This activity scaffolds the process of developing an “interpretive statement” in response to a text or work.  This is achieved through a sentence completion exercise that pushes students to think beyond the surface to consider the underlying thoughts and feelings expressed by an author or experienced by a reader.

An “Interpretive Statement” may:

1. Establish what the text is about, both on the surface and beneath the surface.

“On the surface, _________________ is about _______________.  But really, [insert author’s name] gets the reader to think about __________________ while also considering ___________________.

2. Identify one or more idea or issue that is raised in the text, and state what the writer is communicating about that idea.

“The text invites the reader to think about ______________.  From the text, we can infer that [insert author’s name] thinks that [stated idea] is _____________________.  It is clear that [insert author’s name] feels _____________ about this topic; this is evident through ________________________.

3. When relevant, identify what the reader is meant to think or feel about an idea or issue.

[Insert author’s name] invites the reader to think about ___________________.  He/she makes the reader feel _____________ towards this idea by ____________________.  The effect of this is that the reader _____________________.

**Interpretive statements usually state the title of the work and the name of the author.

Sharing

If you develop other effective sentence stems for this activity, please share them in the comment box below!

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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay