Inference: Text Clues Plus What You Know

Figure out what the author suggests but does not say directly.

Authors do not tell you everything. Often they leave clues and trust you to figure out the rest. That is called making an inference. The formula is: what the text says plus what I already know equals my inference. Read: 'Maya's hands shook as she walked onto the stage. She glanced at the crowd, swallowed hard, and gripped her violin tighter. ' The author never says Maya is nervous.

But shaking hands, swallowing hard, and gripping tightly are things people do when they are nervous. So we can infer that Maya feels nervous about performing. An inference is different from a wild guess because you can point to the clues that support it.

• 1An inference figures out what the author suggests.
• 2Text clues + what I know = inference.
• 3You must be able to point to the clues.