Inference

Consider the following scenario: You have arrived home after a long day at work. You presume you are the first to reach home because all the lights are turned off. You notice a package on the front step as you leave your vehicle. 

You suppose the mailman had put it there before you could even pick it up. You see that the living room is clean when you open the front door. You, therefore, conclude that the room must have been cleaned while you were at work. You have practised inference in each of these situations. So let us discuss the inference in detail. 

What is an inference?

The inference is the act of arriving at a logical conclusion based on observation and background information. The inference is probably something you do daily. For example, if you witness someone eating something new if they make a face, you can assume they do not enjoy it. If someone slams a door, it is a sign that she is angry over something. 

You must know what you are looking for before practising inference in literature. Your goal is to understand the text’s intended meaning. A writer always intends to share a message or a lesson through the text.

What is the significance of an inference? 

Making inferences involves searching beyond what is mentioned in the text to uncover ideas that the author is referring to. This needs a reader to be intensive and careful as well as a critical thinker at the same time. It also makes things simpler for you to comprehend what the author says.

How to draw inferences?

We make assumptions from the reading about the author, then the text, and from our responses when we read. Evaluating the author is the first step toward determining the intended meaning of a piece of work. You might read the author’s biography thoroughly. Examine if the text has anything similar to the author’s own life. Examine the historical and cultural background of the text. It will offer you a sense of the context of the writing, which you can use in the next stage.

You are now ready to start analysing the writing after learning more about the author and the contextual historical and cultural background of the text. As you study, your purpose is to infer the major points of the text as you have understood it. 

Start asking questions, like:

• Why are the characters acting the way they are?
• What are their thoughts or plans? 
• What are their emotions?
• What do you already know about the subject? 
• What is missing here?
• Why doesn’t the author include information?

After that, it is time to make predictions, like:

• What do you anticipate would happen next, in your opinion? 
• What will be a certain character’s reaction?
• What will be the result?

Furthermore, You should use the details to make connections. After making your predictions, look for what is missing or not specified in the details and connect the dots. Use your questions, guesses, and predictions to fill in the details.

Examples of Inference

1. Sally comes home at 4:30 pm, knowing that her mother will not be home till 5 pm. Sally also notices that their house’s lights are turned off. Sally has concluded that her mother has not yet returned home.
2. Sherry’s two-year-old is sleeping upstairs. She hears a noise, and then she hears her crying. Sherry can infer if her toddler is in pain or is afraid.
3. Next door, John hears a smoke alarm but also smells burnt bacon. John can infer that his next-door neighbour spoiled her breakfast.
4. Susan’s dog has a small piece of newspaper trapped in his fur, and also the floor is covered with pieces of newspaper. It can be inferred that Susan’s dog played with the newspaper.
5. Billy looked out the window as the storm raged outside and the rain poured down. He threw down his kite and sobbed. You may infer that he was desperate to fly his kite.
6. When you adopt a puppy from a shelter if he appears frightened and afraid. If he is scared of loud noises and has scars on his body. It is fair to infer that his previous owner has mistreated him.

Conclusion

An inference is an idea or notion derived from data and logic. An educated guess is what an inference is. We learn about some specific things with proofs firsthand, while we learn about other possible things by speculation. This is the process of inferring things based on what we already know.