Learning English through Drama Week 7
Author’s Purpose
Most writer crate a story with at least one general purpose in mind. Because most writers do
not directly state their general purpose, the reader must use indirect clues to determine it. Usually, this
purpose will fall into one of three broad categories:
1. to entertain: trying to give audience an enjoyable experience.
2. to inform or explain: trying to provide audience with knowledge.
3. to persuade: trying to change audiences’ opinions by appealing their emotions or intellect.
Inference
Inference means discovering the message that the writer has not state directly, but has hinted at
or suggested indirectly. Inferring is sometimes called “reading between the lines”. We negotiate through
life by means of “cues”. We are constantly “reading” situations and adjusting our actions. When we
“draw inferences”, we make educated guesses using the clues provided by writer, our own experience
and logic.
“If we see a car weaving down the road late at night, most of us will become concerned that the
driver may be intoxicated and so we try to stay out of the way.”
“If a teacher sees a student looking at his watch and tapping his foot, the teacher will likely
assume the student is anxious to leave class.”
“If a person comes from work and slams the door, most of us will deduce that the person is
angry or upset about something.”
Exercise 1: Inferring information.
1. The 93 years old woman sits by her window in her rocking chair day after day. As soon as she
hears the mail truck drive away, she eagerly checks the mailbox, hoping for some news from her
children. When the clock strikes 3:00 in the afternoon, with a longing expression, she watches the
happy children as they skip home from school. Every night at 6.00, she eats dinner alone.
Inference:________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
2. The man walked to the front of his car and lifted the hood. A cloud of white smoke came out of
his engine. He stood there a moment, then slammed the hood down with a loud “bang!” With his face
bright red, his fists clenched, he walked to the side of dead car and kicked the tire as hard as he cloud.
Inference:________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
3. As he walked around the corner with the roses in his hand, his knees started shaking, his
hands were sweaty, and his heart was in his throat. She should be coming along any minute now. Time
stood still. He had waited for this moment forever, it seemed. How would she react? Would she feel the
same way, too?
Inference:________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
4. Lori rolled over sleepily and opened her heavy eyelids, trying to adjust her eyes to the light
coming through her window. Her eyes slowly focused on the time that showed on her clock. She
suddenly jumped up, grabbed the first clothes she saw in the closet, hastily threw them on, brushed her
fingers through her hair, grabbed an apple, and ran out of the house.
Inference:________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
5. The father carefully picked up the sleeping baby. He held her close, rocking her softly as he
quietly sang her a lullaby and gently kissed her soft pink cheek.
Inference:________________________________________________________________________________________
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