FOUR KINDS OF MEANING-I.

A RICHARDS

I.A. Richards was the first critic to bring to English criticism a scientific precision and objectivity. He
was the first to distinguish between the two uses of language the referential and the emotive. His
well articulated theory is found in his Principles of Literary Criticism. The present extract is from his
Practical Criticism which speaks about the four kinds of meaning. Richards is remembered for his
modern way of teaching and studying literature. New criticism and the whole of modern tensional
poetics derive their strength and inspiration from the seminal writings of Richards.

Richards begins the extract by pointing to the difficulty of all reading. The problem of making out the
meaning is the starting point in criticism. The answers to what is a meaning?, What are we doing
when we endeavour to make it out? are the master keys to all the problems of criticism. The all
important fact for the study of literature or any other mode of communication is that there are
several kinds of meaning. Whether we speak, write, listen, read, the Total meaning is a blend of
several contributory meanings of different types. Language and pre eminently language as it is
used in poetry has several tasks to perform simultaneously. Four kinds of functions or meanings as
enlisted by I.A. Richards are the following: (1) Sense, (2) Feeling, (3) Tone and (4) Intention.

(1) Sense

We speak to say something and when we listen we expect something to be said. We use words to
direct our hearers attention upon some state of affairs, to present to them some items for
consideration and to excite in them some thoughts about these items. In short, what we speak to
convey to our listeners for their consideration can be called sense. This is the most important thing
in all scientific utterances where verification is possible.

(2) Feeling

The attitude towards what we convey is known as feeling. In other words, we have bias or
accentuation of interest towards what we say. We use language to express these feelings. Similarly,
we have these feelings even when we receive. This happens even if the speaker is conscious of it or
not. In exceptional cases, say in mathematics, no feeling enters. The speakers attitude to the subject
is known as feeling.

(3) Tone

The speaker has an attitude to his listener. He chooses or arranges his words differently as his
audience varies, in automatic or deliberate recognition of his relation to them. The tone of his
utterance reflects his awareness of this relation, his sense of how he stands towards those he is
addressing. Thus tone refers to the attitude to the listener.

(4) Intention

Finally apart from what he says (sense), his attitude to what he is talking about (feeling), and his
attitude to his listener (tone), there is the speakers intention, his aim (conscious or unconscious) -
the effect he is endeavouring to promote. The speakers purpose modifies his speech. Frequently,
the speakers intention operates through and satisfies itself in a combination of other functions. It
may govern the stress laid upon points in an argument. It controls the plot in the larger sense of the
word. It has special importance in dramatic and semi dramatic literature. Thus the influence of his
intention upon the language he uses is additional to the other three influences.

If we survey the uses of language as a whole, predominance of one function over the other may be
found. A man writing a scientific treatise will put the sense of what he has to say first. For a writer
popularising some of the results and hypotheses of science, the principles governing his language
are not so simple; his intention will inevitably interfere with the other functions. In conversation, we
get the clearest examples of the shifts of function, i.e. one function being taken over by another.

Towards the end of the essay, I.A. Richards says that it is much harder to obtain statements about
poetry than expressions of feelings towards it and towards the author. Very many apparent
statements turn out to be the indirect expressions of Feeling, Tone and Intention

Seven Types of Ambiguity

Seven Types of Ambiguity is a work of literary criticism by William Empson which was first published
in 1930. It was one of the most influential critical works of the 20th century and was a key
foundation work in the formation of the New Criticism school.[1] The book is organized around
seven types of ambiguity that Empson finds in the poetry he criticises. The second edition (revised)
was published by Chatto & Windus, London, 1947, and there was another revised edition in 1953.
The first printing in America was by New Directions in 1947.

Seven Types of Ambiguity ushered in New Criticism in the United States. The book is a guide to a
style of literary criticism practiced by Empson. An ambiguity is represented as a puzzle to Empson.
We have ambiguity when "alternative views might be taken without sheer misreading." Empson
reads poetry as an exploration of conflicts within the author.

Seven types:

The first type of ambiguity is the metaphor, that is, when two things are said to be alike
which have different properties. This concept is similar to that of metaphysical conceit.
Two or more meanings are resolved into one. Empson characterizes this as using two
different metaphors at once.
Two ideas that are connected through context can be given in one word simultaneously.
Two or more meanings that do not agree but combine to make clear a complicated state of
mind in the author.
When the author discovers his idea in the act of writing. Empson describes a simile that lies
halfway between two statements made by the author.
When a statement says nothing and the readers are forced to invent a statement of their
own, most likely in conflict with that of the author.
Two words that within context are opposites that expose a fundamental division in the
author's mind.[2]