Explicit and Implicit Information in Text

Explicit and Implicit Information

• Explicit information is directly stated in the text and can be easily understood without making inferences.
• Implicit information is understood but not directly stated, requiring readers to think critically and make inferences.
• Example of explicit information: All living things are made up of cells.
• Example of implicit information: Judging others does not define who they are, it defines who you are!

Using Contextual Clues

• Contextual clues are words, phrases, and sentences that help readers understand unfamiliar words in a text.
• Contextual clues require activation of prior knowledge or past experience.
• Types of contextual clues:
  • Use of synonyms
  • Use of antonyms
  • Use of examples
  • Use of comparison
  • Use of sense of sentence

Types of Contextual Clues

Synonyms as Context Clues

• Synonyms appear in a sentence in the following ways:
  • By dashes
  • By commas to separate the appositive
  • By parentheses
• Examples:
  • She finds solace- comfort- in the country side.
  • The advocates, supporters, of anti-mining formed a picket outside the building.

Antonyms as Context Clues

• Antonyms are recognized in a sentence through words that present opposite meanings.
• Examples:
  • His siblings are generous and giving but she is so stingy.
  • Generous is the antonym of stingy.

Examples as Context Clues

• Examples are lists of illustrations that make the unfamiliar word clearer.
• Analyze the examples given to find a common trait or characteristic.
• Example:
  • Lyn is on a diet. However, she still ate a portion of everything served like a small piece of meat, a small piece of bread, and a small piece of cake.
  • Portion means anything of small serving.

Comparison as Context Clues

• Comparison involves identifying the similarities and differences of two or more things, places, or events.
• Indicated by words such as like, similar to, as good as, similarly, likewise, too, while, the same as, in comparison to, both, alike, also, as well, so is, and but.
• Examples:
  • Laura gets easily perplexed by the brain teasers but Kim figures them out easily.
  • Manuel is determined to prove his innocence. His mother is resolute as well.

Sense of Sentence as Context Clues

• Consider the meaning, nature, or significance of the whole sentence to get the meaning of an unfamiliar term.
• Examples:
  • The weak group will be out of the game, leaving only relatively robust group in the game.
  • It is important to clean the colon by eating fruits and vegetables to rid the body of toxins.

Distinguishing Facts from Opinions

• FACTS are statements that can be proven to be either true or false.
• Opinions are subjective and cannot be proven true or false.