Making Inferences

Read this poem by Emily Dickinson called "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" Read it several times and wonder why she might have used a frog that lives in a bog.

I'm Nobody! Who are you? Are you – Nobody – too? Then there's a pair of us! Don't tell! they'd advertise – you know! How dreary – to be – Somebody! How public – like a Frog – To tell one's name – the livelong June – To an admiring Bog!

A Usage Note: Say, "I can infer..." or "We infer..." rather than "This infers..." People infer. People make inferences. You can say, "This suggests..." or "This implies..."

phrasing: "you can pretty much imply" --> "you can pretty much infer" The writing implies, but people infer.

This poem, as many poems do, has images that suggest or imply, rather than come out directly and state something clearly or explicitly.

What do you think the image of the frog, especially a frog behaving this way, suggests or implies? That is, what can you infer about her views about being a somebody, rather

than a nobody. And what can you say about her opinion of the nature of advertising?

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