Implicit and Explicit Information. Inferences.

1. Implicit and Explicit
Information
N. Valdelomar

2. Reading means more than just absorbing the
words from the page.
It involves considering
• the meaning of words
• the meaning behind the words
The author’s unstated message is as important
as what has been written down.

3. Consider the
following
statement…
The senator admitted
owning the gun that killed
his wife.

4. 1. On the face of it, we have a simple statement about what someone said.
2. Our understanding includes much that is not stated:
✓There is a public figure.
✓He owns a gun.
✓He is married.
✓His wife is dead.
✓That gun caused her death.
✓The Senator has been questioned about the crime.
3. On a more subtle level, we can recognize that:
✓A public figure confronts involvement in a major crime.
✓The gun (or at least a bullet) has probably been recovered and identified
as the murder weapon.
4. We can even make unwarranted inferences:
✓The Senator killed his wife. (It might have been suicide or an accident)
✓The wife died of gunshot wounds. (She could have been hit over the head with
the gun.)

5. PRACTICING INFERENCES
It’s hard to live in a small studio apartment with a
man who is learning how to play the violin”.
That’s what she told the police as she handed
them the broken bat.
1. What do you think has happened?
2. Why did it happen?
3. How does the story end?

6. Consider the following story
A man and his son are driving in a car. The
car crashes into a tree, killing the father and
seriously injuring the son. At the hospital, the
boy needs to have surgery. Upon looking at
the boy, the doctor says, “I cannot operate on
him. He is my son.”
How can this be?

7. Tips to
make
inferences
 Make sure the inference relies on
the author’s words rather than in
your own feelings or experience.
 Your goal is to read the author’s
mind, not invent your own
message.
 Check to see if your inference is
contradicted by any statement in
the paragraph. If it is, it is not an
appropriate or useful inference.

8. Explicit and Implicit
Information

9. Explicit
The word "explicit" means clear and fully expressed. If something is explicit,
there is no question as to what it means, no hidden connotations, and no room for
misunderstanding. If a fact is explicit in a reading comprehension passage, it is
stated outright.
Take this sentence: "It was a dark and stormy night."
It is an explicit fact. There is no room for debate. The reader cannot be confused
and think that the story is set on a sunny morning.
With explicit information:
• You see an explanation or paraphrase of the text.
• The information is written in the text.
• Details can be pointed to in the text. Explicit meaning is when the words tell you
exactly what the situation is.
• These statements are not open to interpretation.

10. Implicit
If something is implicit, it is not expressly stated, but the reader understands it
anyway through other clues in the text.
Take this sentence: "The trees were swaying wildly outside Anne's window as
she prepared for bed, and the gutters were overflowing."
The reader can infer that it is probably dark, stormy and at night even though
these facts are not explicitly stated.
To find implicit information in what is read, you will have…
• to think about what you read.
• look for clues as you read. Implicit information is not written., but the idea is
there.
• use what is read to make an inference
• take a logical deduction based on the information given in the reading.

11. IMPLICIT EXPLICIT
Are you busy tonight? If you’re not busy
tonight, would you like
to go out with me?
Believe me, you do
not want to see that
movie.
That movie is really
boring, and you won’t
like it.

12. Explicit and Implicit Information

13. Read the text and identify the
statements as implicit or explicit
Coconuts originally grew only on palm trees of Pacific
Islands sea beaches but are now widely cultivated in all
tropical regions from India to Jamaica.
• Some years ago there were no coconuts in India.
• Coconuts first appeared on certain islands of the Pacific.
• Coconut trees did not grow inland on the Pacific islands where they
first appeared.
• Today Coconuts are cultivated in Jamaica.

14. Explicit or Implicit?
Mr. Brown went to Pizza City for lunch yesterday where he met his
friend, Mr. Green. After lunch, the two friends went to the park and
fed the birds.
Which of the following sentences are implied details and which are explicit
details?
• Mr. Brown and Mr. Green went to Pizza City for lunch.
• They saw each other at midday.
• Mr. Brown and Mr. Green ate pizza.
• They went to the park after they had had lunch.
• They fed the birds at the park.

15. Read the text. Then support the sentences below by using pieces of
textual evidence (explicit or implicit). Explain your thinking.
I wanted to get a copy of the hard-to-find book “The Myth of C'tulhu,” so
I went to Librería Universal. As usual, they didn't have it. I visited some
other bookstores downtown, but none had the book. Finally, after a four-
hour search, I went to Librería Internacional. The clerk told me, “We
don't have that book right now, but you can place an order. It is a bit
more expensive, but you can get the book in less than two weeks. It's
faster and it's cheaper than buying it online.”
• The book is rare.
• The author has had negative experiences at Librería Universal.
• There are bookstores downtown.
• The book was not in the bookstores that the author visited.
• The clerk at Librería Internacional was helpful.
• The clerk has experience regarding buying books online.
• Ordering the book is more expensive than buying it on the store.