When analyzing a character's motivations in a story, which comprehension skill is a student using?

When analyzing a character's motivations in a story, a student is using the skill of inferring. This involves reading between the lines and using clues from the text to understand why characters behave in certain ways or make particular decisions. Inferring requires the reader to piece together information from various parts of the narrative, such as dialogue, actions, and context, to draw conclusions about the underlying reasons for a character's actions.

This comprehension skill is essential because motivations are often not explicitly stated; rather, they may be implied through the character's thoughts, feelings, and circumstances. By inferring, students develop a deeper understanding of the narrative, which enhances their engagement with the text and improves their overall reading comprehension.

In comparison, predicting involves anticipating what will happen next in the story, summarizing requires distilling the main ideas or events into a concise overview, and visualizing refers to creating mental images based on the text. While these skills are important for overall comprehension, analyzing motivations specifically aligns with the process of inferring.