Read

between

the lines

What is the implicit?

Something that is implicit is deduced- it is suggested, by the way it is said. Implicit meaning can be a little harder to find than explicit meaning (evident details or information).

The clues you need to understand the implicit details about a character are all in the text. Look for the following:

what the character says
what the character does
what others say about them
how others react to them

DEDUCING A CHARACTER'S PERSONALITY

Have a look at the extract below from Holes by Louis Sachar. In this extract, Stanley has just arrived at a prison camp for young tough kids after a 9-hour journey in the hot desert. He meets 'Mr Sir' the man in the cowboy hat.

What do you learn about this mysterious character by 'reading between the lines', that is, by implication? Certain parts of the text have been put in bold to give you some clues.

A man was sitting with his feet up on a desk. He turned his head when Stanley and the guard entered, but otherwise didn't move. Even though he was inside, he wore sunglasses and a cowboy hat. He also held a can of cream soda, and the sight of it made Stanley even more aware of his own thirst.

He waited while the bus guard gave the man some papers to sign.

"That's a lot of sunflower seeds," the bus guard said.

Stanley noticed a burlap sack filled with sunflower seeds on the floor next to the desk.

"I quit smoking last month," said the man in the cowboy hat. He had a tattoo of a rattlesnake on his arm, and as he signed his name, the snake's rattle seemed to wiggle. "I used to smoke a pack a day. Now I eat a sack of these every week."

'Holes' - Louis Sachar

ANSWER

DEDUCING THE MEANING OF WORDS

TIP: Use the context to guess the meaning of unknown words

Get help from the text to find the meaning of : "FLICKERING"

"All attempts to put books on the Internet have met consumer resistance. The majority appear to find flickering screens tiring. They make eyes ache since the scanning pulses are in constant movement."

You know that:

internet pages are usually found on a computer "screen".
If images are moving in a permanent way ("constant movement"), you can deduce that flickering means ‘tremblant’.

DEDUCING FROM THE CONTEXT

WHAT IS CRITICAL THINKING?

5 TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR CRITICAL THINKING

UNDERSTATEMENT AND IRONY

“Thinking outside the box”

This is a moral dilemma that was once actually used as part of a job application. The candidate who was hired had no trouble coming up with his answer.

You are driving along in your car on a wild, stormy and freezing cold night. You pass by a bus stop, and you see three people waiting for the bus.

1. An old lady who looks as if she’s about to die.

2. An old friend who once saved your life.

3. The perfect man or woman of your dreams.

Which one would you choose to offer a ride to, knowing that there could only be one passenger in your car?

WHAT WOULD YOU DO ?

THE IMPLICIT MESSAGE

Tell us how you understand the implicit message in the "comment section" below

Google Sites

Report abuse