What does ambiguity offer the reader

McKee sitting in bed only in his underwear. He would never understand. Perhaps Doctor Mandelet would have understood if she had seen him—but it was too late; the shore was far behind her, and her strength was gone. Chopin strongly suggests that the main character, Edna, dies at the end of the novel. However, it is unclear whether Edna has purposefully committed suicide or unintentionally gotten swept away in the waves.

Most readers and scholars assume that this is an act of suicide, but Chopin leaves enough ambiguity so that readers can come to their own conclusions.

I wear a red yes and how he kissed me under the Moorish Wall and I thought well as well him as another and then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes to say yes…. They may refer to Leopold, or to other previous lovers. Which of the following statements is the best ambiguity definition? A statement that is so unclear that no conclusion can be drawn from it. An event or utterance from which more than one interpretation can be made.

Which of the following Mitch Hedberg jokes contains an example of ambiguity? I used to do drugs. I still do, but I used to, too. I like rice. In Frank R. Tiger—the princess would have been too jealous to allow the man to marry another woman and instead chooses for him to die. Brooks of the University of Sydney published an excellent exploration of ambiguity and close reading in literature. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy published a wonderful—and very in-depth— article on ambiguity.

Definition, Usage, and Literary Examples. Ambiguity Definition. Lexical vs. Semantic Ambiguity. Ambiguity as a Narrative Device. Character Ambiguity. Ambiguity Outside of Literature. Examples of Ambiguity in Literature. Further Resources on Ambiguity. Related Terms. Ambiguity Definition Ambiguity am-big-YOU-ih-tee refers to the quality of being open to multiple interpretations.

Semantic Ambiguity There are two different types of ambiguity you may encounter in literature: lexical and syntactic. Lexical Ambiguity This refers to two or more possible meanings for a single word. Syntactic Ambiguity This kind of ambiguity indicates two or more possible meanings within a sequence of words or a sentence. Ambiguity as a Narrative Device Authors may elect to include moments within their narratives that are open-ended, leaving the audience unsure of what events definitively occurred or how to interpret them.

Literary Devices that Rely on Ambiguity Certain literary devices, particularly irony and puns , rely on ambiguity to be effective. We are going to view some examples of ambiguity being used so that we can further understand how it works in a sentence. Ambiguity is a statement or sentence which could have more than one possible interpretation, it is up to the listener or reader to determine what the true interpretation could be. There are some statements which may be ambiguous when said alone but with additional information, the ambiguity could be removed.

When used as a literary device , ambiguity can give the reader the opportunity to think more deeply about the text that they are reading.

A writer will often use ambiguity to give additional layers to their work as well as giving the reader some freedom by allowing them to make their own interpretation of what is happening. You will likely come across the use of ambiguity in many day to day conversations and it is not always intentional. Many people will make an ambiguous statement without even realised that they are doing so.