Getting students to read between the lines is a bear. For lower level readers, it is something they have not done before, most likely, yet it is typically heavy on state reading comprehension tests. For AP level students, it is often something they can do, but do not feel comfortable relying on it for their analysis.
"Ordeal by Cheque" by Wuther Crue is the perfect story for this. If you have never read it before, do so now. I'll wait. You can see a copy here.
With struggling readers, I put this up on the projector or tape large printouts on the white board as well as give them a copy to look at on their own. Then we start looking at each check and focusing on the small details. I am always asking what they think is going on. Any thought is entertained regardless of how outlandish it may be. We also entertain other students pointing out reason why an idea contradicts something in our text. When we finally finish, I let them know that all that thinking they were doing about what could be happening in the story is inferring. From that point forward, the word 'inference' is no longer as scary as it is when they only see it on state test practice.
With AP Lit students, I put them into groups and I only give them one page at a time. I have printed each check as big as I can and I have them taped to the white board. Students are in groups of 3 or 4 and start trying to figure out what the "real" story is here. I ask them to annotate the story on the board by marking down what ideas they feel are important, details they notice, and questions they have. Some will look up the amounts of money and figure out how much it is in today's dollars. They always get excited when the first check to Tony Spagoni is revealed. Again, we focus on what is happening outside of the checks. In the end the take away is that all of these thoughts that they have is where good writers like to lay their story. The text is great, but what happens between paragraphs and off screen (so to speak) is just as rich.
I have noticed that when I use this with standard classes, they are fine to stick with their class-created interpretation. The AP kids, however, have thought of so many ways to interpret the events that they want to know what the "real" story is. When I let them know that this is all of the story they get, they are frustrated (but not in a negative way). The first year I did this and saw how amusing it was that they felt that there was not enough closure, I asked them if they had ever read "The Lady or the Tiger". I was shocked to find out that they had not, so for fun, a few days later I gave them the story to pick apart, but kept the final paragraph off of their copy and sealed in an enveloped pinned to the wall. The board was labeled LADY and TIGER and they had to provide their evidence for which one they thought was behind the door. They scoured the story and when we only had a few minutes left in class, I read the final paragraph to them. Let's just say I was lucky the bell rang to release class! :)
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