Ambiguity in Writing

The term ambiguity can be defined as a statement that incorporates two or more than meanings, or a statement that is unclear. One may believe that ambiguity in authorship would be a bad thing, but it really depends on the topic matter. Ambiguity can be used as a literary device to effectively beef up your authorship in respective ways.

An illustration of the first type of ambiguity (where a statement incorporates two or more than meanings) are these lines from Henry Martin Robert Frost's "To Earthward"

Love at the lips was touch

As sweet as I could bear;

And once that seemed too much;

I lived on air

The last line, "I lived on air" can be said to be equivocal since the phrase can have got two meanings. You can literally "live on air," or it can be seen as an look of emotion and feeling.

Ambiguity can be used for different reasons. It can take to negative secret plan points in your story, by creating confusion that Pbs to disaster. For instance, a fictional character misinterprets information owed to ambiguity and this action takes to a negative event.

It can also be used positively to demo complexness or to bespeak difficulty. In Shakespeare's "Hamlet," the fictional character of Hamlet utilizes ambiguity in his address to conceal his existent feelings. His deliberate ambiguity takes to positive consequences for his character.

In humor, ambiguity can also be used in duologue to make wit or even mystery. An illustration of ambiguity to make wit often come ups in the word form of puns, like the line in Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet." While Mercutio lies dying, he says, "Ask for me tomorrow and you shall happen me a sedate man," where the word "grave" have two meanings. Another illustration of equivocal wit is the celebrated line by Herbert Marx Marx: "I shot an elephant in my pajamas. What he was doing in my pajamas, I have got no idea!"

Ambiguity is a great manner to open up a story, as well. By offering a confusing statement, or one that looks to belie itself, the author can pull the reader in by creating involvement or mystery. Often the ambiguity will be cleared by the end of the piece of writing, but it is the initial confusion that tin make struggle or interest.

An illustration of ambiguity in the gap of a piece of authorship is one of the most celebrated first lines of any novel, "A Narrative of Two Cities" by Prince Charles Dickens: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the era of belief, it was the era of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the springtime of hope, it was the wintertime of despair." These contradictory statements make a sense of ambiguity which pulls the reader into the story.

In writing, being concise and clear is cardinal to conveying significance to the reader, but using ambiguity effectively can be used to beef up a piece of writing.