Inference Questions — P.E.E.
Integrate comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising, monitoring, questioning and inferring to analyse and interpret complex and abstract ideas.
The largest block of comprehension marks. Inference means saying what the writer has left unsaid — and proving it from the words on the page.
Method
P — Point
Answer the question directly in one sentence. Start by re-using the question's own words.
E — Evidence
Quote or point to the exact words that let you know this.
E — Explain
Say what those words imply. This is the part that is actually being marked.
Marks equal ideas
Two marks means two separate ideas. One idea written twice earns one mark.
Worked example
e.g. Refer to paragraph 3. The narrator says the house ‘still smelled of other people’. What does this suggest about how she feels? (2)
- Write your Point. Answer the question in one sentence, using its own words.It suggests she does not yet feel that the house is hers.
- Give your Evidence. Quote the words that told you.“still smelled of other people”
- Explain what those words imply. Ask what the writer chose not to say outright.Smell is the sense hardest to ignore, so the previous family is still present to her even when the rooms are empty.
- Count the marks and count your ideas. Two marks needs two.Idea 1: the house is not hers yet. Idea 2: the past owners still feel present.
- Test your answer. Have you said something the passage does not say outright?If not, you have only retold the passage, and inference marks are not awarded for retelling.
Practice
Answer using P.E.E. Check your idea count against the marks before you look at the answer.
1
A character is described as checking her phone ‘for the fourth time in a minute’. What does this suggest about her state of mind? (2)
AnswerP — It suggests she is anxious and is waiting for news. E — ‘for the fourth time in a minute’. E — The repetition in such a short space shows she cannot settle, and the exact count implies someone is watching her closely enough to notice. Two ideas: anxiety, and how visible it is to others.
2
A learner answers an inference question with: We know this because the passage says so. Why does this earn nothing?
AnswerIt gives evidence with no explanation. Inference marks are awarded for what the evidence implies, not for locating it. Locating evidence is the easy half.
3
The writer calls a decision ‘brave’ but describes the outcome in three short, flat sentences. What might this suggest? (2)
AnswerP — It suggests the writer does not fully share the praise. E — the deflating shift from ‘brave’ to bare, unadorned sentences. E — Withholding detail where you would expect celebration implies quiet disagreement, so the word ‘brave’ may be someone else's judgement, not the writer's.
4
You have written a strong Point and a strong Explain, but no quotation. What is the likely mark out of 2?
AnswerOne. Without evidence the answer is an opinion rather than an inference. Always anchor it to the text.
5
A 3-mark inference question. How many distinct ideas should your answer contain?
AnswerThree. Plan them before you write, or you will write one idea in three different ways.