When making an inference, what should a reader do to support it?

When making an inference, what should a reader do to support it?

• A. Make up information.
• B. Rely on own opinions only.
• C. Cite the provided evidence from the text.
• D. Ignore evidence.

Answer: (C)

When you infer, you’re building a conclusion from clues the author provides and showing exactly where those clues come from. The best way to support your inference is to cite the evidence in the text that leads to your conclusion. That means pointing to specific details, descriptions, or phrases and explaining how they connect to what you’re inferring. For example, if the text describes a character shivering, pulling their jacket tight, and it mentions the chill in the air, you can infer that it’s cold. You support that inference by referencing those exact details to show how they justify the conclusion about the temperature. Other approaches pull away from the text. Relying on your own opinions alone doesn’t ground the inference in what the author actually shows. Making up information adds details not present in the text, and ignoring evidence discards clues the text provides. All of those weaken the inference, whereas citing the text keeps the conclusion anchored in the reading.

When you infer, you’re building a conclusion from clues the author provides and showing exactly where those clues come from. The best way to support your inference is to cite the evidence in the text that leads to your conclusion. That means pointing to specific details, descriptions, or phrases and explaining how they connect to what you’re inferring.

For example, if the text describes a character shivering, pulling their jacket tight, and it mentions the chill in the air, you can infer that it’s cold. You support that inference by referencing those exact details to show how they justify the conclusion about the temperature.

Other approaches pull away from the text. Relying on your own opinions alone doesn’t ground the inference in what the author actually shows. Making up information adds details not present in the text, and ignoring evidence discards clues the text provides. All of those weaken the inference, whereas citing the text keeps the conclusion anchored in the reading.