conditioning, experimenters banged a hammer on a steel bar each time a little boy reached out to touch a white rat he had once considered a pet. When the experiment ended, the little boy was afraid of the bell and the white rat.

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Finishing Up: Focusing on Inferences in Paragraphs

You’ve previewed the major concepts and skills introduced in Chapter 8. Take this quick quiz to test your mastery of those skills and concepts, and you are ready to read the chapter.

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Finishing Up: Focusing on Inferences inParagraphs

1. True or False. If a writer is really good, readers don’t have to add anything to the text to create meaning.

2. True or False. Readers always draw inferences by combining parts of different sentences.



3. Can you identify the characteristics of a logical inference?

4. Can you describe the characteristics of an illogical one?

5. Read the following passage and draw a logical inference.



At first glance, hunger seems an easy word to define. It means wanting something to eat or having an appetite that will in time be satisfied. But is that what hunger is for people around the world? Not quite. For millions of adults and children everywhere, including the United States, hunger means a persistently recurring empty stomach that growls and cramps and seldom feels full. For others, hunger is a constant companion. These are the victims of war, famine, and back-breaking social inequality. In their world, hunger is a synonym for starvation. (Adapted from Kaufman and Franz, Biosphere, 2000, p. 172.)


Brain Teaser ChallengeWhen advertisers employ images of

gorgeous men and women using their products, what inference are they

hoping consumers will draw from seeing a beautiful woman carrying a Kate Spade handbag or a good-looking man drinking José Cuervo?

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© laraine flemming. all rights reserved. no distribution allowed without express authorization....

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