Background reading · English

Reading between the lines: inference and character

Authors rarely tell you everything. Here's how to work out what they are showing you, and prove it.

Imagine a character who slams the door, drops her bag and doesn't answer when her mum says hello. The author never writes 'she was upset', but you know. Working that out is called inference: using clues in the text plus what you already know to understand something the author hasn't said directly.

Two kinds of evidence

Explicit evidence: something the text says directly. 'Charlie had one leg.'

Implicit evidence: something suggested but not stated. A character who checks the window every few minutes is probably waiting for someone, or afraid of something.

How authors build a character

Speech: what the character says, and how they say it.

Thoughts: what goes on inside their head.

Actions: what they do, especially when they think no one is watching.

Looks: how they are described, and what they wear or carry.

Effect on others: how other characters react to them.

Prove it

A strong inference has three parts: your idea, the evidence, and the link between them. 'I think Kahu feels left out, because the text says her great-grandfather keeps sending her away, and people usually feel hurt when someone they love ignores them.' The link is where your thinking shows.

Different readers, different inferences

Two readers can infer different things from the same words, and both can be reasonable. That's why literature circles are useful: you test your ideas against someone else's evidence.

Sources and further reading

Written for Kōkiri Learn students in our own words. Check facts against the sources.

Used in: Stories That Shape Us