Carol Lee

This reading strategy is particularly useful for putting readers in touch with the sources of their thinking. It asks that a reader pay close attention to details, draw conclusions, and examine the assumptions from which they come.

The Q stands for a quote; the I, for Inference; the W for Warrant (Assumption). I suggest that students first read through the entire text to gain some sense of the centers of gravity (themes/issues/significant focuses). Keeping these centers of gravity in mind, go back into text and choose x number of quotes (to be determined by teacher) that inform these COG's. Of course, this part of the assignment can be open ended -- students may be invited to choose favorite quotes, quotes that delineate character, etc.

The format is linear: Quote: Inference: Warrant (Assumption):

For the warrant part, when I'm introducing the assignment we usually talk about where assumptions come from: personal experience, prior knowledge, textual data, familiarity with a writer's work, etc.

After the assignment, students wrap up the process by looking over the kinds of inferences made and the assumptions upon which they are based. They address the following questions:

a. What do your inferences say about the way you make meaning of text?

b. where do most of your assumptions come from? What does this tell you about yourself as a reader?

c. I have a theory that inferences based on textual data are less likely to be "contaminated" by the "leaping to conclusion" and "making stretches" bug. Please share your thoughts about this by looking again at the kinds of inferences and assumptions you crafted.

Quote: "He limped painfully towards the door. Until last month, he wore crutches. The entire year before that, he was bed-ridden, but he had to force himself to walk about the house after coming from the hospital. After Seniang's death, everything had gone to pieces. It was one bust after another, he complained to the few friends who came to visit him."

Inference: The main character in this story, Alipio, is obviously experiencing a lot of pain and sorrow during this part of his life. He lost his wife and was nearly killed in a car accident. Most people, who experience great loss in such a short period of time, usually have somebody that can help them get through this part of their life. However, from reading this portion of the text, I can see that Alipio is very lonely and is feeling very isolated from the world. A lot of things seem to have been dumped upon Alipio and he doesn't appear to have anyone that he can share his pain

Warrant: I drew these assumptions mainly from the tone of the piece. I didn't use any direct facts to help me draw these conclusions but rather the language and emotion that I detected in this phrase. Phrases like "limped painfully", "bed-ridden", and "everything had gone to pieces" emitted emotions that make the reader feel what the character is feeling, other than just reading it.

Quote: "'Seniang was my good luck. When God decided to take her, I had nothing but bad luck, he said."
Inference: Different people have different ways of dealing with pain, whether it be time, action, or counseling. Many people, though, find comfort in religion and the fact that everything is done at the will of God and is done for a specific purpose. This is the case in this short excerpt. From this brief quote we see how Alipio looks to God as the person responsible for his wife's death. In fact it was God's decision to take her and remove her from Alipio's life. There are not answers to every question, but Alipio finds his answers in God. And whether it be true or not, it's what he believes to be true.

Warrant: There are many sources that are found throughout this excerpt that illustrate Alipio's faith and belief in the power of God. I drew this assumption from the fact that whenever he is confronted with a question that deals with bringing his pain back to the surface, he looks to God for comfort and reassurance.

Quote: "I'm Mrs. Antonieta Zafra, the wife of Carlito. I believe you know him. He says you're friends. In Salina's back in the thirties. He used to be a cook at the Marina."

Inference: At first, this portion of the story, or at least this quote, struck me as being very odd. My initial inference was that the women came to Alipio's house to check on how he was doing and see how he was dealing with everything that was happening in his life. However, after thinking about this situation a little deeper, I began to become suspicious of their real intentions and thought that they were there because they wanted something, not because they cared about him.

Warrant: When I found out that one of the women was the wife of Alipio's friend, I began to wonder that if they were really there to check up on him, why didn't the friend go? Why did the wife, whom he had never met before, be the one who was responsible for checking on him? By looking at this situation from different perspectives, I was able to see that the women were there for different reasons other than just to see how Alipio was dealing with everything.

Quote: "The immigration office began to hound her, as it did other Filipinos in the same predicament. They were a pitiful lot. Some hid in the apartments of friends like criminals running away from the law. Of course, they were lawbreakers. Those who had transportation money returned home, which they hated to do. At home they would be forced to invent lies as to why they had come back so soon. They were defeated souls, insecure, and no longer fit for anything."

