Inferential Comprehension Part I Sensory Impressions as in all areas of inferential comprehension, the reader must use their recall of personal experience to “sense” those feelings expressed by print. To illustrate a sensory impression, read the following sentence: The juicy, sour pulp of the lemon made her lips pucker and her body shiver. The sensory impression conveyed by “sour pulp” was one of taste; another sensory impression was the feeling of puckered lips and shivering body. Sensory impressions generally take the form of reacting to stimuli such as: light, sound, impact, constriction, touch, sight, taste, smell, and hearing – any sense which involves feelings. Characterization & Feelings deals with the description of the particular qualities, features, or traits which illustrate and mark and individual’s pattern of behavior or personality. Examples of character traits would be: fortitude, kindness, selfishness, discipline, reputation, morals, etc. The character’s feelings would involve those sensory and emotional feelings experienced first-hand by the character and vicariously (second-hand) by the reader. Note: Sensory Impressions above. Setting & Time involves making a judgment regarding the probably place or location where the story is occurring as well as the clock or calendar time involved. Note the example illustrated below: Riding feverishly through the tangled underbrush, Straight Arrow urged his pony onward to escape the renegade members of the Sioux tribe who had been in pursuit since twilight. From the sentence, the reader may inferentially note the setting and time: Setting: clues: underbrush & Sioux lead the reader to believe that the location might be the northern plains of the United States. Time:
clue: twilight leads the reader to believe that the time is early evening. clues: Straight Arrow, Sioux, pony lead the reader to believe that the story might have occurred many years ago, early in U.S. History.
Author’s Tone, Mood and Purpose deals with the manner or style of writing which shows a certain attitude toward the subject matter. Tone deals with the prevailing or predominant style, character, spirit, trend, morale, or morals which a writer expresses through his choice of words and phrasing. Examples of tone would be contempt and love. Mood, however, refers to the particular state of mind of the writer and reveals temperament, humor, temper, anger, seriousness, etc. The author’s purpose is their intention or resolve. It is their “end in view” which is the object of their writing. Purpose answers the question, “Why did they write this?” The following sentence illustrates tone, mood, and purpose: Yet, even after the struggling mare had pulled the burden across the parched earth since early dawn, her master whipped her repeatedly for any slack in the pace. Tone: love for the poor mare and contempt for the merciless master. Mood: the author’s anger and outrage toward the master. Purpose: to illustrate the cruelty and heartlessness of the master toward the animal.
Inferential Comprehension Part II Perceiving Relationships refers to the recognition of a connection or dependence between people, objects, business, nations, etc. Frequently the relationship is one of similarity or difference or the effect of interaction. Examples of different types of word relationships are illustrated below: Purpose shoe : foot Cause-Effect wound : blood Part-Whole arm : body Part-Part leaf : root Action-Object hop : rabbit Object-Action car : drive Synonym first : primary Antonym high : low Place lion : cage Degree pink : red Characteristic rich : money Grammatical give : gave Numerical 50 : 5 Association ring : wedding Object :
Relationships which exist between people might be: alliance generation heterogeneity breed isolation co-worker incidental adversary kindred opponent parentage friend maternity enemy paternity brotherhood harmony imitation
