Actively breaking down the act of inference is a daunting task. For strong readers, making connections and inferences is part of the automated process of reading. Developing readers, though, may benefit from having this process explicitly stated and demonstrated. This strategy breaks down the basic elements of inference making into an easy-to-understand chart. As a result, distractions are kept to a minimum and the pure essence of the thought is articulated cleanly and concretely.
In The Odyssey, there are perhaps fewer instances where inference is important than in a more modern plot, but there are still situations that illustrate the efficiency of this method. For instance, some students might wonder why Odysseus plugs his men's' ears with wax but insists upon hearing the sirens' song himself. In the first column, we could include Circe's warning about the sirens, the sirens' statements to Odysseus, and other passages which illustrate his bravery as a character.
In the next column, students could posit bits of their own judgement about the situation, their judgement of Odysseus as a character, and parallels to other situations with which they might be familiar.
Finally, students apply what they know to what the text explicitly says in order to form some sort of conclusion that attempts to answer their original question. By using this strategy, the students have broken down the process of inferencing into a much less threatening form. After scaffolding the process with strategies such as these, they will ideally begin to naturally infer more fluently without the aid of an explicit formula.
"Drawing inferences is a difficult skill for students to learn. In this two-column journal strategy, students visualize the connection between what they are reading and what the text is actually saying; it’s particularly useful with difficult text or poetry. Students should copy the literal passage from the text into the first column, and their interpretation of the text in the second column. Students can use their charts to help one another make sense of the passage or poem after reading."
Tankersley, Karen. Literacy Strategies for Grades 4-12 : Reinforcing the Threads of Reading, Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development, 2005. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ugalib/detail.action?docID=3002120.