Support an Inference without Pretending to Know - Practice 1

Connect several clues to an interpretation, then check whether another explanation remains possible.

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Connect several clues to an interpretation, then check whether another explanation remains possible. An inference can be well supported without giving access to a character's unspoken thoughts.

Worked example

A speaker rehearsing twice and checking notes may be preparing carefully. That does not prove the speaker has never presented before.

Would you believe it?

In The box of pencils is open, the singular box controls is. The nearby plural pencils does not change the subject.

Original fiction: Before the Demonstration

Mira arrived early for the demonstration. She arranged her materials in the order she would use them and practiced the opening twice. When the room filled, she glanced at a small note card before speaking. Her explanation was steady. The narrator does not tell us whether she felt nervous or how many demonstrations she had given before.

Question 1 Which inference is best supported? Mira prepared deliberately. Mira had never spoken publicly. Mira disliked everyone present.

Question 2 Which detail most directly supports that inference? The room had people in it. The narrator uses her name. She practiced the opening twice.

Question 3 What is explicitly left unknown? whether she arrived early whether Mira felt nervous whether she used a note card

Question 4 Does steady speech prove she felt no anxiety? No; outward behavior does not settle that feeling. Yes; steady speech always means no anxiety. Yes; note cards remove all feelings.

Question 5 Which revision overstates the evidence? Mira arranged her materials. Mira checked a note card. Mira had never presented before.

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