What the Author Leaves Out

Analyze how omitted facts or perspectives shape a reader's understanding.

Authors shape meaning not only by what they include but by what they leave out. Omission can be innocent, since no text includes everything, or it can be a strategy to make one side look stronger. Critical readers ask: Whose voice is missing? What facts would complicate this? What questions does the text avoid? Here is an original example from a brochure for a new amusement park: 'Enjoy over thirty thrilling rides, a giant wave pool, and delicious food stands, all just twenty minutes from downtown!

' Everything here may be true, but the brochure omits ticket prices, wait times, and whether some rides have height limits. Its purpose is to attract visitors, so it leaves out anything that might discourage them. In a news article about a factory closing, omitting workers' perspectives would give an incomplete picture. To analyze omission, list what you'd expect a complete account to include, then compare it with what the text actually covers, and explain how the gap serves the author's purpose.

• 1Omission shapes meaning as much as inclusion
• 2Ask whose voice or which facts are missing
• 3Explain how the gap serves the author's purpose