Not for photocopying
Resources
eWorkbook 3.2 Level 1 worksheets (ewbk-6670), 3.2 Level 2 worksheets (ewbk-6671),
3.2 Level 3 worksheets (ewbk-6672)
Interactivity Inference challenge (int-8178)
Video eLesson How to infer from text (eles-4242)
3.3 Inference in poetry
3.3.1 Inferring meaning from poems
Poetry is especially open to interpretation, which means every reader may infer some-
thing different from the same piece of poetry. Read the following poem by award-winning
Australian poet Emilie Zoey Baker. Then read the boxes on the right to determine how
meaning can be inferred from poetry.
I have a hat with tiny woolen ears
eles-4243
I have a hat with tiny woolen ears At first, it seems like a fairly simple, funny poem.
The narrator has a hat, and it’s a magic hat which
When I put it on I hear secret things. allows them to hear secret things, like the
I didn’t know it when I bought it but thoughts of their cat.
I pick up sounds I didn’t know existed.
But the more you look at it, the deeper the
meaning. This is because as a reader you can
I can hear my cat dreaming infer information using the skills you have already
her thoughts click like knitting needles. learned.
Rocks sing low deep songs with no human words
trees make jokes about the rain
their laughter sounds like one thousand miniature gongs.
I can hear fossils inside mountains, Why do the cat’s thoughts click like knitting
they turn in their sleep. needles?
To read between the lines here, a reader would need to
Every time a match is struck I hear the flame meet the candle,
infer something. Let’s say you remember your
it squeals with delight.
grandmother knitting. How would this influence the
When leaves fall in autumn they hum to the ground
image of the cat you hold in your mind as you read?
most people hear crunching
but I hear orange brown harmony. Perhaps the cat now reminds you of fond memories
of your grandmother. Perhaps that is what the author
I can hear clouds decide when it’s time to rain, meant, too. Perhaps not.
the sun closing its eyes every night When we infer, we can read things into a text which
and stars make the strangest noise when they appear, the author may or may not have meant. The important
like a cartoon diamond being dropped down thing is what it means to us.
stairs made of glass.
I can hear rivers stretch like yoga to the ocean
and the smallest of voices from the smallest of seeds In the same way, a reader can use their context (what
asking for the soil in a language I’ve never heard before. they already know) to deepen their understanding of
I don’t know why I can understand it but I can. the rest of the poem.
When the narrator says, “most people hear crunching/
I hear snow land like sock footsteps and but I hear orange brown harmony”, it might trigger an
underneath waves like lemonade. immediate memory of crunching through leaves
With this hat I hear people falling in love, yourself. Then, you might think, Why does the narrator
like water rushing from a dam hear the “orange brown harmony”? What does that
and heartbreak, a glass crashing to the floor. mean?
I have this hat with tiny woolen ears,
it looks like any other hat with tiny woolen ears.
Asking questions, and using your context, is a great
But this one connects me to the aural secrets of the universe. way to understand poetry. Try it for yourself.
TOPIC 3 Reading for inference 47
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Use the poem by Emilie Zoey Baker to complete the activities.
3.3 Activities
3.3 Level 1
1. What can you infer about the way the narrator feels about candles being lit? Do they like it or dislike it? What
clues in the poem make you think this?
2. How does the narrator feel about autumn? What clues in the poem make you think this? Which words
describe how they feel about the season? List them here.
3. Choose a section of the poem that you particularly enjoyed and draw a picture of what you inferred from it.
48 Jacaranda English 7
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3.3 Level 2
4. a. What do you infer about the type of person the narrator is, based on the type of hat they choose to wear? Do you
picture a male or a female? How old are they? Why do you think you had that image?
b. If the hat had been a metal helmet, how would that have changed what you inferred about the narrator?
5. There is a lot of natural imagery in this poem, which means descriptions about nature. What do you infer
about the author from these images?
6. There are a lot of metaphors (saying that one thing is another thing to draw a comparison) and similes (saying
something is ‘like’ another thing) in this poem. Choose one of them and write about what you can infer from it.
7. Choose a section of the poem that you particularly enjoyed or connected with. Describe why you liked it and
what it made you think of: what images, scenes or memories did it bring to mind?
TOPIC 3 Reading for inference 49
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3.3 Level 3
8. Inference in poetry comes from more than just the words on the page. What can you infer from where the
author starts and ends her lines? Hint: how does it affect the way you read each line?
9. What information do you use from your own context when you are reading this poem? Identify two points in
the poem where you use your own life or memories to connect more deeply.
10. Choose a favourite stanza (section) from the poem and rewrite it using your own choice of words. You can
aim to keep the same meaning, or give it new meaning. Use a notebook or type it out as you may need to
rewrite it a few times to get it right. Responses will vary.
3.3 Hungry for more?
a. Think about a common, everyday object (like a hat) that you could add another layer of meaning to. Brainstorm
all of the things that your new, magical object could do.
b. Turn those ideas into a poem. If it helps, follow the structure of Emilie Zoey Baker’s poem (same number of
lines, roughly the same line length, no rhyming, etc.).
c. Swap your poem with a classmate and ask them to make annotations (add notes) about what they can infer.
Resources
eWorkbook 3.3 Level 1 worksheets (ewbk-6673), 3.3 Level 2 worksheets (ewbk-6674),
3.3 Level 3 worksheets (ewbk-6675)
Video eLesson I have a hat with tiny woolen ears (eles-4243)
50 Jacaranda English 7
