I asked my able Year 11 class the above question. No hands up. They discussed for thirty seconds, and still, no hands up. They discussed for two minutes, with this purpose. They condensed their discussions into one point per row. This is what some said.
Impressive.
– a benefit is that the meaning is not up to the writer/author.
– The writing, not the writer, becomes more relevant to the reader.
– the death of the author to only some extent.
– one use of inference makes the reader think that they’re thinking it themselves
– there shouldn’t be a need for obscure inferences
– one use – implies that there are other uses…
– Inference acts as a question to the reader, and makes them think of their own definition of the story.
– thinks of a personal interpretation.