ACT Preparation / Unit 16 ACT 1504 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Surface Meaning and Implied Meaning
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The idea
Every text has a surface meaning, what it states, and an implied meaning beneath it. Reading for the implied layer is making an inference.
In practice
A story says a boy checks the mailbox three times a day; it implies he is waiting for something important.
Where people slip
Some books call the implied layer the deeper meaning; this course calls the skill inference.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
- Nothing. This is a starting point.
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