Part 4 - Interpreting what you read

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Important reading skills:

Making inferences: When you make an inference, you come to a conclusion from facts. To infer something is to decide what's being said or written by reading between the lines. To imply means to state indirectly or to suggest. Evidence is information that supports a conclusion. A conclusion is what you decide based on evidence or opinion.

Separating fact from opinion: A fact is a bit of information that can be proved or disproved based on evidence. Some facts aren't so easy to prove. By contrast, an opinion isn't a fact. Rather, opinions are based on what someone thinks or believes about something. Opinions often start with words like "I believe" or "I think." Or opinions often says that something "should" be.

Detecting Bias: Bias refers to a strong emotional preference for one view or another. Many opinions reveal a bias. A bias chooses one point of view and opposes other possible points of view. Bias is often more difficult to identify than opinion. Loaded words are words that carry strong feelings or emotions. To influence means to try to convince someone of something. Words may be used to influence your opinions. A word or statement is neutral if it isn't meant to make readers feel a strong emotion.

Drawing Conclusion: Reading well means learning to interpret what you read. As you read, you must learn the skills of drawing conclusions. Conclusions are what you decide based on the information you're given. Conclusions may be useful or not useful . They may be based on facts or on opinions. Any conclusion you draw should be on the facts in the paragraph. A preliminary conclusion is one that helps you get to the final conclusion. Some suggestions in drawing conclusions; You'll need to separate the facts from the opinions, remember that opinions often reveal bias, also stating some facts and not others may also show bias, and as you sort out facts from opinions and look for bias, make inferences by reading between the lines.

Imagery in Poetry:

Sometimes writers present mental images that create a certain kind of feeling in the reader. Imagery is a literary tool that suggests mental pictures of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, feelings, and actions. Imagery also conveys emotions and moods. Writers often use vivid words to create imagery-that is, to make images in your mind that are strong or colorful mental images.

Define:

Metaphors: compare two unlike things without using the words like or as.

Similes: Compare two unlike things by using the words like and as.

Elements of Fiction:

Fiction is a writing that is the product of someone' imagination.

Characters are the people writers invent for their stories. A protagonist is the main character in a story.

Settings in fiction may be real and/or imagined places.

Plot refers to the sequence of events in a story.

Conflict refers to the issue to be resolved in a story.

Theme refers to the main point of the story.