Inference — P.E.E.
Use comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising, monitoring, questioning and inferring to analyse and summarise information and ideas.
Inference means working out what the writer has not said. The clue is always in the text. You just have to point at it.
Method
P — Point
Answer the question in one sentence. Use words from the question to start.
E — Evidence
Quote the words that gave you the clue.
E — Explain
Say what those words tell you. This is the part being marked.
Marks tell you how many ideas
Two marks means two ideas. The same idea twice earns one mark.
Worked example
e.g. Refer to paragraph 5. Sam checks his watch three times. What does this tell you about how he feels? (2)
- Write your Point. Answer the question straight away.It tells us Sam is anxious and is waiting for something.
- Give your Evidence. Quote the words.“checks his watch three times”
- Explain what the words tell you.Three times in a short space shows he cannot settle.
- Count the marks. Two marks needs two ideas.Idea 1: he is anxious. Idea 2: he is waiting for something to happen.
- Check it. Have you said something the text does not say outright?If not, you have only copied. That is not inference.
Practice
Use P.E.E. every time. Count your ideas before you check the answer.
1
A girl leaves her food untouched and stares out of the window. What does this suggest? (2)
AnswerP — She is worried about something. E — “left her food untouched”. E — People eat when they are relaxed, so refusing food shows something is on her mind. Second idea: staring out of the window suggests she is thinking about somewhere else, or someone.
2
A learner answers: We know because the story says so. Why does that earn nothing?
AnswerIt gives the clue but never says what the clue means. The mark is for the explaining.
3
The writer says the room was “too quiet”. Why the word too? (2)
AnswerP — It suggests the quiet is wrong, not peaceful. E — “too quiet”. E — Too means more than there should be, so the silence feels unnatural and makes the reader expect something bad.
4
You wrote a good Point and a good Explain but no quote. What is the mark out of 2?
AnswerOne. Without evidence it is a guess. Always point at the words.