Inference: There is a lot to infer from this quote as well as learn. I always had the notion that most of the immigrants who went to American in search of better opportunities with the understanding that they would go and come back to their homeland. I also thought that they wanted to go back to their family. However after reading this quote, I saw how so many of them dreaded returning back in fear of the shame and disgrace that they would have to deal with when they returned with nothing. I was also able to infer about Asian beliefs. To me, from this quote, it seems like Asians put dignity about everything, even their own well being.

Warrant: I made this inference because I was able to see the fear in the immigrants' eyes of being an embarrassment when they returned to their native countries so soon. Even though the conditions in America were much worse and they were harshly discriminated against, they would rather have had to deal with that then the "stigma of failure" their relatives would imprint that upon them.

Quote: "We'll help you,' Mrs. Zafra said, turning back to where Monica sat staring at her hands again and listening for perhaps the sound of the sea. She did not notice nor hear her sister when she called, 'Monica!"'
Inference: This quote caused me to become more suspicious of these two women, especially Monica. I drew the assumption that maybe she had something to do with their arrival at Alipio's house ad she was the one who had a favor of him. At this point in the reading, I don't exactly know what it is that they want, but I'm pretty sure that they want something and that it's Monica who wants it.

Warrant: From the very beginning of this story, I was suspicious of these two women. It was obvious that they weren't there just to comfort Alipio, but that they wanted something. This quote caused me to think that it was Monica who wanted something. From the very beginning, she was always very quiet and uncomfortable. Her actions in this quote shows that something is bothering her and making her feel uncomfortable in Alipio's household.

Quote: "'The waves. They're just outside, you know. The breakers have a nice sound like at home in the Philippines. We lived near the sea. Across that water is the Philippines, I always tell Seniang, we're not far from home.'
'But you're alone. It's not good to be alone,' Mrs. Zafra said."
"Thank you," said Alipio. 'I have crutches, but I don't want no crutches. They tickle me.' He watched Monica go back to her seat.
"It must be pretty hard alone,' Mrs. Zafra said."

Inference: I like this story because it gives you hints, but at the same time doesn't completely reveal what the outcome is going to be. From these two quotes and from a number of other things I was able to put two and two together and make inferences that I think are quite plausible. I think that the reason why Mrs. Zafra keeps on asking Alipio if he's okay being alone is that she wants somebody to marry him so that they can remain in America.

Warrant: There are a number of things that caused me to think this. First of all, Mrs. Zafra's constant nagging on Alipio if he can continue to live alone and if its hard. Even when Alipio is talking about things that try to get his mind of being alone, Mrs. Zafra continues to step in and remind him that he is completely alone and isolated.(Also the fact that he has previously married a woman in order to keep her from being deported. Mrs. Zafra too was one of those girls who married just so that they could remain in the U.S. Monica's strange behavior also factored in to this inference that I made.

Quote: "You have strength, Mr. Palma. Strength of character. Strength in your belief in God. I admire that in a man, in a human being. Look at you. Alone. This huge table. Don't you find it too big sometimes? But it must be hard, that you cannot deny. Living from day to day. Alone. On what? Memories? Cabinets and a refrigerator full of food? I repeat, I admire you, sir. You've found your place. You're home safe. And at peace."

Inference: It is obvious to me that from this quote, Mrs. Zafra is trying to butter Alipio up in order to ask him the favor that she wants. She thinks that by complimenting Alipio on his favorable characteristics it will be easier for her to ask him something. By now, I am almost sure that she is going to ask him to become Monica's husband so he won't get deported. The conclusion to this mystery of why these two women came to visit him is about to be revealed. I also inferred that making this decision about Alipio was very well thought out and rational~zed. Mrs. Zafra obviously put a lot of thought into picking the right guy for her sister. She respects and admires him.

Warrant: The tone of Mrs. Zafra's voice was the main thing that I took into consideration when making my inferences. To me, her tone was sincere and it was obvious that whatever she wanted wasn't only to satisfy personal selfish interests, but rather for a good cause. My thinking for this inference was actually a compilation of thoughts and ideas that I had while reading the piece. I just put all my inferences together.

Wrapup: I learned a lot about my reading approaches and style from doing this particular reading log. For this particular piece, I didn't base my assumptions on personal experiences, but rather from textual data and making inferences based on that. I was never in a situation like this so the only personal experience that came into play was how I acted in a situation where I had to ask someone for a favor. I would act guilty and uncomfortable and even a little selfish. That was how Monica was acting and that was how I drew the inferences that I did. I knew from previous reading that that I tend to look to my own personal experiences to help me learn, but in this case i had to rely more heavily on the text.