How to Infer

To infer effectively, you should

  • understand background and context (see Situate);
  • use your knowledge of the author and the rhetorical situation (see Situate);
  • look for clues and keywords (see Skim, Scan, and Use Tools);
  • consider the “how” and “why” related to the “what”;
  • use facts, details, and evidence (see Break Down a Source);
  • use your prior knowledge and personal experience;
  • develop an informed opinion; and
  • check and double check your logic.

When you infer, you can draw conclusions in a number of ways:

(Adapted from “Infer with Evidence” by Barbara Radner. http://teacher.depaul.edu. Used with permission.)

Infer motiveWhy does the author believe this? What did the author want you to feel or understand?
Infer prior actions or experiences What life experiences influenced the author?
Infer cause-effectWhat caused _______ to happen?
Infer traitsWhat can you conclude about a person’s personality or values?
Infer beliefs and valuesWhat does the person believe or value?
Infer feelingsHow do you think ________ felt about a subject, person, life, situation, etc.?
Infer the main messageWhat is the main message that the author is sharing?

When making inferences, you should track, support, validate, and iterate your thinking. These questions can help:

  • What is my inference? (capture the conclusion you are drawing)
  • What information did I use to make this inference? (capture the textual evidence and, when possible, the background knowledge and life experience)
  • How valid is my inference? Do I need to change my thinking? (reflect on your logic)

You read the following passage about the use of TikTok:

I stare at the screen. It’s foreign to me, but I’m intrigued, entertained, sometimes inspired. Hearts and plus signs, arrows and comment boxes. Short dance routines. Lip-syncing memes. Strangers sharing life beliefs, life hacks, life stories. Should I watch? Should I swipe up? Should I follow or share or favourite? A tourist on TikTok, passing pandemic-restricted time. Thirty seconds becomes 30 minutes. Just one more video. Hours spent during lockdown.

You think about the inference(s) you can make from this passage, carefully considering what evidence is available. You consider these inferences:

  1. The author is a millennial.
  2. The author is a new user of TikTok.
  3. The author does not like life hacks.
  4. The author believes that it is easy to pass a lot of time on TikTok.

You decide that (b) and (d) are inferences that can be made logically from this passage; (a) and (c) are not.

(b) is an inference since the author’s use of the terms “foreign land” and “tourist” indicate that they are new to TikTok. This is also indicated by the author’s confusion about TikTok’s functions—e.g. “How do I share again?” Further, the author indicates that their use of TikTok may be related to the global pandemic when stating “pandemic-restricted time” and “hours spent during lockdown.”

(d) is also an inference since the author ends the passage by talking about time passing while using TikTok—e.g. “Thirty seconds becomes 30 minutes”; “hours spent.”

Although (a) is possible since millennials are not the typical users of TikTok, the author could also be older, part of Generation X or the boomer generation. There is no evidence to indicate that the author does not like life hacks. Therefore, (c) is not a logical inference.

Try It!

Directions

  1. Watch “Why It’s Time for Black History Month to Go” by Bee Quammie, a Canadian freelance writer. In this piece, Quammie expresses her thoughts about the limitations of celebrating Black Canadians just one month of the year.
  2. After watching the video, clarify Quammie’s message by identifying questions you have about it. Then, respond to Quammie’s message. Compare your clarifying questions and response to the sample provided, but remember there are no right or wrong ways to clarify or respond.

“Why It’s Time for Black History Month to Go” is a CBC video by Bee Quammie, published in 2017. Watch the video here, learn more about the author here, and learn more about CBC here.

Activity 2

Directions:

  1. Watch “What Non-Indigenous Canadians Need to Know” by Eddy Robinson, an Indigenous speaker, consultant, educator, and author. In this video, part of TVO’s web series called “First Things First,” Robinson provides advice to non-Indigenous Canadians.
  2. After watching the video, clarify Robinson’s message by identifying questions you have about it. Then, respond to Robinson’s message. Compare both with a peer, but remember there are no right or wrong ways to clarify or respond.

“What Non-Indigenous Canadians Need to Know” by Eddy Robinson, an educator on Indigenous topics, is a 2019 video published by TVO Docs. Watch the video here, learn more about the author here, and learn more about TVO here.

Activity 3

Directions:

  1. Review the following four passages. For each, answer which of the four statements that follow are inferences. Can you support your answer with logic and evidence?
  2. Check your answers with the solutions provided.

1. “It’s not that digital immigrants are smarter or more talented than the digital natives that came after us. Our uniqueness, it seems, lies in the fact that we are the last of a dying breed and as such, living, breathing receptacles of a soon-to-be lost plane of human experience: empty yawning hours and days of nothing much at all” (McLaren, 2019, para. 11).

What inference(s) can you make from this passage?

  1. The author is a digital native.
  2. The author believes that digital immigrants are unique.
  3. The author thinks that the human experience has been changed by technology.
  4. The author does not like technology.

2. “So if you’re a person that wants to be an ally to the Black community, let’s begin here: Put down your phone. Just as neutrality won’t put you in good stead with the cause of righteousness, neither will claims that you’re ‘not racist.’ The notion is a myth; certainly 400-plus years of deeply ingrained social programming didn’t simply skip over you, regardless of your good intentions. Racism lives within all of us. Your active allyship work begins with letting this realization sink in, and then taking steps towards becoming anti-racist” (Fequiere, 2020, para. 3–4).

What inferences can you make from this passage?

  1. The author thinks that being a Black ally is not justabout posting on social media.
  2. The author believes that people want to be an ally to the Black community.
  3. The author believes that becoming a Black ally begins with acknowledging your own racism.
  4. The author believes that allies must take proactive and concrete action.

3. “Police use-of-force incidents across Canada have ignited public unrest and disapproval of law enforcement authorities. Many voices are calling for the widespread use of body-worn cameras to hold police officers accountable, while others are urging government to defund the police. An area that has not received the attention it deserves during this upheaval is police oversight” (Laming, 2020, para. 1–2).

What inferences can you make from this passage?

  1. The author thinks that police should be defunded.
  2. The author believes there should be focus on police oversight.
  3. The author believes that police oversight in Canada should be examined.
  4. This piece was written at a time of societal turmoil.

4. “Anyone who represents a ‘different’ point of view also needs to accept that questions may not be wrapped in a perfectly politically correct bow. That doesn’t mean we should stop the questions from being asked. We need to keep conversations going; I would much rather someone stumble over their words or offend me or not know the HRC-approved way to ask me which pronoun I prefer than stay silent. Silence halts change” (Beckham, 2014, para. 3).

What inference(s) can you make from this passage?

  1. The author has been asked politically incorrect questions.
  2. The author believes that dialogue between people of different backgrounds and identities is necessary for societal change.
  3. The author wants to keep conversations going.
  4. The author does not like questions.

In this subtopic, you’ve learned how to

  • clarify a source by asking questions;
  • respond to a source on a personal level using life experience and knowledge; and
  • make informed inferences using concrete evidence from a source.