Making Inferences,
Interpreting Themes and
Symbols
Unit 3, To Kill a Mockingbird
Making Inferences
What does it mean to “infer” something?
Making Inferences
What does it mean to “infer” something?
What you see or read
What you already know
Your inference
Inference Definition:
A judgment based on reasoning rather
than on direct or explicit statement.
Making Inferences
• Your inference might be a generalization
about a character.
• It might be a prediction about what they’re
going to do next.
• It might be a conclusion or an answer to a
question you’ve had.
Practice making inferences:
• What you see:
• What you know: wagging is friendly; barking is
unfriendly
• Your inference(s) about this car’s owner:
Image sourcet: http://www.stickercafe.com/shop/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=174
Book cover Inferences
What you see:
What you know:
What can you infer about this book?
Image source: http://aptdesignonline.com/best-selling-book-covers
Making Inferences is like Being a Detective
1. Look for clues
2. Add them to what you already know
3. Come up with your own conclusion, and you’
ve made an inference!
How Strong Readers Make Inferences:
They use:
1. Word/text clues
2. Picture clues (film clips too)
3. Define unknown words
4. Look for emotion (feelings)
5. Use what they already know
6. Look for explanations for events
7. ASK themselves questions!
Interpreting Themes
Review: what is a theme?
Theme definition:
theme: an idea or insight about life and human
nature that gives meaning to the story.
Remember, ask yourself: what does this story
reveal about human nature?
Some themes in To Kill a
Mockingbird:
• Prejudice and superstition can lead to injustice
• Individuals have a responsibility to protect the
innocent
• One person’s wrongdoing can release evil into
the entire community
• People often fear what they don’t understand
Themes, continued
• The most important parts of a child's
education may take place at home and in
the community rather than in school
• Insight, maturity, understanding, and
integrity have no necessary relation to age,
social position, or formal education
• Appearances don't always reflect reality
Theme: prejudice and racial
inequality
• Racial prejudice was alive & well in
the 1930s.
•Although slavery had ended in 1864,
old ideas were slow to change.
(Someone who was 14 years old in 1864 would have been
83 in 1933, still alive and passing on grandmotherly or
grandfatherly advice, for good or ill.)
Theme: prejudice and gender
inequality
•Women were generally not educated for
occupations outside the home
•Men not considered capable of nurturing
children
Interpreting Symbols
Review: what is a symbol?
Symbol definition:
symbol: a word, phrase, or object in a work of
literature which signifies something beyond
itself.
Symbol: Miss Maudie’s Nutgrass
(See Chapter 5) Even one blade of nutgrass, if
left to spread, will overtake the whole yard and
garden. What could this symbolize?
Symbol: Mockingbird
•Praised in songs and poem, the mockingbird mainly
resides in the South. It is pale gray and white, about the
size of the robin.
•While its call is a harsh-sounding “tchack,” its song is
beautiful and characterized by repeated notes and
phrases.
•Its gift for imitation is how it got its name.
Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mockingbird
Symbol: Mockingbird
• Miss Maudie describes the mockingbird as a
creature that should never be killed because it
is harmless and even provides song for the
enjoyment of others.
Symbol: Mockingbird
• Both Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are
basically blameless individuals who are at the
mercy of society, yet society is cruel to both
Boo and Tom.
Symbol: Mockingbird
• The symbol of the mockingbird also points to
Scout, both as an innocent child and as the
grown-up narrator, who "sings a song" in telling
the story.